Bias in the news is one thing, but wilfully misleading audiences through manipulated information, is just pure propaganda.
A recent report from Telemundo’s Noticias Telemundo Mediodía brought a guest on-air to examine the low rate of Latino participation in the 2020 Census, which followed an ad from the 2020 Census targeting Hispanics.
At first, it seemed odd that a spokesperson from the U.S. Census Bureau would go all political on the air. However, it turned out that the person introduced by reporter Felicidad Aveleyra, as the “Director of the National Census”, is in fact the Director of the National Census...for NALEO, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.
Watch Telemundo misrepresent an activist as an official government representative with an agenda of portraying the Trump administration as one “that the community doesn't trust, especially in this climate”:
FELICIDAD AVELEYRA: I welcome Lizette Escobedo, National Director of the Census program. Good afternoon, Lizette. A pleasure to greet you.
LIZETTE ESCOBEDO: Good afternoon, too. Thank you for having me here today.
AVELEYRA: Tell me, why isn't our Latino community participating in the census?
ESCOBEDO: Well, right now we know we have a lot of things we're facing, right? We're facing everything to do with the coronavirus, uncertainty if we're going to have a job, income. We also know that many people in our community sometimes don't trust the government, especially in this climate, right?
AVELEYRA: Lizette, it's understandable that they're afraid because of the political climate, et cetera, whatever.
While NALEO claims to be non-partisan, the words of Escobedo indicate otherwise. One would think that instead of emphasizing the current “political climate”, she would be stressing the measures taken by the U.S. Census Bureau to protect the right to privacy of the participants, especially regarding the undocumented immigrants - the very public Telemundo claims to look after.
This is a prime example of the way the liberal Hispanic media misleads its viewership with a set of talking points conforming to their political agenda. We urge you to contact the U.S. Census Bureau and express your concern about Telemundo passing an activist off as an official Census Bureau spokesperson.
Telemundo would be well served to remember that “many people in our community” do not trust the activist media- in large part because of reports like these.
Press on Expand to view the complete transcript of the segment mentioned above, as it aired over Noticias Telemundo Mediodía, on June 17, 2020:
FELICIDAD AVELEYRA: The census is a fact included in the constitution of this country. It is done every 10 years and is essential because it helps determine the number of representatives per state, in Congress, state, federal and local budgets too. And that's why it's essential to participate in it, a participation that varies by community. For example, ours, Latino, we see that it´s not yet completing the census. I welcome Lizette Escobedo, National Director of the Census program. Good afternoon, Lizette. A pleasure to greet you.
LIZETTE ESCOBEDO: Good afternoon, too. Thank you for having me here today.
AVELEYRA: Tell me, why isn't our Latino community participating in the census?
ESCOBEDO: Well, right now we know we have a lot of things we're facing, right? We're facing everything to do with the coronavirus, uncertainty if we're going to have a job, income. We also know that many people in our community sometimes don't trust the government, especially in this climate, right? So we have, we're seeing a lot of different things. The other piece of the census operations is that we were working with one, with some operations where we were going to start knocking on doors as early as mid-May, but given the coronavirus, everything has changed. So sometimes, it's access to information, sometimes it's having to deal with other everyday things, especially with coronavirus. But we are seeing that Hispanic participation is a little lower than that of other groups and other ethnicities. So we're here to push all Latinos to be counted.
AVELEYRA: Lizette, it's understandable that they're afraid because of the political climate, et cetera, whatever might be going on in the country. But it's very important that you tell them a few details of why it matters in their daily lives that they are counted. Not just to help the government, it's for the government to help them. Isn't that right?
ESCOBEDO: Exactly. The federal government uses certain formulas that have to do with the population and our communities, to see how much money will go for programs like Medicaid, educational programs. Programs that really serve our children's schools, hospitals, and so on. So, if we only count three people where a hundred live, we will only receive resources for those three persons.
AVELEYRA: Exactly, it wouldn't be enough!
ESCOBEDO: Exactly.
AVELEYRA: Pay close attention. It really is an important thing for our own daily well-being. Deadline to register for the census, Lizette?
ESCOBEDO: Now we're seeing the deadline is October 31. So, before you go to trick or treat, fill out the census form for your future.
AVELEYRA: Exactly. Thank you very much Lizette. And you can go haztecontar.com. Thank you very much Lissette Escobedo.
