Reporter Pilar Marrero, a columnist for La Opinión newspaper in Los Angeles and Feet In 2 Worlds contributor, appeared yesterday on PRI’s nationally-syndicated radio show The World. She spoke with anchor Lisa Mullin about the impact of first-time Latino immigrant voters on the outcome of the presidential election.

Marrero reported –among other data– that Latino turnout held constant and that the Latino vote in Florida is shifting away from the Republicans.

You can listen to the segment here or you can visit the show’s website:

[audio:http://64.71.145.108/audio/11060811.mp3]

Eduardo A. de Oliveira, a Brazilian-born reporter for New England Ethnic News and a Feet in 2 Worlds contributor, appeared this morning on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC, New York Public Radio, to describe the scene in the battleground state of New Hampshire.

You can listen to that segment of the show here.

Feet in 2 Worlds continues to provide the immigrant press’ views and analysis on the conventions with regular appearances on WNYC.

This morning, reporters Pilar Marrero (columnist and political editor of Spanish-language La Opinión) and freelance journalist Aswini Anburajan were guests on The Brian Lehrer Show to discuss last night’s speeches at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Pilar explored how Vice Presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech and nomination might resonate with Latino and Latina voters. Listen here:

[audio:http://audio.wnyc.org/bl/bl090408apod.mp3]

During the second hour of the show, Aswini discussed the role of entrepreneurship, high-tech industries, and H-1B high-skilled immigrant workers in shaping an economic platform for the future, as well as what 21st century jobs might look like.  She also shed some light on immigrant community views on free trade agreements and how they influence their party choices. Listen here:

[audio:http://audio.wnyc.org/bl/bl090408bpod.mp3]

Feet in 2 Worlds reporters are providing unique immigrant perspectives on the presidential campaigns with daily appearances on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show this week from the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Today, Feet in 2 World’s Pilar Marrero, political editor and columnist for Los Angeles’ La Opinión newspaper, analyzed the McCain and Obama campaigns’ efforts to court Latino voters.  Click here to hear Pilar’s take on the most recent Latino voter poll, the latest controversy over Latino elected officials’ candidate endorsements, and the impact of the largest-scale Spanish-language outreach effort in election history.

Tomorrow, Ewa-Kern-Jedrychowska, reporter for New York-based Polish-language newspaper Nowy-Dziennik and Feet in 2 Worlds contributor, will discuss Polish-American voters’ attitudes and policy priorities. Tune in to The Brian Lehrer Show on FM 93.9, AM 820 or www.WNYC.org at 10:40 am EST to hear Ewa. 

Yesterday, our reporter Aswini Anburajan dissected Indian-American political donors, their support for the proposed India-US nuclear deal, and the emerging political partnership between the American Jewish Committee and Indian-American campaign donors that was showcased at a Denver breakfast forum. Click here to listen to Aswini’s talk with Brian Lehrer.

Feet in 2 Worlds convention coverage is part of our collaboration with New York Community Media Alliance.

Editor’s note: WNYC’s website and streaming capabilities are set up slightly differently during the conventions.  In order to listen to Pilar and Aswini’s interviews you must first download the first hour of Brian’s show, then fast forward to around 40 minutes past the hour (or just listen to the entire hour of excellent reporting and conversation!).

Antoine Faisal, publisher of the newspaper Aramica, appeared on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show on Monday morning. Faisal discussed Arab-American perspectives on the presidential campaign and conventions.

You can listen to the conversation here:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2008/08/25/segments/106944

The Brian Lehrer Show is broadcasting live from the Democratic National Convention. Listen for more of Brian’s conversations with ethnic media reporters throughout the week.

“Millions of Latino voters…are being targeted like never before on the Web, in radio, television and print. Campaigns are hiring strategists, media consultants and recruiting Latinos for the ground war.”

Eleven million Latinos are expected to vote in this year’s presidential election (60% more than in the 2004 elections), and 3 million of them are young voters.

Many media outlets have focused on the emerging Latino vote; but most news coverage has lumped Latino voters of all ages and types together into one category.

In her radio feature that aired on August 18 on WNYC in New York, Feet in 2 Worlds journalist Martina Guzmán examines how the Presidential campaigns are increasingly tailoring their outreach to subsets of Latino voters: a large and diverse electorate that has displayed a spectrum of responses to the candidates’ multi-million dollar ad campaigns.

The Obama campaign has been heavily targeting young Latinos through social networking sites like MiGente – the Latino equivalent of FaceBook. One of the most popular links is a to a video called Podemos Con Obama.  According to the William C. Velasquez institute, 50 thousand young eligible Latinos turn 18 every month, and from 2000 to 2004 Latino youth turnout increased by 13 percent.

Although the numbers are high, some consultants argue that the youth vote is unreliable. “This country is changing and young Latino voters are very excited but historically we don’t know if they turnout,” said Republican strategists Leslie Sanchez. Meanwhile the McCain campaign is reaching out to other segments of the Hispanic community such as Latino military families. They are running a television ad called God’s Children in Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. That ad pays homage to Latino veterans and soldiers who are currently fighting in Iraq.

Guzmán reports on how the presidential candidates are crafting sophisticated messaging toward Latinos in the 2008 presidential election. Her story aired this morning during Morning Edition on WNYC, New York Public Radio. Click here to listen online.