Taking bilingual collaboration statewide

How a New Jersey program brings hundreds of local Spanish-language stories to audiences

As language barriers persist in 2024, New Jersey's translation collaboration may inspire you. ✔️ Initiated as a pilot serving a few partners, the program now engages 12 outlets in bringing hundreds of locally resonant stories to Spanish-language readers in the state.

The key rests in commitment to inclusive information access and meeting demonstrated public needs. Spanish-dominant Latinos, partners acknowledged, lacked translated offerings on pressing issues from health to housing, risking marginalization and misinformation spread. ☣️ Dedicated publishers centered trust, slowly multiplied partners, and saw gains in scope and impact.

For public media seeking to engage Spanish-language communities, insights here shine through the challenges. What’s more, growth can multiply with consistent relationship and trust building among partners. 🏁 As you’ll learn, patience in regularly communicating needs, as well as targeting issues affecting marginalized groups, can deliver results.

For this OIGO, I spoke with Anthony Advincula, the ethnic and community media coordinator at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. He leads up the New Jersey News Commons Spanish Translation News Service. Formerly the national media director, writer and editor for New America Media, he managed and organized ethnic media projects in 45 states. He was a correspondent for The Jersey Journal and the communications director and managing editor of the Independent Press Association-New York, where he co-edited Voices That Must Be Heard (now known as CUNY’s Voices of NY). His awards include a New York Times Foreign Press Fellowship and a National Health Journalism Fellowship. Anthony studied advanced narrative nonfiction at Harvard University and received dual master’s degrees in public administration and journalism from Columbia University where he was awarded a Charles H. Revson Fellowship.

In an era of shrinking newsrooms, translation is seen by many as a bridge to inform diverse populations. Below, we discuss the opportunities for resonating locally. Above all, it begins with core belief in access as essential for information. ⬇️

What is the landscape of media in your community, as well as the appetite for serving Spanish-speaking audiences?

Nearly two million Latinos reside in New Jersey and about 72 percent of them speak or read Spanish at home. So, there is a huge base for Spanish-speaking audiences in the state. However, most news and information particularly related to prevention, emergency and human services are only available in English.

As a result, many Latinos, particularly new immigrants in the state, have limited access to first-hand sources in Spanish. And they face the real challenges of overcoming misinformation. That's why this project is focused as a Spanish language translation news project. Partnering the largest Spanish-language mainstream media with English-language media outlets in New Jersey to translate statewide news into Spanish is so vital.

What were some of the conversations with these organizations in terms of serving that audience?

The main goal of the project is to provide timely news and information to mitigate language barriers. We aspire to narrow the information gap in the Latino community. The conversation started around that.

A New Jersey story is a Latino story. The Latino community is very much embedded in the fabric of the state. Whether it's about the election, housing, immigration, education, the economy, you name it – these are all important conversations, and Latinos, again mostly new immigrants, are missing out on this information. 

Because of language barriers and informed reporting from languages and perspectives, we have seen the need to translate for many Latino immigrants in the state, who are the bottom of the news chain. With limited translated news information from state and federal health agencies or other agencies in the state, these are already marginalized audiences, and there was a deep awareness of their vulnerability to disinformation.

You've identified public service as a big content need, but what were other needs?

Local stories that impact the Latino community get higher readership, and they have more immediate attraction, so we focus on that. Also, we follow news and developments locally as well as nationally. Immigration is on top of the list as is the election.

The project is most interested in what's currently happening in our neighborhoods and around us. For example, with the spike of migration recently, our partners are more interested in stores related to that.

Now that it's also a very important election year, more stories about elections are getting translated and published by our partners. People need access to voting information in Spanish, like how to vote, how to register, where to register, what do you do if you don't have an ID. Those kind of questions.

Language access through this translation project not only helps Spanish speaking audiences to understand the election processes. It also helps them cast their ballots and ultimately increases voter participation as well as help ensure equitable elections.

Could you talk me through how the editorial selection happens?

It's a rigorous process. We currently have about 12 partners: six English-language publications - most of whom are major publications in the state - and six Spanish-language news outlets in New Jersey. We choose between four and six stories a week. Then, we send them to the translators. Most of the translators are also publishers and editors of Spanish-language publications. We did this purposely.

After the translation, they send it back to us and we have a bilingual editor who takes a look at it. Every story gets reviewed before we finalize the piece. Then, we send stories back, and ask, ‘look to see if there are discrepancies.’ When that part is done, we send out stories to the partners. We monitor the publication and, at the end of the week, we send a recap of all of the republished stories and partners that used them.

A question I'm sure that you get frequently is do you use strictly human editing or AI or other tools to streamline any of these workflows?

That's a very good question. We haven't had a chance to test AI editing for this project. We’re focused on human editing.

There are nuances that an editor is going to catch that a large language model may not notice. Even if it gets 90 percent right, it's the 10 percent that can really damage a relationship

And with the complication of the Spanish language, we wanted to get the vernacular and dialect clear. Some of the translators would say, ‘oh this phrase sounds very Colombian to me’ or ‘this sounds very Mexican’ or whatever specific ethnicity as pertains to that language. With the human touch in the editing process, we address those issues. An editor is going to say, ‘this is a regionalism, and let's try to make this translated or clear for somebody who might not understand that regional dialect or this regional reference and explain it a little bit more.’ A reporter and editor is really going to think through that.

How has this service impacted the newsrooms that you work with?

The project has had a positive impact on content as well as readership. Major publications in the state and most Spanish-language news organizations often do not have staff to run after statewide breaking news or developments coming out of the legislature in Trenton, which affects Latinos just like all other New Jerseyans. Therefore the diversity and variety of this content coming from this project allows Spanish-language publications to get news to their audiences that otherwise they might not have been able to share.

We approached several elected officials including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy about the importance of translation. And this month, the governor mandated that all government information must be translated into seven languages, including Spanish. The impact that has created of this project is palpable and significant.

That’s got to be a great feeling considering where this began, with information gaps in communities that can lead to misinformation. Now, the state has done a 180.

It's fulfilling. We're proud of it. And we're owning it.

How much of this success is having good support organizations or a good local ecosystem there?

When we launched this, honestly, it was a pilot project. We did not know if this was really going to fly. We saw the need for it. We actually did get the grant, supporting the first year. But, as we move along, we see the the benefits of this not only to news organization partners, but ultimately to the communities that they serve. We feel that this project is here to stay

Has serving a state so diverse been a bigger challenge?

We started with five organization partners and those five mostly doing statewide news, rather than neighborhood or local news stories. Now that we have more specific areas, it's just wonderful to see that this is really snowballing into much bigger areas. If the news organization partners are committed, no matter how big the challenge is, it can be mitigated.

We're hoping that more and more English-language publication partners will join the project. Then we can more extensively cover the areas around New Jersey. if we get something that's also focusing on the environment or housing, for example, that would be great because then it would expand the lens of the stories as well as the news Latino communities could access.

What kind of advice would you offer an organization that was looking to create a similar service with other news organizations in their own regions?

Don't be scared! Doing a project like this to focus on the community - especially now that there have been a lot of layoffs at major publications, and newsrooms are shutting down - and one that shows how translation is vital to inform communities is so significant.

Partner with organizations. Hire bilingual translators, and partner with more news organizations covering and breaking news and doing investigative reporting in your state. This model is not new, but look at us. We now have six English- and six Spanish-language news organization partners. We have nearly 200 news stories and opinion pieces that have been translated into Spanish since the beginning of this project. Those stories were then republished more than 500 times in both English and Spanish in New Jersey.

You have got to start from where you need to start. Get a few partners to launch, and then also translators, and you will have a very successful initiative. 🟢

Cafecito: stories to discuss ☕

• The federal discrimination complaint filed by Carlos Frías against WLRN is an ongoing story, and Axios has a succinct rundown. 👁️‍🗨️ I’ve heard word of issues before this in Miami, and hope to bring you more soon.

• Colorado Public Radio announced it is replacing the term ‘migrant’ with ‘new immigrant’ 🌱 Of note, “we see an opportunity to be flexible with our language and inject more humanity into our news coverage.”

• This Texas Monthly story on a small-town community radio station has a few layers, including how a hate-based assault on a Latino business owner united a place with a troubled past. 🏪

• For newsrooms: Factchequeado says to be on the lookout for scams purporting to be law enforcement and targeting Spanish speakers. 🚔 In particular, Connecticut cities report schemes involving imposters asking residents for untraceable forms of money and personal information.

• As you’re collecting intel for your own bilingual voter education, check our efforts from WNIJ, KPBS and CalMatters for inspiration. 👓

El radar: try this 📡

• Immerse audiences in Spanish ‘Bookstagram.’ 📙 Many people look to develop habits that contribute to their well-being, and reading is one of the oldest and most effective. In Spanish, New Hampshire Public Radio interviewed blogger Fran Ovalle about developing a love of reading, and some literary recommendations that open up new worlds.

• Investigate local municipal contracts and minority businesses. A study found minority- and women-owned businesses received less than 20 percent of St. Louis County contracts from 2017-2021 despite accounting for 40 percent of available contractors. 🧰 St. Louis Public Radio reports on increased contract goals, training programs and other measures to open up the bidding process.

• Call out to Selena loyalists. A new docuseries on the murder of Selena Quintanilla Perez is out tomorrow. 🪩 Gunned down in 1995 by a former staffer, the Tejano music icon is still beloved in many quarters. Fans are sure to have thoughts on interviews conducted from prison with her killer.

• Find local viral Latinx food trends. LAist profiled a local taqueria that was a TikTok hit. 🫓 I expect, if you ask around, you might find regional Latina/o businesses using social media to generate clientele.

• Ask Latin Americans about the Mexico’s bullfighting debate. A recent Supreme Court ruling has allowed the return of bullfights to Mexico City. The New York Times is among those to cover it. 🐂 Prominent Latin American countries, including Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico, still allow the practice. If residents are from those nations, they may have strong opinions about the issue in Mexico and their own home countries.

The next OIGO arrives Match 1. It’ll be close to Super Tuesday in many states. 🐣 If you have Spanish-language voter education or other diverse engagement you’d like to share, count me in. Hit Reply and let’s talk.

If you are affiliated with the American Public Media Group or Star Tribune (Minneapolis), I’ll be sharing an AI use case I’m working on at their AI + News Demo Day on Feb. 29. ✍️ I look forward to seeing you (virtually) there.

Finally, lamento mucho la muerte de Lisa Lopez-Galvan. 😔 The volunteer Tejano music DJ at community radio station KKFI was identified as the person killed in the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rally.

☕ You can buy me a coffee if you’d like to support the newsletter. 🎀