ࡱ>  @ bjbj " %|||^^^8TO"NOOOOOO$ QR\S%Oo<o<o<%O:O'C'C'Co<N'Co<N'C'C:)H,H ~Y^ =rUH NPO0O_HRT{ANTHHTL4 w)'CQ0|5%O%O^B^^ The Role of the Spanish Language News Media in Chicago Latino Political and Grassroots Organizing By Antonio Rodriguez Abstract The growth of the Spanish language news media has led to questions surrounding its role in the Latino community. What is the role of the Spanish language news media in Latino politics? How and to what extent does the Spanish language news media help facilitate a Latino political agenda? How does the Spanish language news effect Latino political development? This paper will examine the role of the Spanish language news media in Latino communities, specifically looking at how the Spanish language news media effects Chicago Latino politics and grassroots organizations. I have chosen to investigate this role by conducting a series of interviews with news media representatives, Latino elected officials and leaders in Latino organizations. I have found that the Spanish language news media does have a significant role in the Latino community, as part of a Latino Advocacy Coalition. The Spanish language news media is able to facilitate a Latino political agenda in the following ways: 1) it is an accessible source of information; 2) it covers issues of concern for the community that may not be covered in the mainstream news media; 3) it is an effective mobilizing tool for the community by providing a direct link between the Latino leadership and community. The open advocacy role of Spanish language news media is what distinguishes their presence in the Latino community from that of mainstream news media and demonstrates the political significance of the Spanish language news media in Latino communities. In addition, I find that this advocacy role of Spanish language news media becomes more important during times of crisis, as was demonstrated by the significant role it played in the recent immigrant rights marches. Introduction On March 25, April 10, and May 1, 2006, millions of people marched throughout the United States in response to legislation on immigration reform passed by the House of Representatives. Most of the Latino community opposed this legislation because the provisions in H.R. 4437 were seen as too harsh and anti-Latino. This large turnout demonstrated the ability of the Latino population to mobilize at a national level. Several of the organizers attributed the success of the marches to their efforts of informing the public. However, it was the efforts of the Spanish language news media (SLNM) that were crucial in getting the word out on where the marches were held and how to participate. Was it because the SLNM took on a leadership role by "issuing orders"? (Flaccus 2006) Or was it simply that the SLNM informed viewers of events, which may have "prompted" (Flaccus 2006) them to attend the march. The recent massive Latino mobilization raises many questions about the role and effects of the SLNM in the Latino community: what is the role of the Spanish language news media in Latino politics? How and to what extent does the Spanish language news media help facilitate a Latino political agenda? How has the Spanish language news media affected Latino political development? Over the last fifteen years, both the Latino community and the SLNM have grown rapidly. The simultaneous growth has strengthened the relationship and interactions between SLNM and the Latino community. The SLNM role in providing the Latino Spanish speaking community with information that is otherwise difficult to obtain through mainstream English news media has been acknowledged in the literature. However, we do not know if and how the SLNM influences the Latino community, especially in mobilizing efforts. The relationship between SLNM and the Latino community may suggest that a segment of American news media has taken on an advocacy role that has affected political development, participation and awareness in the Latino community. In this study, I will explain the role of the SLNM in Latino communities by examining its role in Chicagos Latino political organizing. The Latino community in Chicago was selected because it is one of the largest in the United States and held one of the largest immigration reform marches with over half a million participants. The recent massive Latino mobilization in Chicago provides the environment needed to analyze the SLNMs role in mobilizing efforts. I will explore the SLNM role in the Latino community through a series of interviews with SLNM representatives, Latino elected officials, and Latino organizers. For this initial phase of the study, I interviewed two prominent Latino elected officials who combine have over 20 years of experience in public office, along with two editors from a Spanish language weekly newspaper serving the Chicago Latino community, and a media representative from a citywide Latino grassroots organization. In addition to interviews, I will use current literature on the effects of the news media, Latino politics, and advocacy coalitions to develop concepts that further explain the SLNM role in Chicagos Latino community. Effects of Different Types of News Media In their book, Is Anyone Responsible, on the effects of priming by television news media, Iyengar and Kinder (1987, 3) address the importance of studying the media, The lack of a theory of media effects has significantly impeded our understanding of how democracy works. The importance studying the media should seem obvious when considering the tremendous exposure to all types of mass media. Thus, it becomes imperative to explore different types of news media and their effects on the democratic process. The majority of the literature on news media and politics has focused on the medias ability, or lack there of, in influencing public opinion (Jacobs and Shapiro 1996; Mutz and Paul 2001). However, few studies have focused on the political impact of having a functional news media outlet available to a community where such communication source was previously unavailable, and how the mere presence of such news media outlet can effect democratic participation in that community. The assumptions made by focusing on only Mainstream news media is that other types of non-English news media outlets effects are insignificant. Although, scholars have been studying the effect of mainstream news media on public opinion it is still unclear if the medias influence can change the publics attitudes and policy preferences (Jacobs and Shapiro 1996, 10). Another study demonstrated the importance of the medias ability to expose people to dissimilar views, however, found that the medias effect on this was minimal (Mutz and Martin 2001). All of these approaches to studying the media focus on the direct influences of the news media on public mass political behavior. In addition, the majority of these studies are limited because they only address the influences of mainstream English news media outlets, which leaves out the effects of other significant American media markets. One explanation for this might be that English news media generally reaches a majority of the United States population. However, by refocusing research to include other media outlets that cater to minorities or non-English speakers, a researcher will be able to gain valuable insights on the political behavior of underrepresented communities living in the U.S. The news media interacts daily with politicians and grassroots organizations these interactions are assumed to be objective and consist of receiving information from public officials, which is then passed on to the public. According to Jason P. Isralowitz (1992), over the last 30 years journalists have been encouraged by newspaper companies to be neutral and objective, resulting in limitations on journalists outside political activities and affiliations. However, it is reasonable to believe that the objective role of the news media can change if a journalist principal responsibility is to report to a specific audience and community with whom they share common values and interest. The journalist and specialized media outlets are able to actively promote certain issues and causes because it is understood by everyone who their audience is. On the other hand, although these journalist and news media outlets are interested in serving particular interest, this does not suggest that they seize to include both side of the story. The advocacy coalition framework can explain how audience specific news media outlets can become open advocates for their audiences. Heclo (1978) describes issue networks as a group of loosely gathered actors with common knowledge working together to influence a particular policy area. Sabatier (1987) further developed this concept to include loosely gather individuals who may be present in this advocacy coalitions at certain times working together on a specific public policy area. In a revised research on this model of advocacy coalitions Sabatier and Jenkins (1993) suggest the possibility of including outside actors like journalists into this advocacy coalition model. The traditional actors of such coalitions and networks are government agencies, politicians, and special interest groups that have high stakes in the public policy area at hand (Heclo 1978). However, it is very possible that journalist and media outlets may participate in such coalition when they see themselves as having incentives or high stakes in the public policy at hand. This can motivated journalist to actively pursue and cover issues that affect a policy of their interest when they coincide with their audiences interest. Like other members of the coalition journalist can appear in the coalition from time to time when they have an incentive to do so. Recently, the advocacy coalition framework was applied to the Latino community in New Jersey. The Latino advocacy coalition in New Jersey State was centered on the topic of Welfare reform (Arroyo 2003). The advocacy coalition framework was used in this exploratory study to identify the role of Latino grassroots organizations in influencing the New Jersey state legislator. However, this present analysis of Latino communities will expand on the Latino advocacy coalition framework to include the SLNM. By including the SLNM into the Latino advocacy coalition framework their overall presence and impact on Latino political development and mobilization will be explained. Understanding the Chicago Latino Community The city of Chicago is an ideal environment for understanding the SLNM role in the Latino community because of the rapid increase in political involvement among Latinos. The increase in political involvement was evident by the recent rallies for immigrant rights that drew out over half-million marchers on April 10 and May 1. However, this is only one example of Latinos democratic participation. Another includes the routine voter registration drives that take place every election season throughout the Latino community along with naturalization workshops in place to help immigrants with permanent resident status become citizens. Studies regarding Chicagos Latino political organization have yet to examine the SLNMs role in organizing efforts. The role of the SLNM in Latino communities may explain in part how Latino grassroots organizations and elected officials coordinate their efforts to set and achieve their goals for the community. The SLNM impact on the Latino community is evident among recent immigrants from Latin America who rely tremendously on the SLNM for information on currents events in the United States and in Latin American countries (Ramos 2005; Rodriguez 1999). In order to help understand the SLNM influence on the Latino community, it is necessary to first describe the Latino communitys history in Chicago. The city of Chicago has 1.6 million Latinos living in its metro area, which includes Mexicans and Puerto Ricans who make up the majority of the Latino population in the United States. Chicago is the only major city in the United States that has large concentrations of both Mexican sand Puerto Ricans. As a result, Chicago has witnessed the significant political interactions between these two ethnic groups, who sometimes do and do not work together. Although Latinos of Mexicans national-origin comprise 79 percent of all Latinos living Chicago, Puerto Ricans at 8 percent still make up a significant portion of the Latino community. Puerto Ricans have historically had a presence in Chicago dating back to after World War II, while the early settlement of Mexicans dates back to the 1920s (Ready and Allert 2005; Padilla 1985). By examining the interaction between the SLNM and these two ethnic groups, we can understand how cultural factors may influence the relationship between the SLNM and the Latino community. Traditionally, Puerto Ricans have lived on the North Side of Chicago, while Mexicans have lived on the citys South Side. Latinos are not a homogeneous group, as evidenced by the interaction between Mexican and Puerto Ricans that can sometimes be hostile. Some researchers have found that differences in citizenship among Latinos bring tension between them (Genova and Ramos-Zayas 2003). For example, there is often conflict between Puerto Ricans immigrants (who are United States citizens by birthright) and Mexicans (who have large a percentage of foreign born immigrants who may or may not have legal status for residency) over their differences in immigration status (Genova and Ramos-Zayas 2003). This is explains why Puerto Ricans are less likely to show interest in issues dealing with immigration policy, and instead value heavily issues concerning the Puerto Rican mainland, while Mexicans are more likely to be interested in issues dealing with immigration policy. Within the last fifteen years the Mexican population has moved into traditional Puerto Rican neighborhoods. This has led to the election of non-Puerto Rican politicians in what are said to be Puerto Rican districts. This continues to occur especially as the Puerto Rican population in Chicago continue to become smaller and making the need for political cooperation more vital for Puerto Ricans. Most Latino organizations were formed to cater to specific groups of the Latino community. Latino organizations, like the community, are not united by common issues and crisis. Nevertheless, Latinos are not always united on one political front, but are being urged to do so by community leaders and organizers. Overall, it is important to remember that Latinos are not a homogenous group, but rather a heterogeneous group (Ramos 2005). As a result, any influence of the SLNM found on the Latino community through advocacy coalitions would most likely be limited to public policy areas that affect a majority of the diverse community. The SLNMs influence and how it deals the two large Spanish ethnicities is important when trying to determine its influence on the majority of the Latino community. Occasionally, these two ethnic groups organize and work together on issues that affect them equally. For example, Felix Padilla found evidence of Latino ethnic consciousness influencing political coalition building. In the 1970s, a coalition of all Spanish speaking members in the Chicago area united in response to poor treatment of Spanish speaking workers in the labor force Padilla describes this coalition as a mostly symbolic victory that displayed Mexicans and Puerto Ricans working together (1985). However, this demonstrates that Latino unity is usually reached when different ethnic groups, are faced with a common crises or issue that can affect them equally. The concept of the term Latino and its use can best be described by the following definition: the Spanish-speaking adopt a Latino identity to gain advantages or overcome disadvantages in the larger American society: Latinismo is political ethnicity [authors italics], a manipulative device for the pursuit of collective political, economic, and social interest in society (Padilla 1998, 98) This definition allows us to acknowledge the limitations of the term Latino, and how its use is only validated when communities who are considered to be "Latino" apply the term to themselves. In others words, the SLNM influence on the Latino community may be limited based on the acceptance of a Latino identity from different Latin American ethnic communities. Currently, efforts to unite both ethnic groups have garnered success politically with the relatively recent formations of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus. The Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus was formed after differences between Puerto Rican north side politicians and Mexican south side politicians were set aside. As a result, the 4 year old caucus has passed more legislation for the Latino community than older Latino legislative caucuses found in other states. For example, through the efforts of the Latino Caucus Illinois is the only state in the United States that allows the children of illegal immigrants to receive in-state college tuition. This example demonstrates the political successes that this small caucus of only 13 members has been able to enjoy. Kim Geron groups Latino elected officials into three separate categories that are based on the level of cooperation with longtime Chicago Mayor, Richard M. Daley. The first group consists of Latino elected officials who work closely with Chicagos Mayor Daley. The second group he says is composed of mostly Puerto Ricans who work with Mayor Daley only with certain issues that requires the citys participation. The third group consists of progressive Latino elected officials who remain loyal to ideals of the previous Chicago mayor Harold Washington, and who often have opposing views with Mayor Daley (2005). After examining the Chicago Latino political and grassroots community the SLNM role in helping these elements of the Latino community will be explained. In addition, the Latino advocacy coalition significance in Chicago will be shown by examining how the SLNM has helped transformed Latino politics in Chicago to help create a significant political force that has helped served the Latino community in the last 20 years. The Role of the Spanish Language News Media in Latino Advocacy Coalition The SLNM was created for the sole purpose of serving the needs of Spanish speaking Latin American immigrants living in the United States who often face a language barrier. The SLNM has also been mentioned as keeping Latin American culture alive for Latin American immigrants and their children living in the United States, most importantly the Spanish language. The Spanish language is a significant cultural identity of the Latino community and SLNM has helped preserve the language in Latino communities living in the United States. The SLNMs is usually the primary source of information for many older Spanish speaking members of the Latino community (Ramos 2005). It is important to note that not everyone in the Latino community is bilingual, and a significant amount of the Latino community receives their news in English. However, many Latino bilingual speakers prefer the SLNM for Latino related news, instead of English mainstream news media (Suro 2004). All of these examples demonstrate how SLNM has had a cultural impact on the Latino community and explains why the SLNM has a special interest in public policy that affects Latinos and themselves. Recently, the Latino community has grown rapidly and is now the largest minority group in the United States. In Chicago, the Latino community has also grown significantly. In response to the demands of a larger Spanish speaking community, the SLNM has increased its accessibility. Exposure to the SLNM in Chicago is significant-with 5 radio stations, 4 national broadcasting stations, and numerous daily and weekly Spanish newspapers- all of which cater to the needs of the Spanish speaking and bilingual speaking populations of Chicago. The recent role of the SLNM during the immigration reform marches introducesthe possibility of them playing an important advocacy role and leadership role for the Latino community. This role has significant implications for the field of Latino politics and for the understanding of the minority democratic participation in the U.S. The following will examine how the SLNM has evolved into its current role and how the presence of the SLNM has affected the political involvement of Latinos in Chicago. The SLNM role in the Latino community is unique because it is an important advocate of Latino issues. The SLNM advocates Latino issues and the public policy concerns, influencing Latino political participation, and perceptions of salient issues to the Latino community. Members of the Latino political and grassroots organizing community recognize the SLNM as having a significant role in their efforts to advocate political participation among the Latino community. The SLNM during my interviews was referred to as, The Hispanic Media, Mexican Media, Latino Media, all of these terms identify SLNM as a member of the Latino community. The SLNMs primary role is to keep the Latino community informed. This is a powerful role with a tremendous amount of influence, as a large part of their audience only speaks Spanish. In addition, this role was critical in mobilizing the Latino community during the marches for immigration reform. According to a longtime Latino elected official I interviewed, the SLNMs role in Latino politics is to get our [Latino Elected Officials] word out. An important note about this particular Latino politician is that he frequently uses the SLNM although he does not speak Spanish to spread his message in English. Besides getting out the word he also hinted that the SLNM can exert power in their ability to pick and chose who receives the SLNMs attention. He went on further to explain that the SLNM occasionally favors some Latino leaders over others, which creates animosity between individuals. This is an example of Latino leaders understanding the value and significance of the SLNM exposure. In Chicago, many Latino leaders know that the SLNM serves as a direct link between them and the Latino community. In addition, it is understood that if any Latino politician wishes to get his message across the Latino community the SLNM is the best tool available. The SLNM works with many elected officials and grassroots organization representatives on most issues affecting the Latino community. The representative of a large Latino grassroots organization recognized the importance of working with the SLNM: "Organizations organize meetings andthere's all these meetings community meetings, and the average person doesn't go to community meetings the average person goes to work goes home takes care of their kids watches the news, reads the news paper, so yeah, it is very important if you want to stay relevant in the Latino community you have to constantly be [brief pause] you have to have a presence in the Media" (Organization representative interview 2006) Despite their advocacy role, some members of the SLNM maintained their objectivity. This is why it is not unusual for members of SLNM to reject some stories and ideas proposed by Latino leaders. This is evident through the actions of one Chicago Spanish weekly newspaper. Jorge Medeiros has been the editor of the Spanish weekly newspaper La Raza for several years. Medieros confirms his newspapers advocacy position, La Raza is what one would call an advocate for Latino issues, but he explains the nature of this relationship with Latino elected officials and grassroots organizations: "Yes Hispanic community groups influence and they are always bombarding us with ideas. And there is where we have to consider carefully what is news and what is propaganda...Especially when there are a lot of groups that exist by name, but dont represent anyone. We promote only those who really work for the [Latino] community" (Medieros interview 2006) La Raza filters out information and only informs on issues deemed important for the Latino community. La Raza believes it establishes credibility by their objectivity in only advocating Latino issues that are in the best interest of the community. In 1987, Illinois State Senator del Valle became the first Latino elected to the Illinois State senate. He was elected in a district that did not have a Latino registered-voter majority (Geron 2005). According to Senator del Valle, his campaign relied heavily on the SLNM, the regular media paid very little attention to my campaign [first campaign], actually it paid no attention to my campaign it was just the Hispanic media at that time that paid attention. Senator del Valle believes the Latino electorate is more informed about policy issues because of the SLNM. The Senator provides an example of how the SLNM has helped increase political participation Hispanic media has helped promote voter registration; Hispanic media has promoted voter participation, getting out the vote on Election Day. Hispanic media has helped promote naturalization workshops so that we get more people to become naturalized citizens and be able to vote. (Senator del Valle interview 2006) This shows the SLNMs advocacy of political participation among its audience, especially electoral participation. It is clear that the SLNM differs from mainstream news media in their open advocacy of Latino issues. As Senator del Valle noted he did not think mainstream news media would be able "to get away with advocacy like the SLNM." The SLNM advocacy may be the result of the lack of attention from the mainstream English news media of Latino issues. A Latino elected official noted that the SLNM is more responsive to Latino politicians than the English mainstream news media. He goes on further to say that SLNM is always present at press conferences held by Latino elected officials, while English mainstream news media is present from time to time. SLNM covers Latino issues that are important to the community. For example, Senator del Valle points to coverage of town hall meetings, local school council meetings, and concerns over gang violence by SLNM. While the English mainstream news media is said to only cover Latino issues that non-Latinos audiences would also be interested in. Senator del Valle also pointed out that SLNM helps keep non-Latino politicians accountable to the Latino communities issues and concerns. This is accomplished by SLNM presence at press conference that non-Latino elected officials hold in which they ask these elected officials their positions on issues that directly affect Latinos. This advocacy role of SLNM is extremely important as it allows this population to become informed on issues and concerns that directly affect them, and hold all elected officials accountable. The frustration of Latino journalist in trying to demonstrate the importance of these issues to mainstream English news media will be discussed later in the context of the immigration debate. The SLNM is generally more attentive to Latino issues and causes than the mainstream English news media. The SLNMs influence on the Latino community is seen by their willingness and ability to facilitate a Latino political agenda. All of the Latino elected officials I interviewed recognized that the SLNM helps facilitate a Latino political agenda. They embraced the SLNM advocacy role, as both Latino elected official along with Latino organization representative alluded to the fact that it was important for them to work with the SLNM to help inform the Latino community on important issues. The general influence of the SLNM in Latino community is seen by their participation in mobilizing efforts. The SLNM role in mobilizing efforts can be described in the context of a Latino advocacy coalition, this coalition explains how the Latino community was able to effectively mobilize. To understand how SLNM fits into this coalition, we must first define a Latino advocacy coalition. This is complex, and research regarding such a model is underdeveloped. As previously noted, Padilla (1986) described how several coalitions among the Spanish speaking community were formed only when sharing a common goal. In addition, the advocacy coalition framework has been used in the context of welfare reform in New Jersey (Cainno-Arroyo 2003) Earlier issue network (Heclo 1978) and advocacy coalitions (Sabatier 1987; Sabatier and Jenkins 1993) were defined as a group or coalition of members with a common knowledge in a public policy area in which all members have high stakes. Therefore, a Latino advocacy coalition can best be described by a policy that encourages unity and cooperation among the community. In addition, members in this policy coalition must have high stakes in the policy at hand. The recent massive mobilization of the Latino community, especially in Chicago, revolved around the immigration debate. This policy issue brought together most of the Latino community to support comprehensive immigration reform. Thus, by examining the coalition for comprehensive immigration reform, key members of the Latino advocacy coalition will be easier to identify. The comprehensive immigration reform coalition is led by interests groups in the Latino community that would benefit the most from protecting the rights of Latin American immigrants or undocumented workers who make up a significant proportion of the Latino community. As a result, the most prominent members of the comprehensive immigration reform coalition are Latino politicians, Latino grassroots organizations and the SLNM. These entities provide representation and communication within the Latino community and are a political link between the Latino community and the non-Latino American community. Each has a high stake in protecting the rights of immigrants and an incentive for participating in the coalition. The majority of the Chicago Latino community views the immigration debate as in important issue, but not all members of the community are interested in this topic. The importance of immigrant rights in Chicago Latino communities give a reason as to why Latino grassroots organizations and Latino elected officials are deeply interested in this public policy area. The SLNM existence is based on their ability to cover and respond to Latino issues, the immigration issue is also viewed as important by the SLNM (Rodriguez 1999; Ramos 2005). According to Latino elected officials I interviewed, the SLNM is most interested in covering stories or issues concerning the immigration debate, which is why the immigration marches that took place on March 25, April 10, and May 1, 2006, allow us to clearly see the SLNM having a role in the advocacy coalition for immigrant rights. The advocacy coalition for immigrant rights further explains how the SLNM fits into a Latino advocacy coalition in this particular aspect of the coalition. The marches on March 25, April 10, and May 1 2006, demonstrated the growing frustration of the advocacy coalition for immigrant rights after the passage of the unfavorable house bill H.R. 4437. However, this was not the first time that immigration legislation deemed anti-immigrant had passed. In 1996, there were a series of bills passed aim at reducing illegal immigration. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act goal was to set up measures to remove criminal and other deportable aliens (Garcia 2003, 177). Even though the Latino community opposed the legislation, activists did not manage to mobilize the community in a substantial level. Although, Chicago had a large Latino community with Latino elected officials and Latino grassroots organizations they were unable to organize in large numbers. One reason is that there were not many options available to communicate to a large Latino community. In 1996, the SLNM in the Chicago area was smaller; Chicago had 2 Spanish television stations, 3 radio stations, and two newspapers. Today there are four Spanish television stations, over 5 Spanish radio stations, and two newspapers in the Chicago area. Despite the earlier existence of immigrant right advocacy coalitions a large display of opposition to legislation was not witness until recently in Chicago. This may have been a result of the smaller presence of the SLNM. During the recent massive Latino mobilization, the SLNM initiated the immigration marches by directly advocating and promoting participation among the Latino community. The Spanish Radio was accredited with initializing the mobilization in Chicago, which encouraged other Spanish language news mediums to follow. This chain reaction is described by Senator Del Valle: "These radio personalities with morning radio programs and other programs I think contributed more than any other group to getting the kinds of turnout that came out. And they just hit this everyday they would say vengan a marchar, vengan a marchar [come march, come march] they just kept promoting and promoting. And people respond to that type of thing and it was the radio personalities who first touched that nerve. And once the television stations networks Univision and Telemundo saw the response then they started and they got in and started to promote the marches and so you had television and radio all promoting the marches. And I would say that it was Latino media when you put it all together that was responsible for those huge turnouts. And so it's an example of because Latino media doing what they did then the people kind of got ahead of the leadership if you will and the thing just grew and it took on a life of its own and that's how movements are born. (Senator del Valle interview 2006) The SLNM leadership role during these marches is evident. Senator del Valle was not the only one who recognized the importance of the SLNM role in leading mobilizing efforts. Yeah, I think so considering the recent marches, I don't know how it started in other cities, but in Chicago it kind of spun out from a radio campaign. One of the jockeys from the radio spearheaded that through his constant announcements and through the media's constant focusing on that issue it was what brought out so many people. So yeah it could definitely effect political participation. (Organization Representative interview 2006) However, the immigrant rights advocacy coalition had limits during this advocacy initiative that resulted from the diversity of the Chicago Latino community. Some members of the diverse Latino community can reject a particular story if it does not affect them. The immigration debate, besides Puerto Rican leaders like Senator del Valle, garners little interest from the Puerto Rican community. This is because Puerto Ricans are not affected by immigration policy. The SLNM is aware of this distinction and remains objective within the Latino community by catering to the preferences of their different audiences. According to Medieros, La Raza distributes two different editions, a north side and south side edition. Stories that interest Puerto Ricans like those dealing with events occurring in Puerto Rico are covered on the north side edition, while stories that interest the Mexican population like immigration are cover in the south side edition. La Raza recognizes and respects the demographics of their distinctive Chicago Latino audiences. This objectivity demonstrates the limitation on both the SLNM and the immigrant rights advocacy coalition ability to influence the entire Latino community. The immigrant rights advocacy coalition was still able to successfully attract a large number of non-Latinos to participate in the marches (Flaccus 2006). The SLNM as part of the immigrant rights advocacy coalition had a significant role in helping get the word out to non-Latino Spanish speaking audiences. Medieros explains that during the massive Latino mobilization the editors of La Raza had to convince the editor of a mainstream newspaper that the May 1st march were going to have large turnouts in Chicago. He cites this as an example of how the Spanish newspaper has a direct insight, which the mainstream news media does not have. Furthermore, Mediero speaks if another form of advocacy taken up by the SLNM - making other non Latino members attentive to Latino issues and causes. Some members of the SLNM are stronger advocates of Latino issues than others. The accounts of Senator del Valle and the Latino organization representative clearly identify the radio stations as taking on the advocacy leadership role. Despites, the Spanish newspaper role as an advocate of Latino issues, it tends to stick to the objective ideology of mainstream newspapers. As a former employee of Spanish Newspaper and now a representative for a large Latino organization states, Print media [Spanish Newspapers] tends to shy away from Local politicsI mean obviously they report on it, but it is very bi-partisan you know inform the people and let them make the decision, unfortunately, Latino voting is not at its highest, an analysis of his statement along with his tone of voice during the interview also implies that he would prefer to see the Spanish newspaper take on more of a advocacy role for Latino issues and causes. Medeiros statement reaffirms the objectivity of La Raza, despite their advocacy. Our newspaper does not always argue in favor of Latinos: For example, with the recent immigration issues La Raza has tried to play an informative role by presenting both sides of the story with out favoring or condemning either sideMany do not like this and will ask us how we could support people who violate the law and enter the country through the borders like terrorists. And we always say the same thing we dont support or condemn we just try to inform the pro and the con of the issue. We try to avoid the bias or the tainted report but it is difficult. People consider that because we are a Latino newspaper we have to support everything that is Latino even if it is illegal and that is not the case. (Medieros interview 2006) Another restriction on the SLNMs advocacy is that they are still a media company, or private entity. Their survival is not only dependent on serving the Latino community, but also their ability to convince companies that the significance of the 5th largest Latino market in the United States (Rodriguez 1999; Hispanic Market 2000). In Chicago, the SLNM is limited by this factor; this restriction was evident during their direct advocacy role in the Latino mobilization. The Chicago SLNM, unlike other SLNM outlets in other cities, according to community leaders did not promote the Boycott that was to coincide with the marches. The reason why may have been from powerful outside economic influences. This means that both the immigrant rights advocacy coalitionand the SLNM advocacy are still influenced by members outside of the Latino community. Overall the SLNM advocacy role has been crucial in effectively organizing and mobilizing the Latino community. Conclusion Although levels of Latino democratic participation are still relatively low when compared to the rest of the United States, the Latino political influence continues to grow. In Chicago this increase in Latino political power has led to more descriptive representation along with the passage of Latino friendly legislation. As a result, the role of the SLNM in the Latino advocacy coalition is expected to continue. The SLNM has helped bridge and preserve the ethnic differences between Latin American immigrants. The importance of the SLNM in the Latino community is evident through its role in mobilizing efforts. The recent emergence of the Latino community has helped provide a mode of communication for Latinos living in Chicago. The ability of the SLNM to cover issues that would otherwise not be covered by Mainstream news media has helped them convince the Latino community that they are important entity for the community. The rest of the non-Latino communities are starting to realize the significance of SLNMs in mobilizing efforts. In addition, Latino scholars must consider the SLNM's role when discussing Latino politics because of its tremendous influence and role in the community. Future research should develop this role and examine the successes of SLNM membership in the Latino advocacy coalition. In addition, a comparison between SLNM and mainstream news media coverage will help provide a basis to claim that mainstream is not concerned with Latino issues. The SLNM important role is expected to remain for quite sometime, but the possibility of the SLNM no longer being viewed as a non-mainstream media outlet also exist. Especially as the Latino community increasing becomes more bilingual and assimilated. Overall, the significance of the SLNM can longer be denied and their important impact on Latino political development must be acknowledged and studied in more depth. 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Latino Politics in America: Community, Culture and Interest. Rowman & Littlefiled Publishers, Inc.: Lanham, Maryland. Geron, Kim. 2005 Latino Political Power. Colorado Lynne Rienner Publishers. Heclo, Hugh. 1978. "Issue Networks and the Executive Establishment." In Anthony King (Ed.), The New American Political System. Washington D.C.: American Enterprise Institute. Isralowitz, Jason P. 1992. The Reporter as Citizen: Newspaper Ethics and Constitutional Values. University of Pennsylvania Law Review: 141 (1) 221-281. Iyengar, Shanto and Kinder, Donald R. 1987. News that matters: Television and American Opinion. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. Jacobs, Lawrence R. and Shapiro, Robert Y., 1996. Toward the Integrated study of Political Communications, Public Opinion, and the Policy-Making Process. Political Science and Politics, (29)1, 10-13. Jenkins-Smith and Sabatier. 1993. Polciy Chcange and Learning: An Advocacy Coalition Approach. Boulder: Westview Press. Latino advocacy organization representative. 2006. Interview on the role of the Spanish language news media in Latino political and grassroots organizing McNair Summer research experience. Latino elected official. 2006. Interview on the role of the Spanish language news media in Latino political and grassroots organizing McNair Summer research experience. Medieros, Jorge. 2006. Interview on the role of the Spanish language news media in Latino political and grassroots organizing McNair Summer research experience. Mutz, Diana C., and Martin, Paul S. 2001. Facilitating Communication across Lines of Political Difference: The Role of Mass media. The American Political Science Review: (95) 1, 97- 114. Moy, Patricia, McCluskey, Michael R., McCoy, Kelly, and Spratt, Margaret A. 2004. Political Correlates of Local News media Use. Journal of Communications. September, 1-15. Padilla, Felix M.1995. Latino Ethnic Consciousness: The Case of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans in Chicago. University of Notre Dame Press: Notre Dame, Indiana. Ramos, Jorge. 2005. The Latino Wave: How Hispanics are transforming politics in America. New York : HarperCollins Publishers. Ready, Timothy, and Brown-Gort, Allert. 2005. "The State of Latino Chicago : This is Home Now." University of Notre Dame: Institute for Latino Studies. Rodriguez , America. 1999. Making Latino News: Race, Language, Class. London : Sage Publications. Suro, Roberto,2004. "Changing Channels and Crisscrossing Cultures: A Survey of Latinos on the News Media."Pew Hispanic Center: Washington D.C. Tolbert, Caroline and McNeal, Ramona S. 2003. "Unraveling the Effects of the Internet on Political Participation? Political Research Quarterly: 56 (2) 175-185. Univision. July, 7 2004 . "Nielsen Media Research Study finds Univision.com the most-visited Spanish-Language website for fourth year in a row." Univision Communications: Press Release.  The term Latino in this study is used to refer to the Spanish speaking population and people whose descendants are from Spanish speaking national origins and does not imply in any way that these groups are one unified homogenous group (Padilla 1985; Ramos 2005). 2 The interviews were conducted both in person and on the telephone within a period of eight weeks. The interviewees were selected from a list of SLNM contacts, elected officials, and Latino community organizers and were contacted either by e-mail or telephone.     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