In 2016, more than 27.3 million Latinos were eligible to vote, and almost 12 million of them were Millennials.
Fuse, a national television network for the fast-growing Latino and multicultural 18-34 audience, partnered with Voto Latino, the leading non-profit organization empowering American Latino millennials by engaging them through civic media, to create "Crash the Parties," an initiative designed to inspire and empower Latino youth participation in the 2016 Presidential election.
| "Crash the Parties" launched a nationwide competition to find two millennial Latinos to become embedded reporters for Fuse by granting them an all-access pass to cover the two biggest parties of the year: the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. The two winners, Arlene Santana from Los Angeles, CA and James Villalobos from Springfield, MA, were selected by a panel of expert judges that included Emmy award-winning host, political commentator and author Rachel Maddow; Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker and media publisher; Alejandra Campoverdi, who was at the time Director of Multicultural Content at the Los Angeles Times and is former White House Deputy Director of Hispanic Media; Maria Hinojosa, award-winning host of long-running weekly NPR show Latino USA; Lizza Monet Morales, actor, journalist, producer and social media influencer; and Katherine Vargas, former White House Director of Hispanic Media. The campaign also released a series of celebrity PSAs to build excitement around the initiative. Featuring promos from actress and Voto Latino co-founder Rosario Dawson and actress Rosie Perez, the PSAs ran on Fuse social, digital and linear platforms and received coverage in outlets including Access Hollywood online, People en Espanol and Huffington Post Latino Voices. The Crash the Parties contest was divided into three phases. In Phase 1, interested candidates were encouraged to upload their 1-minute submission videos onto the "Crash the Parties" website, and open casting calls were held in Los Angeles and New York. To galvanize community support, Phase 2 introduced public voting, where our target audience had the opportunity to vote from a pool of nearly 200 hopefuls who they believed would best represent their voices at the DNC and RNC. Phase 3 presented our expert, judging panel with the top 10 finalists to determine the winners. Utilizing a combination of photos, videos, and publicity, Fuse and the "Crash the Parties" reporters spoke directly to our Millennial audience, discussing complex issues, interviewing key political and pop culture influencers, and giving followers an inside look into the national conventions. Our "Crash the Parties" reporters took over Fuse's social channels at the conventions, providing on-the-ground, live social reporting from Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram with daily video editorial companion pieces posted on the Fuse.tv website each day. Fuse platforms featured #CrashTheParties interviews with Rosario Dawson, Rep. Stacey Abrams, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, ThinkTank & Young Turks host John Iadarola, and How to Get Away with Murder's Kendrick Sampson. |
#CrashTheParties was highlighted in several official Twitter moments during convention coverage. Across social media, #CrashTheParties amassed 771,728 total impressions, 8,256 total engagements, and with a total reach of 3,824,930. Additionally, the campaign received 61,877,788 total media impressions for Traditional media coverage.
Hispanic voters turned out in record numbers this year. From Univision: 47% of registered Latinos voted, vs. 42% in 2012. From Washington Post: 13.1 million to 14.7 million Latinos voted in 2016, up from 11.2 million in 2012.
