Like the Media Research Center, Newsmax fearmongered about several Spanish-language radio stations being bought by a group of liberal-leaning investors with some backing from an financial firm tangentally tied to a fund management firm tied to George Soros. A June 3 article by Theodore Bunker announcing the deal was typical, putting “Soros-Backed Group” in the headline even though the article itself makes it clear he’s not personally involved and that there are many investors — “a group of investors led by Lakestar Finance, which is affiliated with Soros Fund Management, founded by George Soros, along with several individuals.”
Tbhe fearmongering really kicked in after that. Nick Kotsoubinas wrote in a June 8 article:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is warning Miami residents that a George Soros-backed purchase of Spanish language radio stations is an attempt to capture Latin votes and sway listeners, Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez told Newsmax.
The new Hispanic media company, Latino Media Network, announced Friday, it would obtain 18 Hispanic radio stations in 10 different markets, including one in Miami, which a George Soros-backed venture purchased from TelevisaUnivision in a $60 million deal, according to a press release from DeSantis’ campaign.
Nuñez said in her “Eric Bolling: The Balance” appearance that people should ask themselves, “Is it a business proposition? Is it a business deal? No, it is specific radio stations that are known for having conservative viewpoints.”
Their playbook, she said, is “to control the media, control the narrative, control the spin — and they think they can control the minds and hearts and the souls of voters.”
Similarly themed articles followed:
- Miami Cubans Oppose Democrat-Backed Spanish Radio Deal (a wire service article that appropriately downplayed Soros’ involvement)
- RNC Blasts Soros-Funded Takeover of 18 Hispanic Radio Stations
- Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar to Newsmax: Soros Pays to ‘Silence’ Miami’s Conservative Voices
None of the Newsmax-generated articles noted that some of the right-wing radio stations being bought — particularly Radio Mambi in Miami — are notorious for spreading disiinformation.
After the sale closed in November, Newsmax fretted even more. James Hirsen went the conspiracy theory route in his Nov. 28 column:
One of Soros’ latest designs has been to quietly move toward gaining control of a major conservative-leaning communications outlet serving the Spanish-speaking community.
With Democrats experiencing an unanticipated decline in support from Hispanic voters, it could be that Soros felt the need to step in and further manage the flow of news and information to the Spanish speaking voter contingency.
In any event, a media company was formed in June of 2022. The goal was to acquire a group of radio stations from TelevisaUnivision, including a flagship of conservative talk radio in Miami, Radio Mambí.
[…]One other pertinent note: The media company’s acquisition was financed by an investment entity affiliated with Soros.
Historically, Radio Mambi has been linked to the Cuban exile community. The Spanish language station had long been a unique source of content that was anti-communist, anti-Castro and pro-traditional values. What it will now become is left to the imagination.
In great part due to Soros’ reputation, when news of the proposed acquisition emerged, people in South Florida became seriously concerned that the reliable flow of information from their beloved talk station was in jeopardy.
Hirsen then complained that conservatives about right-wing disinformation being spewed from right-wing Spanish-language radio was a ploy to silence dissent:
Those who were in support of the purchase brought up a familiar refrain that is used to justify speech suppression. They claimed that there is a pressing need to address “disinformation.”
Predictably, the FCC brushed aside the opposing arguments and approved the proposed sale.
Hirsen immediately undercut his own argument by nonting that some Radio Mambi people left to join a station purporting to have “a Spanish language conservative talk radio alternative to the Miami market” — proving there’s no “suppression” of right-wing Hispanic voices after all.
Similarly, a Dec. 21 article by Brian Pfail made a big deal out of some Radio Mambi personalities quitting the station:
The recent takeover by George Soros of 18 Hispanic radio stations, including Miami’s flagship conservative Radio Mambí, has prompted three hosts to quit.
“This is going to be a failure — I am 100 percent sure of that,” Venezuelan-born former Radio Mambí host Lourdes Ubieta told The New York Post. She quit the station after she learned of the takeover during the summer. “They did this to silence conservative Hispanic voices, but it’s not going to work.”
In June, the Soros-backed Latino Media Network bought Mambí, a prominent voice of anti-Communist Cuban exiles for decades, along with 17 other Spanish-language radio stations from TelevisaUnivision in a $60 million deal.
[…]Ubieta and two other Radio Mambí hosts, including Dania Alexandrino and Nelson Rubio, have quit over the new management and are now at Americano Radio in Miami, which maintains it’s the nation’s first conservative Spanish network.
“They want to silence and censor Hispanic conservative voices. They have a way of telling Democrats are the party of minorities and the party of the poor,” Alexandrino said to The Post. “They treat Hispanics like victims.”
The fact that all three quickly got jobs at another right-wing station in the Miami seems to disprove that “Hispanic conservative voices” are being “censored.” And Rubio in particular was named as among the greatest peddlers of disinformation on Radio Mambi.
Pfail then went on to quote the MRC’s Jorge Bonilla pushing the partisan talking point that “there would be backlash from Hispanics as Democrats continue to lose support among Hispanics.” Pfail did, however, also highlight critics who pointed out the amount of disinformation on right-wing Hispanic radio and even linked to a Politico article pointing it out.