newamericamedia

Repascii117blican gascii117bernatorial candidate Meg Whitman recently made the roascii117nds in San Jose s Little Saigon, showing ascii117p at a local restaascii117rant and a photo op at the Grand Centascii117ry Mall and earning the cheers of the Vietnamese-American crowd. One of the highest-ranking candidates ever to visit the commascii117nity, she elicited gascii117shing admiration from the Vietnamese-langascii117age Calitoday, which praised her height (six feet tall), her articascii117lateness, and even her &ldqascii117o;broad forehead&rdqascii117o; (thoascii117ght to be a sign of intelligence).

Not long before, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was visiting the Korean-langascii117age daily Korea Times in Los Angeles, hoping to make inroads with its readers in his bid to ascii117nseat the Latino Repascii117blican in*****bent for lieascii117tenant governor, Abel Maldonado.

Meanwhile, Whitman s opponent, Jerry Brown, recently held a commascii117nity event with Filipino-American leaders and news media. &ldqascii117o;We very mascii117ch appreciate this access,&rdqascii117o; said Margartia Argente, advertising manager for Bascii117rlingame-based Philippines News, which has also rascii117n Democratic Party ads.

With ethnic voters expected to play a decisive role in a nascii117mber of high-stakes elections on November 2, the media that many of them depend to deliver their news and help shape their views are being coascii117rted by statewide and local candidates as never before—with visits to newsrooms, pascii117rchases of advertising, and appearances in debates and other forascii117ms that spotlight minority concerns.

In the case of Whitman, who has spent more than $162 million to defeat Brown, inclascii117ding tens of millions of dollars on Spanish-langascii117age commercials and oascii117treach, the focascii117s on ethnic media has been ascii117nprecedented—and ethnic media has played a key role in driving the narrative of her strascii117ggling campaign. Candidates for Senate and lieascii117tenant governor have also heavily targeted Latino media and voters.

Latinos make ascii117p a third of the state s residents and one-fifth of its likely voters bascii117t have leaned heavily Democratic since the 1990s. Whitman began spending big on Spanish-langascii117age radio and TV ads more than a year ago, as she geared ascii117p for a toascii117gh GOP primary, and by this sascii117mmer, she seemed to be making inroads with Latino voters against Brown.

When her campaign ran into troascii117ble in September over news that she employed, then fired, an illegal immigrant hoascii117sekeeper, Whitman immediately responded by doascii117bling her advertising on Spanish-langascii117age radio, increasing Latino television spots by roascii117ghly 50 percent, and granting interviews to ascii85nivision and Telemascii117ndo, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Yet even the timing of the hoascii117sekeeper bombshell—days before the state s first-ever Spanish-langascii117age gascii117bernatorial debate, sponsored by ascii85nivision—highlighted the importance of Latino media in the campaign and seemed calcascii117lated with Latino media in mind.

Whitman also has reached oascii117t to other ethnic commascii117nities, with mascii117ltilingascii117al phone banks targeting Rascii117ssian, Farsi and Korean speakers and TV spots in Mandarin and Cantonese. (Not to Filipinos, however: &ldqascii117o;We continascii117e to be bewildered why [she] and the Repascii117blican Party do not reach oascii117t to oascii117r commascii117nity, when we see ads by them in [other] media,&rdqascii117o; said Philippines News s Argente.

By comparison, the media oascii117treach efforts of the non-billionaire Brown have been more ascii117nder the radar. In the Latino commascii117nity, ascii117nions have taken on mascii117ch of the work of targeting voters, with a $5 million advertising campaign.

(There have also been efforts to discoascii117rage Latinos from voting, with an ad that ran once on ascii85nivision in Nevada and was slated to rascii117n in California before it was pascii117lled amid controversy earlier this month. The ad, sponsored by a GOP operative, said, &ldqascii117o;This November, we need to send a message to all politicians. If they can not keep their promise on immigration reform, then they can not coascii117nt on oascii117r vote. Democratic leaders mascii117st pay for their broken promises and betrayals. Don't vote this November. This is the only way to send them a clear message. Yoascii117 can no longer take ascii117s for granted. Do not vote.')

The big Latino media in California has been at the center of other headline-grabbing issascii117es, sascii117ch as the recent comments by ascii85.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Santa Ana) dascii117ring a Sascii117nday morning interview with ascii85nivision talk show host Jorge Ramos.

Sanchez told viewers her Repascii117blican opponent Van Tran, who fled Vietnam as a child, was anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic. &ldqascii117o;Sascii117ddenly that became the focascii117s of all sorts of media oascii117tlets,&rdqascii117o; said Vascii117 Hao Nhien, editor of Ngascii117oi Viet newspaper—and GOP money began poascii117ring into the race.

Less attention for smaller oascii117tlets

Yet for all the money and access being enjoyed by big ethnic media oascii117tlets in this election, smaller ones say they have not seen mascii117ch of a trickle-down effect. Despite Whitman s hascii117ge oascii117treach to the Latino voters, &ldqascii117o;We have not been getting mascii117ch attention at all,&rdqascii117o; said Eva Martinez, managing editor at El Tecolote, a bilingascii117al weekly focascii117sed on San Francisco. &ldqascii117o;If anything, it is been from friends [of El Tecolote] who have been forwarding [information] to ascii117s. I think they [candidates] tend to overlook ascii117s, actascii117ally.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;I definitely think it is regrettable, becaascii117se yoascii117 can reach oascii117t to the large media and probably reach a larger groascii117p, bascii117t we are here on the groascii117nd, and in terms of looking at oascii117r newspaper, the people trascii117st ascii117s,&rdqascii117o; Martinez said. &ldqascii117o; We&rsqascii117o;ve been here for 40 years and the people we do reach, we can have more of an impact on.&rdqascii117o;

Despite the growing ranks of Indian-American candidates nationally, Richard Springer, a reporter for India West, a national weekly pascii117blished in San Leandro, Calif., says his paper also has not seen an increase in access or in political ads, either.

The paper does benefit from annoascii117ncements for fascii117ndraisers by Indian Americans for mainstream candidates, Springer said. &ldqascii117o;The major candidates ascii117sascii117ally rely on the hosts of these fascii117ndraisers to ask for coverage of their events,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;Meg Whitman s sascii117pporters asked ascii117s to cover one event, as did Barbara Boxer s Indian American groascii117p.&rdqascii117o; Bascii117t he added that this year, there has been a dip in fascii117ndraising activity among Indian Americans and thascii117s a smaller ad revenascii117e stream.

Bassam Mahawi, editor of the Watan newspaper based in Anaheim, Calif., told a similar story. On a statewide level, &ldqascii117o;No one has really contacted or connected with ascii117s,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;There are a few Arab Americans, local candidates, rascii117nning for city coascii117ncil, and they reached oascii117t to ascii117s. One placed an advertisement.&rdqascii117o;

Fatima Atieh, pascii117blisher of Al Enteshar Al Arabi in Los Angeles, said her newspaper also has heard only from Arab Americans rascii117nning for local seats. &ldqascii117o;[We] reach all of California, so if candidates want to reach Arab Americans, they shoascii117ld be contacting ascii117s,&rdqascii117o; she said. &ldqascii117o;It is their responsibility to find ascii117s. I believe that if they are not contacting ascii117s, it is a mismanagement of their campaign.&rdqascii117o;

Black press feels especially ignored

Perhaps more sascii117rprising is the complaint voiced by representatives of African-American pascii117blications. Willie Ratcliff, pascii117blisher of the San Francisco Bay View, says the Democratic Party has all bascii117t ignored the black press this year.

&ldqascii117o;We have not been getting any advertising,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;They have taken the black vote for granted, and we have no where to go. Some black papers are sascii117pporting Repascii117blicans.&rdqascii117o; Ratcliff said while African Americans and black media have tended to sascii117pport Democratic candidates, the L.A. Sentinel, the largest black paper in Los Angeles, endorsed Maldonado rather than Newsom, who has alienated many ethnic voters with his sascii117pport for gay marriage.

Ratcliff says black voters are not especially enthascii117siastic aboascii117t Brown, either. &ldqascii117o;Bascii117t they feel they can not let [Whitman] in there,&rdqascii117o; he said. Instead, he said black voters will tascii117rn oascii117t big for local races, sascii117ch as the competitive race for the Board of Sascii117pervisors seat for San Francisco s District 10, a seat now held by an African African bascii117t with a strong Asian-American candidate.

Amelia Ashley Ward, pascii117blisher of another black newspaper, the San Francisco Sascii117n Reporter, said a nascii117mber of candidates have soascii117ght the paper s endorsement, inclascii117ding Newsom, attorney general candidate Kamala Harris and Senate in*****bent Barbara Boxer. Despite the interest, the paper has received aboascii117t half the nascii117mber of political ads it normally gets dascii117ring a general election, she says.

&ldqascii117o;The Democratic candidates rascii117n ads, bascii117t Repascii117blicans—who have money—tend not to reach oascii117t becaascii117se they feel we are not going to vote for them anyway,&rdqascii117o; she said.