Spanish Language Daily La Opinión on Its Coverage of LA City Council Scandal

Following criticism from the Oaxacan community, the paper’s editor says its coverage of the scandal has sought to capture all voices.

Editor’s note: As incidents of hate trend upwards there are also increasing incidents of inter- and intra-ethnic strife among and between communities of color. The most recent example is the leaked recording of LA’s Latino leadership making racist remarks about the city’s Black, Jewish and Indigenous residents. Ethnic media are critical in moments such as these, informing their readers and, crucially, serving as bridges between communities. It can be a tenuous position, and one La Opinión Editor Armando Varela says he embraces. (Image: A headline from La Opinión reads, Shameful, shortly after the release of the leaked audio.)

The day the L.A. Times published the audio in which three Latino councilmembers and the leader of the county’s Federation of Labor discussed voting districts using racist epithets and stereotypes, editors and reporters at La Opinión immediately went to work.

EMS spoke with La Opinión editor Armando Varela about 48 hours after the audio became known, one of several media outlets we contacted to find out how the phenomenon was being covered within the city’s Latino/a, Oaxacan […]

Click here to view original web page at ethnicmediaservices.org