Alaska.

Insight is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by viewers just like you.

Thank you.

Encouraging people to get to the polls is important for all Alaskans.

But campaign ads and get out the vote messages are often broad and fail to reach underserved communities.

What's the best way to educate Alaskans from the diverse neighborhoods and communities of Alaska?

We'll talk with advocates working to motivate Spanish and Korean language Alaskans to vote.

Right now on Alaska Insight.

Targeted political messaging is important to reach voters with information they feel they can trust, and will motivate them to vote in Alaska.

Our diverse population makes this work critical for voter turnout.

So what's the best way to reach voters from Korean and Spanish speaking neighborhoods?

Tonight we'll learn how advocates in those communities are answering that question.

But before we get to that discussion, here are some of the top stories of the week from Alaska Public Media's collaborative statewide news network.

The Municipality of Anchorage has opened 200 hotel rooms to serve as a shelter for homeless residents.

As the city faces its first snow of the season, the hotel rooms are in addition to the city's congregate shelter on 56th Avenue, which is a low barrier open building with 200 beds, according to Catholic Social Services, which operates both the congregate shelter and the Brother Francis Shelter downtown.

Both buildings were at capacity even before the snow started falling.

Henning Incorporated which operates the hotel shelter rooms, opened the rooms Thursday and expects all of them to be full within a week.

City officials say they'r negotiating with a third vendor to bring another 200 beds online.

The Alaska marine Highway System's plan for the next 20 years includes replacing the fleet's 50 and 60 year old vessels with six new hybrid ferries.

Increasing port calls and recruiting more Alaskans for jobs.

Specifically, it calls for doubling the current number of port calls over the next two decades.

The plan was developed from more than a year of data crunching through engineering and research organizations, and gathering information from regional ferry groups and the public.

The volunteer board that advises the ferry system has voiced support for the plan, but it still needs to be approved by governor Mike Dunleavy and the Alaska Legislature.

After a month long public comment period, a new Department of Corrections process aimed at catching fentanyl before gets int the state's correctional centers has raised privacy concerns from the ACLU of Alaska in response to finding the drugs inside mailed letters and counterfeit Amazon packages.

The Anchorage Correctional Center has begu giving incarcerated individuals copied versions of their mail rather than the originals.

That mail includes legal mail such as letters from attorneys.

That's where the ACLU has raised concerns, saying the process potentially violates privilege communication between attorneys and their clients.

They also cite issues with the process, like staff failing to cop the backs of two sided letters.

Some other states use systems such as encrypted emails to for protected correspondence, which the ACLU says the department and other group around Alaska are looking into.

You ca find the full version of these and many more stories on our website.

Alaska public.org or download the Alask Public Media app on your phone.

Now onto our discussion for this evening.

Voter engagement and turnout as we'll hear tonight.

Language barriers and the lack of engagement from campaigns can prevent many Alaskans from fully participating in the electoral process.

And in rural Alaska, the challenges can be much greater.

As Alaska Public Media's Madeleine Rose reports, one organization has made it their missio to break down systemic barriers down to privacy.

In the two weeks leading up t the November general election.

The main floor of the Cook Inlet Tribal Council sees a steady stream of early and absentee voters.

This is our third time hosting it at this facility.

We're glad to provide an option for all Alaskans, because absentee voting i for all precincts in the state.

So we're we're glad to be an option in town.

Michelle Spark is the director of Get Out the Native Vote, the organization that's hosting this early voting.

She says that while election season is certainly a busy time, the advocacy work has been happening for quite a while.

We spend year long not just during election season, trying to educate the public about what's going to be on the ballot, what what the election process looks like, deadlines, you know, all the stuff that you do find on the Division of Elections website.

But we try to convey it in a way that's really relatable, and that isn't intimidating for the readers or for future voters.

Beyond educating voters, get out the native Vote is focused on breaking down major barriers for communities off the road system for rural Alaska that we have the scary times where we're worried about precinct workers, you know, whether or not a polling facility is knocked ou by a flood and things like that.

So we try to cover all bases.

And then approaching election and right now we're making sure that tectonic and whales and places like that do have election workers lined up.

Spark says that when barriers to voting repeatedly crop up in rural communities, it can lead to voter apathy.

That's why much of their effort focuse on shoring up election systems.

And that work is a Year-Round job.

Reporting from Anchorage.

I'm Madeline Rose.

Yes, what a great look at voter education and poll suppor for Alaska Native communities.

Joining me tonight to discuss helping Korean and Spanish language Alaskans gain knowledge and confidence to cast their ballots is Eugene Cho.

Eugene is the owne and publisher of the Anchorage Korean News, and is a board member of the Korean American community of Anchorage.

And Lena mariscal is the edito and publisher of Soul the Media Noche, a bilingual Alaska newspaper that prints in Spanish and English.

Welcome both of you.

Thank you for having us.

Yeah.

Thanks so much for being here on this snowy day.

Let's start with a quick description of your papers and your target audience.

You both print in your own language as well as English.

Eugene, start us off.

Tell us about Anchorag Korean News and your audience.

Yeah.

Anchorage Korean News is a weekly newspaper paper that delivers all throughout Anchorage.

The valley in Fairbanks.

For a while, it's been targeted to just Koreans only.

So it goes to all the main, screen markets, Korean communit centers, churches, businesses.

But since January, and when we turn it bilingual, we've been wanting to, extend the reach to more people as well.

So now we're delivering to places, like hotels and also places where not only Koreans frequent, but just Alaskans in general.

So, but we're really trying to, keep Koreans informed, because, you know, if you if you don't speak English, we can read English.

The the the Korean news i the only way to stay informed, you know unless if you're going online.

But in terms of local news the Korean news is the only way.

And did you say it was just in January that you started printing also in English?

Yeah.

So January is actually, when I took over the Anchorage Korean News, and the first thing I wanted to do was, make it bilingual and als take it on the online as well.

All right.

Well, we'll talk more about that in a minute.

But, Lina, tell us about sort of Seoul, the media and.

Okay.

And your your audience.

Well, the newspaper started about eight years ago.

It was a community effort.

A group of us got together when the consulate of Mexico was closing and nobody knew about it.

So we got together and decided to inform the community in a way that, they were going to know what was going on within the community.

However, there was a lot of interest from the, the community at large to, learn about the paper.

They wanted to know wha we were, you know, publishing.

So we decided to make it bilingual.

And, at the beginning, we had a group of about 10 to 12 people.

We had some, university students, helping, with time.

They graduated.

Some of them moved out of the state.

People got busy, and it wa just, two people that remained.

We decided to keep it goin because it was actually popular, and it gave us a sense of, purpose in the community.

We wanted to have the community, be informed, educated and united.

And that has been our mission from the beginning.

With time right before the or actually, as soon as the pandemic started, we, so how easy it was for misinformation and disinformation to get into our community.

And that is when, we kind of started pushing for bilingual education.

I mean, language access within the, medical, community, the municipality, it was, very easy for people to have the wrong kind of information and then, make decisions that were going to be very very detrimental for everyone, not just them, but families as well.

Solutely.

Absolutely.

So important for people to get information that is clear and that they feel they can trust.

So being in in the language that is familiar is really critical.

Eugene, describe the Next Gen group and how they're helping to get the word ou about the importance of voting.

Yeah.

So the, the NextGen is, group that's a part of the Korean American community of Anchorage.

So the Korean American community, Anchorage has many, many subgroups that go into sports culture.

Supporting seniors and connections.

Focus is, supporting the youth and young adults.

So it was started, in 2018.

And the goal at firs was just to bring young Korean Americans together to, to se the importance of community, to, feel comfortable being a Korean American and doing fun activitie and being connected to culture.

We also wanted to, bridge the gap.

People like, my parents, who are first generation immigrants who, you know, left everything at home to chase the American dream versus someone like myself who was born and raised in America.

We realize that there's different challenges between the two groups.

So we want to help both groups to connect better, understand each other.

Better.

And I would say, another thing that's important for us is, next gen is primarily made up of English speakers.

So we want to connect with other community groups.

So, like, the Polynesian Filipino community and any, any minority grou that might experience the same, you know, challenges or have similar perspective as us.

We want to connect with them to increase our, impact on civic engagement.

Yeah, there's strength in numbers.

And coming together, those coalitions.

Eugene, you know that in an earlier interview that Korean Americans often, stay up on international Korean news and that usually includes information about U.S. presidents, but doesn' include information about races, state and local races.

How much work do you have to do to prep the next gen group?

This group of young people on Alaska candidates, before they can really go out and help share information with older Korean folks?

Well, the good thing is there's a lot of great resources out there.

Alaska Publi Media has been a great leader.

You know, your news has been great as well.

So there's a lot of information out there.

But there's information that we, prep for, next gen. And I'm grateful that we have, like, a core group.

And that group is growing who are passionate about, civic engagement and just culture in general.

But a lot of the work that we need to prep is for, the elders, the first generation immigrants who, they can't read a news article in English and understand, you know, who this person i or what we're even voting for.

So, just as like Lita had mentioned, language access is big.

So getting that information, getting it translated so they can, read it and stay educated and, know who these people are.

And I would say also events like bringing people together to physical events, inviting candidates.

That also has a big impact, because it allows Koreans actually meet people and ask questions and learn about them.

Sure.

Lina you've been doing a lot of voter outreach online and print and over the air.

You publish educational stories once a month.

Talk about some of what you've presente related to voting and elections.

We've done a lot of social media because most people get their news from social media.

And so we wanted to make sure that whatever was out there was accurate, culturally, engaging and that people knew what the issues are, what the voting process is ranked choice voting is a big one because it it was a little confusing for some people.

And then of course, there a push back about it.

So we wanted to make sur that whatever we presented was, in Spanish.

It was, something that was going on within the community.

So, we figured if we did the print, the social media, the radio, and also, TV commercials in Spanish we could get people's attention.

I was talking to someone the other day, and I've lived here for 41 years.

You know, I was born in Mexico.

I grew up, in Mexico until I was 16.

And then I've been in Alaska for the rest of my life.

So all around me, I listen to English.

But if I'm walking down the street or if I'm talking to someone and I hear Spanish, I pay attention because that is something I connect with, you know, automatically.

So we figure if we, approached it that way, people would pay attention and then repetition.

And so, by doing those for, pillars in the campaign that we're doing, I, I can, I can tell you that we do get a lot of feedback from people that are thankful that they're able to, you know, know what's going o because it's not just, saying, you know, you need to vote or on this date.

It's like you need to vote because of this.

And then we present the information.

How important is for both of you?

Is it just to have information in the native language of, of, your audiences and also the distinction of where that messaging is coming from, because a lot of people might put information in various languages, is is there a greater level of acceptance just based on the language, or does a lot of it really depen It all depends.

I'm going to say that, a lot of people did not even, pay attention where it's coming from.

And that's, I feel that's when we get, the misinformation and disinformation.

And so we, within this campaign, we did, a mini campaign called Alaska Verificar, which is Alaska and Alaska verifies.

And then within that campaign, we give messaging about, you know, if you see something that is just to, that it aligns with your, ideas too much, you need to, you know, get a second, source, because that is one of the things that misinformation does.

It'll just tell yo what you want to hear and then, you know, tell you to repeat it.

And so we wanted to at least start with the basics.

Very good.

Thank you.

That's so important critical for everyone.

And what do you find in that regard?

Eugene.

Yeah, I think, you know, the news articles we publish, we have to be very clear that we're not supporting a particular candidate, because people, Koreans are very conscious of that.

You know if you talk about one candidate too much, then they'll think, oh, this newspaper supports this specific candidate.

So I don't know if I wan to read that newspaper anymore.

So everything I write, I try to keep a balanced approach.

And just, to keep it factual and, and, just have formation about each political party or candidate.

In terms of, like where it comes from, like, I think if there is like a name that they recognize, like stuff from like elections alaska.gov or like from a government website if it's information from there, then there's a little bit more of, like a trust factor where they say, okay, this is actually from the government that, that is being distributed, through communication.

So I think I'd be interested in, in reading.

Well, it's good to hear that people are paying attention to those, those very small things, to make sure.

I mean, they're not small.

Things are actually big to make sure that, you know, where that message is coming from and that you can trust it.

You've both talked a little bit about, this, but, myths and disinformation.

The New York Times reported today.

And the spike in hateful rhetoric and vitriol aimed at immigrants in this presidential race.

Do these false and racist statements make people from your communities hesitant to go to the polls fearing negative interactions?

What do you hear in that regard?

I'm going to say that yes, people are intimidated.

But we have to, stand up for what we believe.

And, I had said before, you know, with, we come from countries that, maybe were not, offering the opportunities that we have here.

And it would be a shame to lose, you know, control of our future.

And so if we want to, if we want to continue having the life that we have or even better life, we need to do something about it.

We can't just sit there and hope that somebody else is going to do it for us.

Eugene your thoughts?

Are people intimidated by what they're seeing and hearing?

I think not not jus intimidation to go to the polls, you know, with racism, it's like, Korean like to stick together, right?

You know, when they first immigrated here, you looked for another Korean to.

How do we how do we, make a living here in America?

So, for so long, the Koreans have stayed, primarily within the Korean community.

Or maybe not among Koreans.

Right.

So when you experience racism, it's hard to that trust is hard, right?

This this person, mad some racist remarks against me.

I'm going to go back to what I'm comfortable with and, you know, stay with the Koreans, you know.

But, I would say Koreans do care about, like, what are the things that would, impact, things at home in Korea that they may still consider home, like immigrants who came here.

They're still interested in what's happening to Korea.

So as we head to the polls, I do they do care about like, what are some things or factors that will impact Korea positively, you know, of course, that makes perfect sense.

So talk about some of the types of misinformation.

Lina, you were talking about this earlier.

What are you trying to counter?

What what's being targeted to your community?

All kinds of, so, it is very and, you know, it's very difficult to say to not point fingers, I guess, at whose campaign is saying what and when.

You have a campaign saying immigrants are coming in to take away your job, they're coming in to, take away, you know, education and your, and they don't contribute to the economy and they will, you know, increase crime and and all these negative things.

People actually believe it, and they don't give you the whole story.

They don't tell you that just like, just like everybody you know, we're your neighbors, we go to work, we contribute to the economy.

We want a better life.

We, have been here for a long time.

I've been here for 41 years.

And, I think that people just tend to believe whatever is out there without thinking critically about, you know why is this being put out there?

Why is it only targeting specific, people?

And it's not talking about everything else that is going on.

And so for me, being able to push back and say, you know, this may be happening, but you have to look at the whole picture and, it is very difficult.

We have a lot of, really bad information out there, which makes it, even harder if it's in your own language because, you know, people will say, well, if, you know, if they're saying this is to be called and it's in Spanish, then it, you know, it's coming from people that know what's going on.

And, and that makes it very difficult.

Yes, I'm sure it does.

Eugene, do you find similar, types of misinformatio aimed at the Korean community?

I don't know if it's specifically aimed at the Korean community but I will say, you know, many Koreans who, I'm speaking for, like, the, the first generation immigrants, they may, they respond very well to, like, people telling them to go out to vote, like there's people who will go to neighborhoods where a lot of Korean people live and go there and say, we need to go to the polls.

You need to vote and here's why you need to vote.

But, what those people say, if they're with a specific political party that, you know, they obviously have a big influence on that whole neighborhood, right?

If they're doing the work of going, they're getting all everyone together and knocking on doors and saying, you need to vote for this person.

And Korean people, you know, they see another Korean come to them and say, you need to vote in this, who you need to vote for.

There's, you know, they're going to somewhat probably trust them, you know, or at least listen to what they have to say, you know?

So, that's that's one thing I think, is, something to, to, consider do you both are, publishers of, of, bilingual papers.

Do you have events, any more events planned or things planned this weekend for some last minute get out the vote events or anything in the lead up to Tuesday's election?

Well, there is an event, but I would not think they have.

You know, it is a very cultural event.

It's, they are muertos.

There will be a lot of people there.

I don't know if there is going to be any outreach there.

But we do have the social media campaign.

We have some, radio ads.

I have actually started asking friends after you vote or before you vote, if you're registered, take a pictur and tell me what you're voting.

And then I posted on social media, Jean Eugene, anything you've got?

This Saturday evening, 7:00 at Akeelah Space downtown.

We're doing.

It's called the Future Forward Get Out to Vote event.

All right.

Thank you both so much for being here.

This went by so fast.

As we heard tonight.

There's power in the printed word.

And in delivering information in the language.

You best understand.

The right of all legal citizens of Alaska.

In America, to vote is undisputed, regardless of where you or your famil originally came from, ensuring that new citizens or folks who need language assistance to understand the issues and make informed decisions about how to cast their vote, is critical to the future health of our democracy and to help all Americans trust the system that we use to elect leaders.

That's it for this edition of Alaskan Alaska Insight, visit our website.

Alaska public.org for breaking news and reports from our partner stations across the state.

While you're there, sign up for our free daily digest so you won't miss any o Alaska's top stories of the day.

Thanks for joining u this evening.

I'm Lori Townsend.

Good night.