Helping ethnic media reporting truthfully to diverse communities in LA is imperative
Investigators with the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office discovered in April that a company, which was advertised on social media, was allegedly trying to sell for only $ 39 "reliable tests to detect the coronavirus," allegedly approved by the FDA.
That was after the Los Angeles authorities arrested a double from the movie Man of Steel for promoting on Instagram a supposed "patent cure for the coronavirus pending."
Both examples are the kind of ads the public can find on social media, but never on serious media in the Latino community, according to spokesperson for the Los Angeles Immigrant Human Rights Coalition (CHIRLA), Jorge Mario. Cabrera.
Many Latinos could have been aware, if the Los Angeles government relied on media that, in addition to being professionals, had earned the trust of the community, he said.
"In a city like Los Angeles, cosmopolitan and immense, it is very important that you invest in the network of ethnic media, which are the first door that our community touches to inform and strengthen itself with confidence," said Cabrera.
Confidence is precisely what will allow some means with which communities identify themselves to survive, not only the pandemic, but also a difficult financial situation they were already going through before the arrival of the coronavirus and which may worsen when the contingency, Daniela Gerson, journalism assistant at Northridge State University (CSUN) told La Opinion.
"A lot of people report with social media news and it's a problem because rumors and false information are circulating quickly," he added.
"When people need to find out about a raid, if they can get out of their house, if the children are going to go back to school, if they are going to receive their stimulus check, or if they can go see the doctor or go to a hospital, for example They must know it from reliable means ”.
All this information has official sources, which are managed by the media of ethnic communities, for example, data in Spanish for the immigrant community in Los Angeles.
Aid to ethnic media
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas explained in written statements to La Opinion that the county government needs to rely on local media from ethnic groups beyond the pandemic, because they are reliable platforms for institutions that help reach the community. .
"It is important not only for timely and critical information about the pandemic, but also for needed data on hiring opportunities, cultural events, property tax deadlines, Los Angeles County policy initiatives, and other general services and programs." he explained.
In fact, the supervisor presented a communication strategy initiative for the county government to invest in ethnic media.
"The motion seeks to ensure that the County's information reaches all communities" through the means it knows to be its own. For example, La Opinión de Los Ángeles, which according to the supervisor, is the only newspaper that is published daily in Spanish and that is looking for readers in a wide region.
“As one of the most diverse counties in the nation, our diversity is not just an asset, it is an asset base. In this sense, it is vitally important that the information is accessible to people from diverse cultural and multilingual communities, who call Los Angeles County home, ”added the official.
Professor Gerson opined that Ridley Thomas' proposal is an ideal solution for ethnic media to overcome the stage of the pandemic and the subsequent severe financial crisis.
It is a model of relationship between government and ethnic media that covers their need to inform residents in their language and truthfully.
He added that proposals similar to that of supervisor Ridley-Thomas are already in force in New York and Canada.
He said that the current trend "is for all the media to become digital" but, according to his research, the media from ethnic communities are more successful, as well as being able to dominate the digital version, radio and video.
