2nd Place Research Paper: Aquí y Ahora: The Role of US Spanish-Language TV News in Financial Vulnerability

In today’s world, the news we watch often does more than inform us; it shapes our perceptions of security and the future. In this paper, I examine the extent to which an individual’s consumption of particular Spanish-speaking TV news channels contribute to their sense of financial vulnerability. Using an original data set of responses to the questions in the 2020 American National Election Studies (ANES), I find a moderately strong relationship between the television news channel Aquí y Ahora, and the degree to which they are worried about their financial situation. While it is true that various factors such as employment status, household size, and marital status contribute to this financial worry, a person’s choice of television station can be an indicator of an increased sense of financial insecurity. This suggests that watching Aquí y Ahora, especially for immigrants and first-generation Americans, may influence financial distress, leading to a tense relationship with personal finances, economic uncertainty, and low financial confidence. Therefore, it is highly important to recognize media biases within Spanish-speaking television networks to address the urgent need to inform the immigrant and first-generation Hispanic population about how news may influence their opinions. Ultimately, this highlights how critical it is to be cognizant of communication rhetoric in Spanish-speaking television networks to accurately inform the Hispanic population while setting them up for upward financial mobility.