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Spanish-Language Media Entrepreneurship in the Statehouse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

D. Xavier Medina Vidal
D. Xavier Medina Vidal*
Affiliation:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
*
Corresponding Author: D. Xavier Medina Vidal, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 503 Major Williams Hall, Pol. Science (0130), Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. Email: dxmedina@vt.edu
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Abstract

Little is known about the role of Spanish-language media in the representation of Latino constituencies in statehouses. In this article, I present analyses of elite-level data from the Media and Public Policy in the States: 2011 Survey, which reveal state legislators' attitudes and orientations toward the news media. Building on the view that Spanish-language media provide an important representational link between Hispanic constituents and their political representatives, I argue that the level of media sophistication or “media entrepreneurship” state legislators bring to their representative role is a function of legislators' Spanish media environments. Through statistical tests of the relationships between the Spanish-language media environment, state lawmakers' perceptions of the media's effectiveness, and their use of media tools, I find evidence that district-level Spanish-language media contexts influence lawmakers' level of engagement with the news media.

Keywords

Hispanic/Latino politicsidentity/group politicsrepresentationlegislative behaviorlegislative politicslegislator preferencesmass mediapolitical behavior
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 287 - 314
Copyright
The Author(s) 2015

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