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Journalist’s TradeCovering the Recall for a Spanish-Speaking AudienceThe political editor of La Opinión found herself being interviewedby a lot of other reporters.By Pilar MarreroFrom the beginning, minority communitiesin California, which bynow are the majority of the state’spopulation, were not part of the movementtoward the governor’s recall election,the tremor that shook the GoldenState with a force reminiscent of periodicmovements of the San AndreasFault. The decisions involved in therecall of Governor Gray Davis emergedfrom a small but dedicated group ofconservative activists and were laterfueled by the suburban voter who worriesabout raising taxes and the proliferationof benefits for those less fortunate,including the largely facelessgroup referred to as “those illegalaliens.”This pattern is in keeping withRonald Reagan’s election as governorin the 1960’s, passage of the anti-taxProposition 13 during the 1970’s, andthe voters imposition of term limits inthe early 1990’s. Voter revolts haven’tcome from the less affluent and expandingminority communities whereeconomic downturns mean loss of jobs,cuts in pay, closure of neighborhoodhealth clinics, and anti-immigrant initiatives.They arise out of the anger ofthe mostly white middle class.Informing Potential VotersSo it became our job, as journalistsfrom the state’s only Spanish daily newspaper,not only to inform our communityabout developments in this fastpacedpolitical story but also to try toexplain this odd election to our readership.Most of our readers had no knowledgeof the recall process. Is thererelevant historic precedent? How willthe election work? What happens next?Those who rely on us for news includea mix of recent immigrants, newvoters, and older generation Latinoswho’d never seen anything like thiskind of political maelstrom and wonderedhow, in the end, this uniqueelection might affect them. As the campaignsgot underway, they also wonderedwhether it would devolve into acircus or showcase democracy in action.What choices would they have asvoters?Besides following the candidates,we struggled to explain what thesecampaigns were about. We dedicated agreat part of our reporting resources tocivic journalism, which is often a strategyused by newspapers that serve immigrantcommunities. By taking thisapproach, we are able to inform, explain,interpret and, at times, advocatefor the interests of our readership. Inthis election cycle, we found this harderto do; even the experts often didn’tknow answers to our questions.To help bring the community intune with the developing political dynamic,we did some things we hadtried during previous elections. Wewent out on the street and invitedpeople to pose questions to candidates,which we used in our reportingon particular issues. We’d do articlesexplaining how the election wouldwork—explaining what it is, its processand history. We encouraged politicalparticipation by letting our communitymembers understand what wasat stake for them in this election, pointingout the need to vote and remindingthem of key dates for registering, requestingabsentee ballots, and otherdetails related to voting.Former President Bill Clinton and Lt. Governor of California, Cruz Bustamante, greetcrowds at the inauguration of a new school named after Clinton. Photo by J. EmilioFlores/La Opinión.Journalist as SpokespersonIn my job as political editor for LaOpinión, I was pushed to do more than64 Nieman Reports / Winter 2003