Resources for finding experts and data

Spanish-speaking journalists in the U.S. face challenges when covering Latino communities: sources and data are often in English, and finding a way to illustrate how certain topics affect Latino communities can be difficult.

We also observe a scarcity of experts who not only study these particular communities but also have the ability and willingness to conduct interviews in Spanish, on TV, radio, or social media pieces, and “reach out” to Latinos and Hispanics.

To help address this issue, in our bilingual guide for journalists covering Latino and Spanish-speaking communities, we’ve included a list of some experts and other useful resources. These sources are organizations and public institutions that can provide analysis, data, and even graphics. 

We divided them into nine areas: general data and research, immigration, health, climate, organizations focusing on Latino communities, legislation and government, elections, violence and security, and the economy.

In our general research and data section, we include the United States Census, the primary reference for general population statistics and data analysis. Importantly, the census shows changes occurring within the Hispanic/Latino population, not only demographically, but also in employment, health, housing, and other areas. We also included the Pew Research Center, which conducts studies providing interpretation of  statistics on various topics, including data on Hispanics — consumer trends, family data, voting statistics, and other information.

Regarding the right to vote and elections, we found that although there is a variety of sources in English, there is a scarcity of organizations focused on the Latino voting population. That’s why we included the Brennan Center en español, institutional Factchequeado’s partner, which provides data as well as experts who can do interviews in Spanish. You can find information on how the redistricting of electoral districts affects Latino communities and how some electoral measures affect the voting rights of these groups.

For health data, both the FDA and the CDC have Spanish versions of their websites. This helps Spanish-speaking journalists and the communities they serve with the interpretation of official disease prevention data, recommendations, and alerts about withdrawn products (due to defects or contamination).

Many times we find that these pages or contents are simply translated into Spanish, and they do not necessarily address the concerns or information gaps in these communities.

Factchequeado is a collaborative initiative to combat mis- and disinformation affecting Spanish speakers. The foundation of our work is built on the creation of a large network of media partners and other organizations. Thanks to our more than 65 partners, we can better understand the information needs of Latino communities in more than 20 states around the country, as well as the needs of the journalists covering and serving these communities. Through this ongoing exchange of information, we have discovered that, especially with environmental or climate-related topics, most of the relevant information available is in English. Even information alerting residents to climate phenomena impacting their area, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, snowstorms, and fires, is only available in English in many cases.

In this article, I discuss the results of a survey among Factchequeado’s media partners, which included the main topics they’ve identified where they lack information for their Latino audiences.

In our reporting guide, which will be launched in March, we’ve included some of these sources that are only available in English, due to their relevance for key topics. However, as an example, we also wanted to include, the EPA en español, the government’s environmental protection agency website in Spanish. There you can find press releases and articles on a variety of topics, from how asbestos affects people to bed bug control.

The idea is for us all to further this guide together, and we invite feedback and suggestions from the public. Do you have any ideas for reliable sources that we should add to the guide? Contact me at tcalzadilla@factchequeado.com or add a comment directly on the guide, which will be available soon.

Cite this article

Calzadilla, Tamoa (2024, February 20). Reliable sources for data on Latino communities and for Spanish-speaking journalists. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Retrieved from: https://rjionline.org/news/reliable-sources-for-data-on-latino-communities-and-for-spanish-speaking-journalists/