While the mainstream media focused on the eclectic cast of characters running to replace Gov. Gray Davis last week, Los Angeles' Spanish-language daily, La Opinion, led its Monday edition with the banner headline: "Schwarzenegger gave his support to Proposition 187."
As "Access Hollywood" and "Entertainment Tonight" replayed clips of Arnold Schwarzenegger's entrance into the race on NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," Spanish newscasts were giving the star treatment to another candidate: Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.
The Spanish-language media's coverage of California's historic recall election is different from that of English-language counterparts, dwelling less on the colorful candidates and more on two themes: Schwarzenegger's support of the anti-illegal-immigration initiative and the possibility that Bustamante could become the state's first Latino governor in more than a century.
The result is a view of the recall story that news directors and editors say will continue to center on how candidates stand on issues that affect Latinos.
Among those topics are the controversial matricula consular identification cards, drivers' licenses for undocumented workers, and Schwarzenegger's selection of former Gov. Pete Wilson as co-chairman of his campaign.
Wilson championed the 1994 ballot measure that would have cut off many public services to illegal immigrants.
"In the last couple of days, the Prop. 187 thing has been covered extensively" in the Spanish press, said La Opinion's political editor, Pilar Marrero.
"The coverage has been negative so far on Schwarzenegger" because the candidate, shying from the political press, has given Spanish media little else to report, Marrero said. "It's troublesome to Latino readers that these topics are coming up again, particularly an image like that of Pete Wilson, who still is a very strong catalyst in our community."
Some candidates are already courting the Spanish-language media outlets -- and honing specific messages for them.
Davis met with Spanish-language reporters on Thursday to announce that he had agreed to sign a final version of SB 60, the bill that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain drivers' licenses. But his aides required the interview be embargoed from some of the Spanish networks' English sister stations, effectively giving the Spanish-language media a day's lead on the story.
