Come November, an estimated 36 million Latinos will be eligible to vote in the U.S. presidential election. Across the nation, there are Spanish language radio stations invested in them as an audience — and content on those stations is targeting listeners with disinformation about the candidates, the parties and political issues.

In this special episode, host Kai Wright sits down with journalist Paulina Velasco to discuss “Frequency of Deception,” an investigation into the lies, rumors and propaganda that have been peppering Spanish language broadcasts in recent years. Velasco’s reporting includes egregious examples of attempts to manipulate listeners, ideas about who and what is behind these nefarious efforts, and a look at the ongoing push to combat the spread of misinformation and disinformation among vulnerable communities.

This radio piece was produced in collaboration with WNYC’s Notes from America.

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Frequency of Deception / Radiofrecuencia de engaños is an in-depth investigative series into misinformation and disinformation on Spanish-language radio in the United States. This series was produced by Feet in 2 Worlds in partnership with WNYC’s Notes from America, palabra and Puente News Collaborative.

Credits

Host: Kai Wright

Reporter: Paulina Velasco

Editors: John Rudolph, Karen Frillman, Mia Warren, Quincy Surasmith

Vice President of WNYC Studios: Lindsay Foster Thomas

Producer: Siona Peterous

Associate Producer: Andrés Pacheco-Girón

Engineer: Jared Paul

Voice Over: Virginia Lora, Valeria Fernández, Martina Guzmán, Andrés Pacheco-Girón

This article is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visit usdemocracyday.org.

Feet in 2 Worlds is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Ford Foundation, the Fernandez Pave the Way Foundation, an anonymous donor, and contributors to our annual NewsMatch campaign. The Fund for Investigative Journalism provided funding for this project.

Paulina Velasco is a multilingual reporter and audio producer based in Los Angeles, California. She has made narrative documentaries and interview shows for ten years for a variety of outlets, including Marketplace, LWC Studios, Slate, Pacifica Radio, and local NPR member stations. She writes for The Guardian about immigrants’ experiences in Southern California and particularly at the San Diego-Tijuana border—just ten miles from where she grew up.