September 13, 2007

Pandering prescribed: Bush admin hack learns Univision, Spanish media biased against GOP

Leslie Sanchez ("director of the White House Initiative on Hispanic Education from 2001-2003") reads Univision's site and finds out that they're biased against the GOP, despite all the pandering that the Republicans have done. While she doesn't indicate anything beyond outreaching to the Spanish media, one can assume that she wants the GOP to try to out-pander the Democrats by stressing social issues (abortion, etc.) and promising immigration "reform" (aka, an amnesty). Needless to say, that won't work: no matter how the GOP panders, the Dems will always be able to offer a better pander. What the GOP needs to do is take on Univision and point out the ways that they and the Dems are wrong; with a Bush administration that usually acts like the Dems, that's a bit difficult.

...If their views were presented fairly, it's likely that Republicans would connect with Hispanic voters. That may be why the network's news coverage often downplays issues that make Hispanics dislike Democrats (abortion, same-sex marriage, taxes) and sensationalizes the immigration issue as a way of demonizing Republicans -- even those who are not anti-immigrant.

Rudy Giuliani, who is attacked by some for making New York a "sanctuary city" for illegal immigrants during his time as mayor, was blasted as anti-inmigrante in a recent op-ed by star reporter Maria Elena Salinas on Univision's Web site. Apparently the mayor earned the label because he was tough on crime and supports border security, notwithstanding the fact that he carried 43% of New York City's Hispanic vote (a bloc that tends to be heavily Democratic) when he ran for re-election in 1997.

...Univision isn't alone. Bias is a problem throughout Spanish media. In South Carolina, Rep. Bob Inglis, a Republican and supporter of the failed comprehensive immigration reform bill, was surprised to see a December 2005 headline in El Periodico Latino that, when translated, read: "BAD NEWS FOR IMMIGRANTS: Congressman Inglis will support President Bush's position on immigration." Of course, the Bush plan was the most pro-immigration proposal on the table.

Univision is the largest and most important part of the Spanish-language media, yet it features some of the most unbalanced political news coverage on television and it continues its leftward drift. Marcela Salazar, a former staffer for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was hired recently as the producer on Univision's new political show, "Al Punto," which is hosted by two left-wing journalists. A Democratic friend of mine, who works as a strategist for a Democratic presidential campaign, told me last week: "She'll do us a lot of good there."

Posted to Immigration2007b at September 13, 2007 11:56 AM