Resilience, creativity and an interdisciplinary approach

After nine years living as a Venezuelan immigrant in Miami and working as a journalist serving Spanish-speaking and Latino communities in the U.S., I find myself questioning the effectiveness of my work. I’ve been combating misinformation and filling information gaps as editor-in-chief at Factchequeado, and as director of Univision Noticias’s elDetector. I don’t regret my efforts, but I wonder how to achieve greater impact.

Particularly after the presidential election results, when many journalists and people concerned about the impact of misinformation and disinformation have had to reassess their strategies and consider new approaches.

Donald Trump won his second term as president on November 5th. Many members of his team and campaign have spread conspiracy theories regarding important issues, including the election process, vaccine effectiveness, and immigration crime. Kamala Harris obtained more Latino votes. However, as Mark Hugo Lopez at Pew Research Center said “we’ve been seeing Trump do better with Latino voters in 2020 compared to 2016, and also now it looks like in 2024 compared to 2020”.

It is especially vital to keep in mind that Latino communities are incredibly diverse, and that disinformation campaigns are tailored to exploit the specific vulnerabilities of each community. So, how might we be more effective combating disinformation among Latino communities? That’s the big question I’m exploring as a 2025 John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford.

Look at this example

To illustrate how disinformation works within Latino communities, I’d like to share an example. Here’s a picture of some posts on X (formerly Twitter). I’ve included a few from Cuban-American Republican Senator Marco Rubio (Trump’s nominee for the next Secretary of State), who has shared the same image many times, with different messages. At the bottom, the other post is the type of tweet that spread viral content and a comparison between Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro with Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.

Maduro has stolen elections in Venezuela, his government holds political prisoners, and it violates human rights. In the image, you can see Joe Biden standing in front of Maduro, both smiling.

What do you think about this image? Do you believe it is real? Could it be an AI creation or a manipulated image?

Actually, this image is authentic.

The picture was taken by the Associated Press in 2015 during the Brazilian presidential inauguration. With some effort, you can find references to “a brief encounter” between then-Vice President Biden and Maduro in 2015. A quicker Google search shows the image connecting both politicians, suggesting either secret complicity or an intentional display of more than just a simple greeting. This narrative is not only promoted by Senator Rubio but also by his followers, influencers, and conservative propaganda outlets. The misinformation is frequently shared in Spanish.

We often refer to misinformation and disinformation as content created using complex techniques, such as AI, deepfakes, and others. However, the most challenging aspect for fact-checkers and journalists is that, beyond these methods of deception, part of the content may be real. It’s just being used out of context or in a misleading way, to spread disinformation.

But what happens with this image, and why is it important to understand how misinformation works in these communities? Well, this image helps fuel the false narrative or conspiracy theory that the Biden administration and his party are “communists,” “socialists,” and similar to — and as dangerous as — the Venezuelan regime. As a Venezuelan immigrant living in Florida, I know how effective this narrative has been.

If you come from a country where large-scale electoral fraud is possible, you are more likely to believe that such fraud could happen here.

If you fled a leftist dictatorship, you are more likely to fear that something similar could happen here.

The information needs and how disinformation impacts Latino communities vary depending on their specific background and location. For example, the experiences of Cubans in South Florida differ greatly from those of Mexicans in Texas or Central Americans in Washington, D.C.

That’s why rather than simply telling your audience that something is false, misleading, or out of context, I believe it’s more important to explain the intention behind it. WHO is spreading the disinformation, and WHY.

New tools, conversation, innovation

One way Latino communities are targeted with disinformation is through radio shows popular among Spanish speakers. This is one of our biggest challenges because it is difficult to monitor.

However 2023 JSK alum Martina Guzmán developed a new tool called VERDAD (which means ‘True’ in English). VERDAD allows users to track the misinformation and disinformation spreading on radio broadcasts from 48 different talk radio stations across the U.S., primarily in Spanish.

I tested it on Florida radio stations before and after the election. Here’s a sample of what I found:

These narratives were spreading on La Poderosa 670 AM, a popular Spanish-language radio station in Miami, Florida. They included conspiracy theories about the “big electoral fraud” in 2020, comparisons of the Democratic Party to socialist regimes in Latin America, and campaigns against Florida’s Abortion Amendment 4 with statements like, “It forces taxpayers to pay for abortions, even late-term ones, when the baby feels pain.” Ultimately, the amendment was not approved in the election.

Initiatives like this, and the commitment of journalists, technologists, and other experts, demonstrate the resilience and creativity we can summon to overcome adversity and uncertainty gives me hope.

Although the landscape is dark, it is good to know that many talented professionals are willing to find better solutions, using interdisciplinary approaches.

At Stanford, I am currently enrolled in a Data Science of Disinformation course that examines the mechanisms by which social media bots propagate disinformation, some of them focusing on Russian-originated narratives related to U.S. elections, immigration policies, and other significant topics. The course also covers the decline of scientific thinking and the rise of tribalism and polarization.

Now, it seems that no matter what the evidence, science, fact-checkers, and journalists say, bias prevails. But I came to the JSK Journalism Fellowship program at Stanford to be part of that resilient group, to explore how we might be more effective, reach a wider audience, and build trust. Fact-checking and evidence are both key points for the future of journalism and the fight against mis and disinformation. However, this is not a solitary journalistic endeavor. Building trust, improving community engagement, and navigating this complex environment require a collaborative effort involving journalists, fact-checkers, data scientists, community leaders, educators, and many others. Resilience, creativity, and an interdisciplinary approach will be key in the coming years.

I imagine a future where facts will prevail.