Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-30T22:48:42.590Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Spanish-Language Media Entrepreneurship in the Statehouse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

D. Xavier Medina Vidal
D. Xavier Medina Vidal*
Affiliation:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
*
Corresponding Author: D. Xavier Medina Vidal, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 503 Major Williams Hall, Pol. Science (0130), Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Little is known about the role of Spanish-language media in the representation of Latino constituencies in statehouses. In this article, I present analyses of elite-level data from the Media and Public Policy in the States: 2011 Survey, which reveal state legislators' attitudes and orientations toward the news media. Building on the view that Spanish-language media provide an important representational link between Hispanic constituents and their political representatives, I argue that the level of media sophistication or “media entrepreneurship” state legislators bring to their representative role is a function of legislators' Spanish media environments. Through statistical tests of the relationships between the Spanish-language media environment, state lawmakers' perceptions of the media's effectiveness, and their use of media tools, I find evidence that district-level Spanish-language media contexts influence lawmakers' level of engagement with the news media.

Keywords

Hispanic/Latino politicsidentity/group politicsrepresentationlegislative behaviorlegislative politicslegislator preferencesmass mediapolitical behavior
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 287 - 314
Copyright
The Author(s) 2015

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrajano, Marisa A., and Michael Álvarez, R.. 2010. New Faces New Voices: The Hispanic Electorate in America. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexandre, Laurien, and Rehbinder, Henrik. 2008. “Watching the 2000 Presidential Campaign on Univisión and Telemundo.” In The Mass Media and Latino Politics: Studies of U.S. Media Content, Campaign Strategies and Survey Research, 1984-2000, ed. Subervi-Vélez, Federico. New York: Routledge, 154–77.Google Scholar
Arnold, R. Douglas. 2004. Congress, the Press, and Political Accountability. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Barreto, Matt A., Manzano, Sylvia, Ramírez, Ricardo, and Rim, Kathy. 2009. “Mobilization, Participation, and Solidaridad: Latino Participation in the 2006 Immigration Protest Rallies.” Urban Affairs Review 44:736–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, Matthew A. 2003. “Soft News and Political Knowledge: Evidence of Absence or Absence of Evidence?” Political Communication 20:173–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bejarano, Christina E. 2013. The Latina Advantage: Gender, Race, and Political Success. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Bratton, Kathleen A., and Haynie, Kerry L.. 1999. “Agenda Setting and Legislative Success in State Legislatures: The Effects of Gender and Race.” The Journal of Politics 61:658–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bratton, Kathleen A., and Rouse, Stella M.. 2011. “Networks in the Legislative Arena: How Group Dynamics Affect Cosponsorship.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 36:423–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casellas, Jason P. 2009. “The Institutional and Demographic Determinants of Latino Representation.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 31:399–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Constantakis-Valdés, Patricia. 2008. “Univisión and Telemundo on the Campaign Trail: 1988.” In The Mass Media and Latino Politics: Studies of U.S. Media Content, Campaign Strategies and Survey Research, 1984-2000, ed. Subervi-Vélez, Federico. New York: Routledge, 131–53.Google Scholar
Cook, Timothy E. 1989. Making Laws and Making News. Washington, DC: Brookings.Google Scholar
Cook, Timothy E. 1998. Governing with the News. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Cooper, Christopher A. 2002a. “Media and the State Legislature: How State Legislators Use Media Tactics to Achieve Legislative Goals.” Ph.D. diss. University of Tennessee, Knoxville.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, Christopher A. 2002b. “Media Tactics in the State Legislature.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 2:353–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, Christopher A., and Johnson, Martin. 2007. “News Media and the State Policy Process: Perspectives from Legislators and Political Professionals.” Presented at the 2007 State Politics and Policy Conference, University of Texas at Austin, February 22–24.Google Scholar
Davis, Richard. 1992. The Press and American Politics: The New Mediator. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Dillman, Donald A. 1978. Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Quality Design Method. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Dunaway, Johanna, Branton, Regina P., and Abrajano, Marisa A.. 2010. “Agenda Setting, Public Opinion, and the Issue of Immigration Reform.” Social Science Quarterly 91:359–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Félix, Adrián, González, Carmen, and Ramírez, Ricardo. 2008. “Political Protest, Ethnic Media, and Latino Naturalization.” American Behavioral Scientist 52:618–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenno, Richard F. 1978. Home Style: House Members in Their Districts. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Fenno, Richard F. 1996. Senators on the Campaign Trail: The Politics of Representation. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.Google Scholar
Fraga, Luis R., Garcia, John A., Hero, Rodney, Jones-Correa, Michael, Martinez-Ebers, Valerie, and Segura, Gary M.. Latino National Survey (LNS), 2006. ICPSR20862-v6. Ann Arbor: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2013-06-05. doi:10.3886/ICPSR20862.v6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gay, Claudine. 2002. “Spirals of Trust? The Effect of Descriptive Representation on the Relationship between Citizens and Their Government.” American Journal of Political Science 46:717–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graber, Doris A. 1990. “Seeing Is Remembering: How Visuals Contribute to Learning from Television News.” Journal of Communication 40:134–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graber, Doris A. 1993. Mass Media and American Politics, 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Hale, Mathew, Olsen, Tricia, and Fowler, Erika Franklin. 2008. “Hablando Política: How Spanish-Language Television News Covered the 2004 Elections” In The Mass Media and Latino Politics: Studies of U.S. Media Content, Campaign Strategies and Survey Research, 1984-2004, ed. Subervi-Vélez, Federico. New York: Routledge, 178–92.Google Scholar
Herbst, Susan. 1998. Reading Public Opinion: How Political Actors View the Democratic Process. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Hero, Rodney E., and Tolbert, Caroline J.. 1995. “Latinos and Substantive Representation in the U.S. House of Representatives: Direct, Indirect, or Nonexistent?” American Journal of Political Science 39:640–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hess, Stephen. 1991. Live from Capitol Hill: Studies of Media and Congress. Washington, DC: Brookings.Google Scholar
Hogan, Robert E. 1997. “Voter Contact Techniques in State Legislative Campaigns: The Prevalence of Mass Media Advertising.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 22:551–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopkins, Daniel J., Tran, Van C., and Williamson, Abigail Fisher. 2014. “See No Spanish: Language, Local Context, and Attitudes toward Immigration.” Politics, Groups, and Identities 2:1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, Melissa. A. 2000. “How Ethnic Are U.S. Ethnic Media: The Case of Latina Magazines.” Mass Communication and Society 3:229–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kedrowski, Karen. 1996. Media Entrepreneurs in the United States Congress. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.Google Scholar
Kerevel, Yann P. 2011. “The Influence of Spanish-Language Media on Latino Public Opinion and Group Consciousness.” Social Science Quarterly 92:509–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerr, Brinck, and Miller, Will. 1997. “Latino Representation, It's Direct and Indirect.” American Journal of Political Science 41:1066–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langbein, Laura I., and Sigelman, Lee. 1989. “Show Horses, Work Horses, and Dead Horses.” American Politics Research 17(1): 80–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynch, G. Patrick. 2003. “The Media in State and Local Politics.” In Media, Power, Media Politics, ed. Rozell, Mark J.. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 119–39.Google Scholar
Maestas, Cherie, Neeley, Grant, and Richardson, Lilliard. 2003. “The State of Surveying Legislators: Dilemmas and Suggestions.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 3:90–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansbridge, Jane J. 2000. “What Does a Representative Do? Descriptive Representation in Communicative Settings of Distrust, Uncrystallized Interests, and Historically Denigrated Status.” Citizenship in Diverse Societies 26:99–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthews, Donald R. 1960. U.S. Senators and Their World. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Medina Vidal, D. Xavier. 2014. “State Lawmakers and Spanish-Language Media: Developing Hispanic/Latino Issue Agendas in the States.” International Journal of Hispanic Media 7: 12–27.Google Scholar
Medina Vidal, D. Xavier, Ugues, Antonio, Bowler, Shaun, and Donovan, Todd. 2009. “Two Political Worlds? The Relevance of Language in California Politics.” The California Journal of Politics and Policy 1 (1): 1–29..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mondak, Jeffrey J. 1995. Nothing to Read: Newspapers and Elections in a Social Experiment. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. 2009. 2009 Directory of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
New America Media. 2010. NAM National Ethnic Media Directory. Online database. http://news.newamericamedia.org/directoryGoogle Scholar
Neuman, W. Russell, Just, Marion R., and Crigler, Ann N.. 1992. Common Knowledge: News and the Construction of Political Meaning. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Donnell, Kay. 2011. “The View from the Inside: Who Those Who Produce Bilingual Newspapers Perceive Their Mission.” Journal of Spanish Language Media 4:5–22.Google Scholar
Owen, Diana. 1991. Media Messages in American Presidential Elections. New York: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Padilla, Félix M. 1985. Latino Ethnic Consciousness: The Case of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans in Chicago. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Pantoja, Adrian D., and Segura, Gary M.. 2003. “Does Ethnicity Matter? Descriptive Representation in Legislatures and Political Alienation among Latinos.” Social Science Quarterly 84:441–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, Robert Ezra. [1922] 1970. The Immigrant Press and Its Control. Westport: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Payne, James L. 1980. “Show Horses and Work Horses in the United States House of Representatives.” Polity 12(3): 428–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Portes, Alejandro, and Rumbaut, Rubén G.. 2001. Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Preuhs, Robert R. 2007. “Descriptive Representation as a Mechanism to Mitigate Policy Backlash: Latino Incorporation and Welfare Policy in the American States.” Political Research Quarterly 60:277–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramírez, Ricardo. 2013. Mobilizing Opportunities: The Evolving Latino Electorate and the Future of American Politics. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.Google Scholar
Rouse, Stella M. 2013. Latinos in the Legislative Process: Interests and Influence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 2007. “Measuring State Legislative Professionalism: The Squire Index Revisited.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 7:211–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Subervi-Vélez, Federico A. 1986. “The Mass Media and Ethnic Assimilation and Pluralism: A Review and Research Proposal with Speicla Focus on Hispanics.” Communication Research 13: 71–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Subervi-Vélez, Federico A. 2008. “Theoretical, Contextual, and Methodological Considerations” In The Mass Media and Latino Politics: Studies of U.S. Media Content, Campaign Strategies and Survey Research, 1984-2004, ed. Subervi-Vélez, Federico. New York: Routledge, 51–81.Google Scholar
Taylor, Paul, López, Mark Hugo, Martínez, Jessica, and Velasco, Gabriel. 2012. When Labels Don't Fit: Hispanics and Their Views of Identity. Washington, DC: Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project. http://www.pewhispanic.org/files/2012/04/PHC-Hispanic-Identity.pdf (accessed February 25, 2015).Google Scholar
U.S. Census. 2010. Census population estimates of Hispanic Spanish-speakers over age 5. Census File.Google Scholar
Vinson, C. Danielle. 2003. Local Media Coverage of Congress and Its Members: Through Local Eyes. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.Google Scholar
West, Sharon Crook. 1994. “The News Media in Ohio Politics.” In Ohio Politics, ed. Lamis, Alexander. Kent: Kent State University Press, 181–95.Google Scholar
Wilson, Walter. 2009. “Latino Representation on Congressional Websites.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 34:427–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar