Reaching New Audiences: Student News Organizations’ Spanish-language Coverage

Abstract

U.S. universities are increasingly adding programs related to Spanish-language media. Such programs may result in more student-produced Spanish-language content. Through a content analysis (N=300) of articles, this research explores what student publications are covering in Spanish. Student-produced Spanish-language newspapers prioritized news and campus coverage; nearly half of the articles directly referenced Hispanic or Latinx communities. Differences with regard to funding, public vs. private, and Hispanic-serving Institution status are discussed.

Keywords: College Newspapers, Spanish, Hispanic-serving Institutions, News Deserts

Methods: Content Analysis

As newsrooms around the United States continue to shut down, with more than 2,000 closing in the last 15 or so years (Abernathy 2020), student news organizations have the potential to fill voids of coverage in local communities. Finneman et al. (2022) reported that student journalists at university-affiliated news outlets that were created, in part, to address news deserts “took pride in covering underrepresented communities” (349). Notably, two of the newsrooms explored in Finneman et al. (2022) were created to serve communities of color in large metropolitan areas that might not traditionally be considered news deserts. Finneman et al. (2022) suggested that demographics also be considered in defining deserts of news coverage.

The results of the last official censuses placed the Hispanic population as the largest minority group in the United States and Spanish as the second most-spoken language in the United States after English (Dietrich and Hernandez 2022). Relatedly, colleges and universities around the country have begun launching programs in Spanish-language and bilingual media. Florida International University and the University of Arizona have bilingual journalism graduate programs, and San Francisco State University launched a bachelor’s degree in bilingual journalism in fall 2022.

However, despite the academic interest in Spanish-language media and growth in related degree programs, Arzaba (2020) stated that Spanish-language media is not immune from the industry struggles that other print outlets are facing today, such as advertising and the growth of online platforms. Further, Graciela Mochkofsky, director of the Spanish-language Journalism Program at City University of New York, noted that Spanish-language newspapers have their own unique struggles and suggested that Spanish-language content that is produced by English-owned companies does not get equal respect or resources. Further, she noted that “The Spanish-language industry is still mainly serving immigrant Latin American communities, but the majority of Latinx are U.S.-born, young and bilingual” (Arzaba, para. 4), which should be considered in the planning of coverage. This was supported by Moran (2006) who suggested that older family members encouraged younger relatives to consume Spanish-language media as a means of connecting with their culture.

Given the evolution of the Spanish-language audience, the development of journalism programs focusing on Spanish, and the experiential learning opportunities for students studying Spanish, research into student-produced Spanish media is critical. Therefore, in this study, the authors seek to further the discussion of potential demographic news deserts that are being addressed by student news organizations by reviewing the content covered by student news organizations in Spanish.

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Literature Review

The Hispanic population in the U.S. is by no means a static, monolithic group despite being connected by the Spanish language and largely hailing from Mexico and Puerto Rico. According to the 2020 US Census, the Hispanic population increased by 23% between 2010 and 2020, going from 50.5 million to 62.1 million, which accounts for more than half of the total U.S. population growth during that decade (Jones et al. 2021). Since the early 2000s, the demographics of this population have shifted in two significant areas: place of birth and English proficiency. According to a Pew Research Center 2022 report, “Among adult Hispanics, the U.S.-born share increased, from its recent low of 45% in 2007 to 55.2% in 2019” (Funk and Hugo Lopez 2022). The same report states “Changes in language use have been more pronounced among U.S.-born Hispanics. In 2019, 91% spoke English proficiently, up from 72% in 1980. Meanwhile, those who speak Spanish at home fell to 57% in 2019 from 67% in 1980” (para. 13).

Yet, the interest in Spanish-language news media is increasing. Pew Research reported that the audience for national broadcast news at Univision increased across all major time slots from 2018-2020, though there was more variation at Telemundo, the nation’s other leading Spanish-language broadcaster. In general, the average daily audience for national news hovered at about 1.9 million.Univision also saw increases in local affiliate audiences across the same time frame.

While interest in broadcast media has increased, the average per-paper circulation for weekly and semi weekly Hispanic newspapers “remained relatively steady from 2015-2019 but dropped by 8% in the past year, from 118,000 to 109,000” (Pew Research 2021, para. 5).

Spanish-language Coverage

In terms of coverage, Shumow and Vigon (2015) explored the topics covered by 28 U.S.-based Spanish-language news websites, specifically pertaining to political coverage that was deemed important to Hispanic audiences and the variety of coverage in general. They found that “The scarcity of coverage of some key topics as identified by Hispanic voters is problematic” (61) and observed that while there was some variety of coverage, it was not diverse enough to account for the geographic and demographic variation in the Spanish-speaking audiences.

Dulcan (2006) compared framing strategies between Spanish and English coverage of a specific immigration issue—a rogue border enforcement group known as the Minutemen. Dulcan found that Spanish-language newspapers covered the topic more extensively and with greater topic variety than their English counterparts, but reported little variation in their use of news frames. However, in reporting on immigration, English-language newspapers were generally more negative in tone than Spanish-language coverage. These findings were affirmed by Branton and Dunaway (2008), who also reported that:

Spanish-language news outlets generate a larger volume of coverage on immigration when compared to English-language news outlets. Additionally, English-language media outlets are more likely to focus on negative aspects of immigration and produce negatively slanted news stories than are Spanish-language media outlets. (1019)

Similarly, in a comparison of Spanish and English broadcast stations in the same region, Moran (2005) found that the stories aired generally adhered to American journalistic norms of “newsworthiness” but found that there were differences in coverage of “Latino issues.” Specifically, the Spanish-language station dedicated significantly more coverage to issues of immigration (11% of its total coverage) than the English-language station, for which immigration accounted for less than 1% of its total coverage. In essence, Moran (2005) confirmed that the Spanish-language station had tailored its coverage for its intended audience. She credited similarities in style of coverage to market forces including parent company ownership, issues of advertising, etc. In this manner, Moran (2005) argued that Spanish-language coverage, in the studied market, was not alternative media, but instead a form of mainstream media.

COVID-19

Mainstream media of all languages were challenged by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the years that followed. Prior to the pandemic, Villar and Bueno-Olson (2013) found that English-language publications were more likely to report on health issues. Further they found that English coverage was more focused on policy, whereas Spanish coverage was more likely to address diseases. Among the Spanish-language coverage, Villar and Bueno-Olson (2013) found more variety based on geographic location than any other factor.

In terms of Spanish-language media related to the pandemic, Gomez-Aguinaga Oaxaca, Barreto, and Sanchez (2021) explored the relationship between Latinos’ Spanish-language media consumption, perceptions of credibility, and attitude formation. They found that “trust in Spanish-language journalists is associated with a greater change in assessments of state and local officials providing adequate information about COVID-19” (10). They concluded that their study documents the need for quality Spanish-language media related to COVID-19 in the US, especially given the documented disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on the Hispanic community (Noe-Bustamante, Manuel Krogstad, and Lopez 2021).

Despite this need, as previously noted, Spanish-language newspapers have struggled to maintain their circulation. Student newspapers may be one mechanism for addressing coverage voids (Kopenhaver, Smith, and Kleinberg Biehl 2021), whether physical, geographic news deserts or cultural or language news deserts. Further, in reviewing disparities in coverage related to COVID-19, Lefebre and Valera (2022) recommended an “Increase [in] academic pipelines for Hispanics/Latinos to enter journalism and health communications” (2), as well as an increase in Spanish-language coverage.

Experiential Learning

The Spanish language has an important place in the United States. Spanish speakers in the United States influence American life on countless social, demographic, and cultural aspects. Thus, educational institutions’ role in developing and ensuring the acquisition of Spanish-language skills is essential.

Experiential learning aligns with Spanish-language curriculum as the premise is that knowledge is acquired by learning by doing, exploring, experimenting, and interacting with the world (Moreno-López et al., 2017). Experiential learning allows students to go from theory-based concepts to real-world applications. Experiential learning also extends beyond the classroom as it helps students think critically and apply linguistic and cultural knowledge in real-world situations.

Experiential learning acts in contrast to a learning through lecture or “sage on the stage” model (Kolb 2014). While experiential learning can occur in traditional classroom spaces, it can also happen through co-curricular experiences such as internships or service-based projects (Kolb 2014). Journalism education has been explored through the lens of experiential learning, as was suggested by Brandon (2002). It has been used to explore topics such as student learning in a digital- and mobile-first newsroom (Burns 2017), sports journalism (Reed 2018), and political reporting during an election (Dodd, English, Lidberg, and Newlands 2021).

However, little research has explored experiential learning in the context of language education, and specifically, not through the lens of student media production. Spanish-language student media offers a unique experiential learning opportunity in which students apply knowledge gained in the Spanish classroom to real life. When students write articles for a Spanish-language student newspaper, they must consider factors including audience and word choice, which goes over and beyond the limitations of writing just for a class, the teacher, or on a specific topic.

Spanish-Language Student Media

Student newspapers in the U.S. have served as a form of experiential learning since their inception, which some credit to Dartmouth University in 1799. Yet, pinpointing the origins of Spanish-language student media outlets is more challenging. As early as 1902, during the fight for statehood, the University of New Mexico’s student publication, The Mirage, began to include Spanish-language media to change the rhetoric surrounding the political discussion (Leahy 2020). Through these articles, “the students saw cultural and communicative value in a bilingual newspaper and the value in Spanish itself” (Leahy, 12).

In 1972, while at Colorado State University, Juan Espinosa helped create El Diario de la Gente because he and other Latino students felt that they were being misrepresented by other media (Albidrez 2022). Forty years later, in response to the university being named a Hispanic-Serving Institution, Humboldt State University launched El Leñador (Burstiner 2015). And, in 2020, students at DePaul University founded La DePaulia after the Chicago-based professional Spanish-language outlet Hoy was shuttered.

Yet, despite the growth of programs related to Spanish-language and bilingual journalism, there is a dearth of information on student media outlets that are producing content in Spanish. Indeed, there does not appear to be a comprehensive list or database of such publications, and what they are covering has gone unstudied. Arguably, the research on the day-to-day coverage of student newspapers in English is also limited. One content analysis (Lyon Payne and Mills 2014) found that student newspapers’ lead stories were most commonly “soft news,” and focused on campus-related issues, but noted the need for additional research into aspects that may influence student newspaper coverage, such as funding, influence of related curricular structures, staff size and adviser role. As insight into the coverage of students newspapers in general is limited, it is unsurprising that such research is also lacking regarding Spanish-language content. To the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the first to explore Spanish-language student news media. As such, this research asks the following research questions:

RQ1: What are Spanish-language student news outlets reporting on?

As there is a wide variety of universities and programs, and those factors may influence student media coverage, this research also asked:

RQ2: Are there differences between (a) private and public schools, (b) HSI and non-HSI schools, and (c) institutionally funded and independently funded schools in the types of stories covered?

Finally, given that Hispanic-Serving Institutions must, by definition, have a student population that is at least 25% Hispanic, the authors hypothesize that:

H1: Spanish-language student news outlets at HSIs will be more likely to cover topics incorporating direct references to the Hispanic/Latinx community.

H2: Spanish-language student news outlets at HSIs will be more likely to cover topics incorporating direct references to immigration, DACA, Dreamers.

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Method

For this research, the authors identified began with a list of members of the College Media Association. From the list of individual members, the researchers built a list of associated publications and then reviewed the websites for student media outlets that had published content in Spanish. Specifically, the authors captured outlets that had published articles on the outlet’s website. Videos, podcasts, etc. were not included. Notably, because the sample was gathered using the College Media Association member list, which reflects individual faculty advisers, etc., some schools/student media outlets were not eligible for inclusion. While there were 77 student publications that had published content in Spanish at some point in time, when the authors limited the sample to outlets that had published multiple Spanish-language articles in 2021, they identified seven outlets: American University, California Lutheran University, California State University Los Angeles, DePaul University, the University of Florida, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and San Diego State University.

Coding

Two undergraduate student researchers were trained to code the articles for information related to their associated organization/institution, the type of content, use of images, etc., which are detailed in the following “Sample” section. An initial sample of 30 articles (10%) were coded by the two researchers and interrater reliability was calculated using Cohen’s Kappa (Landis 1977). Given minor concerns related to interrater reliability, the coders received additional training and coded an additional 20 articles. Interrater reliability was found to be acceptable (greater than 0.7) for all but two items: the article’s focus on a campus, local, state, national or international topic, and the article’s use of terms such as immigration/migrant/DACA/Dreamers. In the initial interrater calculations, both achieved a Cohen’s Kappa greater than 0.6, and were retained for analysis. However, interrater reliability is discussed in the limitations.

Sample

The sample includes 300 articles from private (n=155, 52%) and public (n=144, 48%) schools, with 149 articles (50%) from Hispanic-serving institutions. Of the articles examined, 87 (29%) were from DePaul University, 68 (23%) from San Diego State University, 51 (17%) from California Lutheran University, 46 (15%) from University of Florida, 27 (9%) from University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 18 (6%) from American University, and 3 (1%) from California State University Los Angeles.

Nearly a quarter of the student media publications were funded by institutional funding/student media fees (23%). Thirty-eight percent had independent funding, and funding for approximately 40% of the publications was unknown. Most articles were written by a single author (n=240, 80%), followed by two authors (n=49, 16%), three authors (n=8, 3%), and four or more authors (n=2, 1%). Primary or first authors were described as reporters (n=103, 34%), editors (n=92, 31%), staff reporters or editorial staff (n=6, 2%), by name only/no description (n=10, 3%), or unknown (n=89, 30%).

Articles were News (49%), Opinions (23%), Features (20%), and Sports (6%). Most of the articles related to something happening on campus (54%) or in the local community (23%); articles also covered events in the state (2%), in the United States (13%), or abroad (8%). The articles addressed a variety of topics: 132 (44%) directly addressed or covered issues relating to the Hispanic/Latinx community or someone from the Hispanic/Latinx community, 131 (43%) addressed issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 37 (12%) addressed issues related to immigration, DACA, or Dreamers.

With regard to the use of visuals and multimedia, most articles (n=221, 74%) included a posed or candid photo, 51 (17%) had an illustration (drawing), infographic/chart or editorial comic, 14 (5%) had a photo illustration, and one article (0.3%) included an embedded or linked video. Thirteen articles (5%) had no visual content. Visuals were reported as original (n=94, 31%), contributed or provided by an external source (n=116, 39%), or of unknown origin (n=76, 25%). Over seventy percent of articles included a caption/cutline (n=213, 71%), with 84% of captions (n=180) written in Spanish, 15% (n=31) of captions in English, and one percent of captions (n=3) written in both Spanish and English. Only two percent of captions (n=6) offered “alt-text” (i.e., a description of the visual/image) or closed captioning.

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Results

Chi-square tests of independence were conducted to examine relationships between school type (private vs. public) and types of stories covered. There was a significant relationship between school type and coverage of issues related to the Hispanic/Latinx community, c2 (1, N = 299) = 20.81, p <.001. Private schools (57%) were more likely to cover issues related to the Hispanic/Latinx community than were public schools (31%). There were no significant associations between school type and coverage of COVID-19, c2 (1, N = 299) = .46, p = .497, or issues related to immigration, DACA, or Dreamers, c2 (1, N = 299) = .17, p = .678.

The second research question asked about the relationships between HSI status and types of stories covered. The results of chi-square tests of independence showed a significant relationship between HSI status and coverage of issues related to the Hispanic/Latinx community.

Hypothesis 1 was not supported, however; HSI schools (30.2%) were less likely than non-HSI schools (58%) to cover stories related to Hispanic/Latinx issues, c2 (1, N = 299) = 23.43, p <.001. H2 was also not supported; there were no significant associations between HSI status and issues related to immigration, DACA, or Dreamers, c2 (1, N = 299) = 2.43, p = .119, Coverage of COVID-19 was also unrelated to HSI status, c2 (1, N = 299) = 1.48, p = .223.

To answer RQ3, chi-square tests of independence were performed to examine relationships between publication funding (student media fees/institutional funding vs. independent funding) and types of stories covered. Results of the analyses showed no significant relationships between publication funding and types of stories covered (issues related to the Hispanic/Latinx community, c2 (1, N = 182) = .16, p = .684; COVID-19, c2 (1, N = 182) = .18, p = .669; or immigration, DACA, or Dreamers, c2 (1, N = 182) = 2.00, p = .157).

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Discussion & Conclusion

This research shows that, when reporting in Spanish, student newspapers prioritized news content, followed by opinion and features. Sports, though a popular area for coverage in many college newspapers, were less prevalent in Spanish. Further, Spanish-language coverage predominantly focused on campus- and community-level topics. More than 40% of the articles reported on something that directly referenced the Hispanic/Latinx community, and, given the timing of this research, it is not surprising that more than 40% of the articles reviewed addressed issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly every article had some sort of visual such as a photo or graphic, but the majority of the visuals that were identified (55%) were contributed (i.e., not original student-produced content).

Regarding the research questions, the most surprising finding was that Hispanic-Serving Institutions were less likely to report on Hispanic/Latinx issues. However, as this research only explored Spanish-language content, it is possible that student media outlets at HSIs also cover such topics in English; the extent of their coverage of such topics in English was beyond the scope of this study. Private schools were also more likely to report on Hispanic/Latinx issues. No other significant differences were found between school type, funding, and coverage of different topics, suggesting that there were basic similarities in Spanish-language coverage among various institutions.

This research may be the first of its kind to document the type of stories being reported on in Spanish at student media outlets. Though limited in scale, it provides a snapshot of the kind of Spanish-language content being produced. Given the prevalence of Spanish in the United States (Jones et al. 2021), and the loss of professional Spanish-language publications, these student publications are providing an invaluable service to their communities, both on campus and locally (Kopenhaver, Smith, and Kleinberg-Biehl 2021). In particular, the focus on COVID-19 related content in the timeframe of this study speaks to the importance of such content. Further, the amount of coverage that directly addressed Hispanic/Latinx issues may directly serve student newspapers’ Spanish-speaking audiences.

Finally, though not a direct focus of this study, this research documents the important work of bilingual student journalists. Students who participate in the experiential learning practice of student media gain invaluable skills that may translate to their future careers (Moreno-López et al., 2017). Students who can produce content in multiple languages have an additional edge in an increasingly diverse and globalized society.

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Limitations & Directions for Future Research

As with any study, this research has its limitations. First, given how the list of student media outlets was generated based on individuals’ CMA membership, some well-known programs with that had completely separate Spanish-language platforms were not identified in the initial data collection. For example, California State University Humboldt has a separate bilingual publication, El Leñador, that did not appear in the College Media Association member directory (through the membership of an affiliated faculty member). This means that it was not considered for inclusion in the data set. Future scholars should seek a more comprehensive method for identifying accessing student-produced Spanish media content. Also, given that other modalities, such as a broadcast and radio, may be more popular among Spanish speakers, future research should assess content from these platforms.

Second, there were minor problems with interrater reliability. Additional training and a larger data set for sampling may help to address these issues. In general, there are also limits to what can be determined from content analysis. As such, future research should incorporate other approaches, such as interviews or focus groups, to explore student journalists’ motivations for and decision-making behind their Spanish-language coverage.

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References

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Table 1
Comparisons of Spanish-language Student Media by School Type

	Private			Public			Total		Chi-square tests of independence
	n	(%)		n	(%)		n	(%)
Article TypeNews Features Sports Opinion Unknown Total	53 39 7 54 0 153	(35) (25) (5) (35) (0) (100)		94 21 11 14 1 141	(67) (15) (8) (10) (0) (100)		147 60 18 68 1 294	(50) (20) (6) (23) (0) (99)	c2 (4) = 41.83 p <.001 n = 294
Article TopicCampus Local community State US World Total	67 38 1 29 19 154	(44) (25) (0) (19) (12) (100)		93 31 6 10 4 144	(64) (22) (4) (7) (3) (100)		160 69 7 39 23 298	(54) (23) (2) (13) (8) (100)	c2 (4) = 27.24 p <.001 n = 298
Hispanic/Latinx ContentYes No Total	88 67 155	(57) (43) (100)		44 100 144	(31) (69) (100)		132 167 299	(44) (56) (100)	c2 (1) = 20.81 p <.001 n = 299
COVID-19 contentYes No Total	65 90 155	(42) (58) (100)		66 78 144	(46) (54) (100)		131 168 299	(44) (56) (100)	c2 (1) = 0.46 p = .497 n = 299
Immigration/DACA/ Dreamers CoverageYesNoTotal	18 137 155	(12) (88) (100)		19 125 144	(13) (87) (100)		37 262 299	(12) (88) (100)	c2 (1) = .17 p = .678 n = 299
Visual/MultimediaPhoto Photo illustration Illustration/drawing Video None Total	112 6 25 0 12 155	(72) (4) (16) (0) (8) (100)		108 8 26 1 1 144	(75) (5) (18) (1) (1) (100)		220 14 51 1 13 299	(74) (5) (17) (0) (4) (100)	c2 (4) = 10.30 p = .036 n = 299
Visual OriginOriginal Contributed Unknown No visuals Total	33 86 24 12 155	(21) (55) (16) (8) (100)		61 30 51 1 143	(43) (21) (36) (0) (100)		94 116 75 13 298	(32) (39) (25) (4) (100)	c2 (3) = 54.007 p <.001 n = 298
Caption/CutlineYes No No visuals Total	114 29 12 155	(74) (19) (7) (100)		98 44 2 144	(68) (31) (1) (100)		212 73 14 299	(71) (24) (5) (100)	c2 (2) = 11.043 p = .004 n = 299
Caption/Cutline LanguageEnglish Spanish English & Spanish No caption No visual Total	3 111 1 12 27 154	(2) (72) (1) (8) (17) (100)		28 68 2 1 41 140	(20) (49) (1) (0) (30) (100)		31 179 3 13 68 294	(11) (61) (1) (4) (23) (100)	c2 (4) = 42.44 p <.001 n = 294
Offers “alt text” or Closed CaptioningYes No No visuals Total	2 142 11 155	(1) (92) (7) (100)		4 138 1 143	(3) (97) (0) (100)		6 280 12 298	(2) (94) (4) (100)	c2 (2) = 8.59 p = .014 n = 298
Number of AuthorsOne Two Three Four or more Total	130 23 1 1 155	(84) (15) (0) (0) (99)		109 26 7 1 143	(76) (18) (5) (0) (99)		239 49 8 2 298	(80) (16) (3) (1) (100)	c2 (3) = 6.055 p = .109 n = 298
Primary/First Author DescriptionReporter Editor Contributed Name only Unknown Total	76 52 2 4 21 154	(49) (34) (1) (2) (14) (100)		27 39 4 6 68 144	(19) (27) (3) (4) (47) (100)		103 91 6 10 89 299	(34) (31) (2) (3) (30) (100)	c2 (4) = 50.719 p <.001 n = 299

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Carrollyne Aasen: Carrollyne Aasen is a graduate student in the MA/Ph.D. program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a focus on Hispanic literature. She graduated from California Lutheran University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with an emphasis in journalism and Spanish.

Rachel Martinez: Rachel Martinez graduated from California Lutheran University with a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Spanish.

LaVerne Seales: LaVerne M. Seales (Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo) is an associate professor in the Languages and Cultures Department at California Lutheran University. Her research areas include Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Hispanic literature, education and culture, postcolonial theory, neo-colonialism, race, and identity studies.

Kirstie Hettinga: Kirstie Hettinga (Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University) is an associate professor in the Communication Department at California Lutheran University. Her research addresses issues of accuracy and credibility in news media. She teaches media writing, editing, and content creation and serves as the faculty adviser to Cal Lutheran’s student newspaper, The Echo.

Sheridan Wigginton: Sheridan Wigginton (Ph.D., University of Missouri) is a professor in the Languages and Cultures Department at California Lutheran University. Her research addresses issues of race, ethnicity and identity in Latin American textbooks. She teaches race and ethnicity in Latin America and applied linguistics and is a past president of the Afro/Latin-American Research Association.

Monica Gracyalny: Monica Gracyalny (Ph.D., Arizona State University) is a professor in the Communication Department at California Lutheran University. Her research interests include expressions of remorse, apologies and forgiveness. She teaches interpersonal communication and quantitative research methods and serves as the IRB Chair and Director of the Research Protections Office.