Latinos make up about 19% of the U.S. population, and given their vast geographic and demographic diversity, it’s a disservice to report on them as a single voting bloc or monolithic group. The more journalists know about different Latino communities, the more informed their reporting and audiences will be.
How should journalists approach different Latino communities? How can Latino reporters turn their cultural awareness into quality journalism? José Díaz-Balart, an MSNBC, “NBC Nightly News” and Telemundo anchor, discussed these issues with NBC News digital reporter Nicole Acevedo and NBC News correspondent Guad Venegas. Watch the video above or read their comments below.
How do you approach a story when you’re going into a Latino-majority community?
Venegas: Understand the demographics. Miami has a little more conservative Cuban, Venezuelan, Colombian influence. It’s different from Chicago, which is heavily Mexican, or Los Angeles, which is a mix of Mexican and Central American. Some [Spanish slang] words might be different, the people might have different ideas of how you should approach them. Understand that every community is unique and try to learn as much as you can, especially if you’ve never been.
Acevedo: It’s almost like code-switching. You’re code-switching two cultures, sometimes more, all the time. It’s not just where your roots are from, but it’s even the generation. Sometimes you may step into a situation where they’re Latino, but they’re not necessarily super-fluent in Spanish. There are certain elements of Latino communities that manifest in very distinct ways, depending on where you go.
What’s your responsibility when you approach those communities?
Acevedo: To not assume that because you’re a Latino, you’re intrinsically going to understand the situation you’re stepping into. I think that it’s very important to be aware of what you know and what you don’t know.
You also fall into a trap when you talk about “the Latino community,” like everybody is the same. That’s not accurate, and as reporters, it’s very important to be accurate. I like to say, “Latino communities” instead of just “Latino community.”
Venegas: I did a lot of work in Washington Heights [a mainly Dominican neighborhood in New York] years ago. I’d never been there before, and I learned that you talk to people. In the end, we’re journalists. If you’re not from the community, you talk to the person at the store, the people around you and you just absorb the information.
Have you been in a situation where your story was better because of your sensitivity, understanding and concern?
Acevedo: Every time I have to cover Puerto Rico, I have skin in the game, not just professionally, but personally. I became a reporter because when Puerto Rico was undergoing crisis after crisis, I looked around in the mainstream media and I was like, “Nobody is covering this in a way that I, as a Puerto Rican, feel seen.” That’s literally the driving force behind what I do. Every time I write a story, I’m always like, “If that Nicole were to read this story, would she feel seen? Would she feel represented?”
“Bilingual Course: Covering Latino Communities”
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