Senator Rand Paul appeared at the launch of MRC Latino in Washington D.C., Tuesday, to discuss the state of Hispanic media and what conservatives can do in response. Appearing at the Newseum with MRC Latino Director Ken Oliver-Mendez, Rand Paul asserted, "There is bias in the media. It is good that we monitor and check the media...Part of overcoming that is showing up, but part of that is also having something to say." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
Discussing Latinos and his own Republican Party, Paul insisted, "I think that what's happened is that there is not the perception of empathy coming from the Republican Party, that we care about where they are coming from and we care about what their problems are." The Kentucky Senator insisted, "Are there many in the Latino community who go to church and believe in traditional values and are conservative? Yes. Maybe half. Maybe 60 percent."
On the subject of Hispanics and conservatives in general, Paul suggested:
RAND PAUL: I think that if we are to change people's minds towards conservatives, or in my perspective, towards my perspective, the Republican Party, there are two things you have to do: One, you have to show up. And then secondly, you have to something to say. And I think both are important. And I think just showing up will help to improve people's attitude and openness towards us. But you have to have something to say. I also think, though, that the door has been somewhat closed and so we have to get the door ajar. We have to get something out of the way so that people will listen to us.
...
PAUL: We as conservatives talk a lot about big government, how big government never seems to work. We're always talking about ObamaCare now. How big government – it's a disaster in them trying to take over health care. Well, guess what? Bigger government's not very good with a visa system either. So part of the problem is not the fault of those who are coming to this country trying to use it, part of the problem is big government.
Out of 667 stories on U.S. domestic policy, more than six times as many tilted left/liberal (300 or 45%) as slanted in a right/conservative direction (43, or 6%). The remaining 324 stories (49%) presented a balanced or neutral discussion of U.S. policy.
In coverage of U.S. domestic policy (667 stories), Democratic politicians and spokespeople for left-leaning/liberal advocacy organizations such as the ACLU, National Council of La Raza and various labor organizations were quoted nearly three times as often as Republican politicians and spokespeople for conservative counterpart organizations such as the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, the Heritage Foundation and the LIBRE Initiative (1,011 to 370 appearances and/or direct quotations) on Univision and Telemundo newscasts.
To see video of MRC Latino Director Ken Oliver-Mendez, go here.
To read the full study, go here.
To see video of MRC President Brent Bozell and Senator Rand Paul participating in a question and answer session at the MRC Latino event, go here.
To see a panel discussion on the event, go here.
To see Bozell offer concluding remarks on the event, go here.
