When election lies are in Spanish | Morning Newsletter
And rural Pa.’s aging population
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The Morning Newsletter
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Good morning. It’s a nice, crisp Sunday to get outside and enjoy what remains of our fall foliage.
Pennsylvania’s rural population will plummet in coming decades and no county is older than Sullivan. What does the future look like for that northcentral community, and who will take care of the aging population there?
But first, our main read touches on the challenges of fact-checking misinformation in Spanish as it flows in Philly and throughout the U.S., and how it targets voters that could play a key role in the election.
— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Both political parties are vying for support from Latino voters in the Keystone State. How they vote could be pivotal in determining whether former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris wins Pennsylvania — and the White House.
This is increasingly complicated by the proliferation of falsehoods online. Spanish speakers are hit with lies across different platforms, from propaganda videos on WhatsApp to a popular YouTuber spreading misinformation.
Debunking distortions in English can be complicated, so this adds another layer of complication for people in the United States who speak Spanish. There are not enough resources devoted to fact-checking Spanish language content, which puts Latinos in a position to be routinely targeted by fake news.
Alfred Lubrano talked to experts about the depths of this issue in Philadelphia’s Hispanic and Latino communities, and why certain pieces of misinformation are effective.
What you should know today
Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise cameo appearance on “Saturday Night Live” on the last weekend before Election Day.
A Delaware County man has been charged with killing the mother of their 8-year-old son and her mother during a break-in at their Willingboro home, officials announced Saturday.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday unanimously rejected a Republican request to bar Pennsylvania voters who submitted faulty mail ballots from casting provisional votes at the polls on Election Day. And in Erie, thousands of mail ballots remained unaccounted for as a judge ordered the county’s elections board to remain open through the weekend.
Former first lady Michelle Obama and musician Alicia Keys drew an overflow crowd to Norristown Area High School Saturday to make the case for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris will hold a get-out-the-vote concert rally Monday night at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art as the presidential campaigns continue to focus on the critical swing state of Pennsylvania. Here’s everything we know about the rally so far.
A federal judge has declined to accept oversight of the lawsuit filed against Elon Musk by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, the latest chapter in the legal bout unfolding between Krasner and Musk ahead of Election Day.
In a new lawsuit, a former assistant to Tim Boyce, Delaware County’s longtime director of emergency services, accused Boyce of “unwanted verbal, physical and sexual harassment,” including exposing himself to her.
John A. Fry began his tenure as Temple University’s president on Friday. Here’s how his first official day on the job went.
In 2022, a number of tight races put the Pa. House in Democratic control. This year, many of those contests aren’t competitive.
Jason Kelce, while in State College for the Penn State-Ohio State football game Saturday, threw a fan’s phone in response to an insult about his brother, Travis, and his girlfriend Taylor Swift.
🎤 Now I’m passing the mic to my colleague Jason Nark. Jason reports on rural parts of Pennsylvania and the outdoors far from city life.
As an avid camper, hiker, and outdoorsman, I’ve been going to Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, long before I got paid to write about the place. It’s truly an outdoors paradise and the swimming hole at World End State Park, on Loyalsock Creek, might just be my favorite place on Earth.
When I was asked to travel into rural Pennsylvania after the 2016 presidential election, I found that this tiny, sparsely populated county was a microcosm of all the things people love and find challenging about rural America: poor internet service and cellular connectivity, few well-paying jobs, and little housing stock.
In recent years, the drumbeat of population loss has grown louder and the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to throw a wrench into the accurate counts and turned the real estate market upside down. It’s a fascinating place and, like a lot of nature lovers, I’d love to own a house there. — Jason Nark
Keep reading about life in this rural Pennsylvania county that’s only getting smaller.
❓Pop quiz
In what year was the Philadelphian, the city’s largest condo building, first completed?
A) 1955
B) 1961
C) 1963
D) 1975
Think you know? Check your answer.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: A Delco community known for its historic grist mills
LING SMELL
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Harry Whalen who correctly guessed Saturday’s answer: Matvei Michkov. He was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for October, the first Flyer to be selected for the honor since James van Riemsdyk in November 2009.
Photo of the day
We were looking for the “TopDog kid” spotted in Philly on Halloween, and a reader named Brad Baer delivered. This is his 6-year-old son, Jude. Thanks for making our day.
🎶 Today’s track goes like this: “With you, there’s no pretending / You know me.” Clairo played Franklin Music Hall on Friday and Saturday. I went to the second show with my best friend, and it made us fall in love with Charm all over again.
👋🏽 That’s it for now. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Inquirer.