Q&A: Spanish broadcaster poised for influential role in 2012

BB: What are the top three issues for your viewers? 

CC: Historically, when you look at this over the last 10 or 15 years, consistently, the issue top of mind for Hispanics is education, hands down. It really speaks directly to the value of the community of trying to ensure that they give better opportunities to their children, to their families and the generation behind them.

The second one, particularly in this day and age, is the economy and jobs. I think after that you have a variety of issues that come on board. Everything from healthcare, to foreign policy and the like, certainly immigration. 

BB: Immigration really isn’t in the top three?

CC: The polling that we have seen and all the research, it’s certainly one of the issues, but usually it’s been in the top five.

BB: What will Univision’s coverage look like for 2012?

CC: In the 2008 cycle, we set a precedent where we had the first ever Republican and Democratic presidential debates in Spanish language. We were proud of that. We worked very hard to get it done. 

We’re going to be building on that in 2012, and so we fully expect to be having a Republican presidential debate in Spanish language and the appropriate event for the Democratic side as well.

BB: Is your audience demanding more political coverage?

CC: At the end of the day, our mission at Univision is to inform, entertain and empower the Latino community here in the United States. And one of the things that we believe is part of empowerment is increased civic engagement. 

We are advocates that our community has to participate in the United States’ process and be active. Our role is to ensure that they’re getting complete and accurate and objective information. And how they vote and participate is completely up to them, obviously.