Uncle Ben "Gets a New Identity"

Today's New York Times has a fascinating Business section cover story on Mars company's effort to reintroduce Uncle Ben's rice and side dish products to the American consumer. The article points readers to a new website, unclebens.com, where the company has repositioned Uncle Ben as the chairman of the company.

I explored the site and found a calendar on Ben's executive office desk that has him speaking to the National Institutes of Health and meeting with a Senator You-Know-Who on a Friday in March.

It is a notable transformation of a brand character that has always carried with it the baggage of racial insensitivity that has also been associated with the brand and other brands such as Aunt Jemima's pancake syrup.

The Times was right to front-page this story. As advertising reporter Stuart Elliott writes in the story:

"The previous reluctance to feature Uncle Ben prominently in ads stood in stark contrast to the way other human characters like Orville Redenbacher and Colonel Sanders personify their products. That reticence can be traced to the contentious history of Uncle Ben as the black face of a white company, wearing a bow tie evocative of servants and Pullman porters and bearing a title reflecting how white Southerners once used “uncle” and “aunt” as honorifics for older blacks because they refused to say “Mr.” and “Mrs.”

Before the civil rights movement took hold, marketers of food and household products often used racial and ethnic stereotypes in creating brand characters and mascots.

In addition to Uncle Ben, there was Aunt Jemima, who sold pancake mix in ads that sometimes had her exclaiming, “Tempt yo’ appetite;” a grinning black chef named Rastus, who represented Cream of Wheat hot cereal; the Gold Dust Twins, a pair of black urchins who peddled a soap powder for Lever Brothers; the Frito Bandito, who spoke in an exaggerated Mexican accent; and characters selling powdered drink mixes for Pillsbury under names like Injun Orange and Chinese Cherry — the latter baring buck teeth."

This will certainly add a new layer to the discussion I initiate with students in my ethnic marketing course at Johns Hopkins University.

Click [here] to read the NYT article.

Asian Americans in U.S. Pop Entertainment?

New York Times writer Mireya Navarro had a Style-section cover story in the Sunday Times that delved into what some say is American pop culture's avoidance of potential Asian American stars; she writes some refer to it as "the Asian thing." It's an interesting article and worth reading.

Click [here] for the article.

FCC Penalty Demonstrates Spanish-Language TV Must Abide by Same Rules as Other Networks

According to a major front page story in Saturday's New York Times by media writer Stephen Labaton, Spanish-language television leader Univision is about to get hit with "the largest fine the Federal Communications Commission has ever imposed against any company."

And it appears Univision is ready, and in fact quite eager, to settle the issue and move on. The NYT piece, available through a permalink [here], is quite thorough and places the entire issue in the following context:

"Once the full commission approves it, as expected, Univision will be able to complete its $12 billion sale to a consortium of private equity firms."

So, while this is a major penalty and sets a historic precedent for the FCC, $24 million is a small amount to concede in order to ensure the government's support of a speedy sale of the company.

Some background... The Los Angeles Times' Jim Puzzanghera reports on the issue in Sunday's paper [here]. The Times' reports:

"Los Angeles-based Univision, the country's largest Spanish-language broadcaster, has agreed to the fine to settle complaints against 24 stations over a 116-week period from 2004 to 2006 for airing the children-focused soap operas, known as telenovelas, to fulfill the requirement for at least three hours of educational programming a week, according to a commission official who spoke on condition of anonymity because only the FCC staff, not the full commission, had approved the settlement."

The Times report from Saturday quoted Rep. Ed Markey:

“As the prime House author of the Children’s Television Act, I am pleased the commission is pursuing serious and vigorous enforcement of violations,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet. “This is a particularly egregious case and the level of the proposed fine reflects it. Rather than giving kids programming that is educationally nourishing, Univision elected to give them the Spanish-language equivalent of a soap opera.”

And the Times also reported that a politically active church filed the original complaint that led to the penalty:

"The case dates to the summer of 2005, when the United Church of Christ raised concerns about Univision’s programming lineup, complaining that it was failing to provide adequate children’s programs. The network claimed it was meeting its obligation by repeatedly rebroadcasting the same episodes of the telenovela. The commission’s staff found that 24 stations had violated the programming guidelines over a two-year period."

Finally, the Times identified the research of one of my academic colleagues Professor Federico Subervi of the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at Texas State University (who I've collaborated with on Hispanic voting research):

"In an affidavit accompanying the United Church’s complaint, Federico Subervi, a media consultant to such shows as “Dora the Explorer” and “The Misadventures of Maya and Miguel” said that “Complices” contained many adult plots and complex themes that were hardly suitable for young children."

"As further evidence that the program did not comply with the rules, Mr. Subervi noted that 80 percent of the advertising during the show was geared toward adults."

Here are some possible "lessons" that could come out of this case:

First, Spanish-language media must live under the same rules and regulations as all other media companies in the United States (for many reasons this was not clear before). And yes the FCC has finally realized it can effectively police the format. But for too long the FCC ignored Spanish-language media -- I remember the organization cracking down on indecency in English radio programs and then getting blasted for not doing the same for Spanish radio programs that were doing the same of worse.

But questions remain: Why was it outside research, and not the FCC's own original research and analysis, that convinced the commission there was a problem?

Every semester I teach my ethnic marketing course I share with my students a terrific Newsweek article about all the phrases that are lost in translation and how the FCC was essentially unaware of the the content of many Spanish-language radio programs.

Second, if you're a big media make sure you do good for the country and follow rules that were established to ensure you do. Profits often get in the way of this. And even now, it raises the question: Will a $24 million fine finally force a change at Univision?

The company has not commented publicly yet (best I can tell and according to the L.A. Times today), but might Univision announce, as one friend recommends, that it will invest at least $24 million in the development of new educational children's programming for U.S. Hispanic children? It would certainly be the right thing to do.

Third, if you're a big media company, make sure that you don't anger citizen groups who will file complaints as the UCC did. Groups that have gripes are more likely to spend the time and money on efforts to punish you if you have upset or wronged them in the past. If they work hard enough eventually they will find something that will stick.

ImpreMedia Buys Hoy's New York Edition from Tribune Co.

I just received the e-mail announcing the following development in the Spanish-language media business:

"ImpreMedia, LLC, the nation's leading Spanish-language newspaper and online news publisher, announced today it has agreed to acquire Tribune Company's New York publication, Hoy, and its related weekend publication in New York, Fin de Semana. The pending acquisition does not include the Hoy publications in Los Angeles and Chicago."

Hoy, which was plagued by the Tribune Co's circulation scandal a few years ago, has struggled to compete with the larger El Diario/La Prensa in the New York media market. Plus, ImpreMedia's leadership is driving one of the most energetic campaigns to create a national Hispanic print media empire, and so far it appears to be very successful.

Another rationale: "Based on Scarborough research, the combined readership of Hoy New York and El Diario La Prensa will allow ImpreMedia to deliver nearly twice the number of Spanish-preferred adults as New York's leading Spanish-language TV station, owned by Univision, and nearly three times more than New York's leading Spanish-language radio station."

As long as the quality of reporting and resources for consumers remains strong, perhaps the consolidation of the two papers is a good thing from the perspective of advertisers in the New York media market looking to reach the largest number of consumers.

I'll be on the look-out for reactions to this sale and will share them here on the blog.

Click [here] for the full press release about the sale.

- Adam

Goldman Sachs May Sink $50 Million into Agencies that Reach Hispanics

BusinessWeek magazine's Burt Helm reported this week on the Goldman Sachs plan to gobble up Hispanic marketing shops and may spend $50 million.

There are some unique and effective PR shops, including my own The 2050 Group, that specialize in reaching Hispanic media on behalf of clients and would be wise investments as the market and business demand continues to grow.

Click [here] to see the article on their site or see below:

BusinessWeek

February 5, 2007

MARKETING
It's Fiesta Time At Goldman

Every year at Hispanic street festivals across the country, millions of immigrant and U.S.-born Latinos throw back beers, enjoy live music, and feast on everything from empanadas to fresh mangoes. Now Goldman Sachs wants to join the fiesta. Over the next five years the company's merchant bank plans to spend as much as $50 million buying up marketing and advertising companies that cater to the growing Hispanic population in the U.S., even acquiring street fair operators along the way.

Virtually every ad conglomerate has a Hispanic unit. But Goldman will be the first to unite a group of Hispanic marketing and entertainment outfits into a holding company that will serve as a single stop for big brands hoping to navigate the promising but increasingly complex market. Even some competitors concede Goldman is on to something. "Clients are all asking for integrated services," says Carl Kravetz, president of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies and CEO of Los Angeles-based cruz/kravetz:ideas.

At the outset, Goldman is looking to snare one of the 30 to 40 independent Hispanic ad agencies that annually generate between $25 million and $100 million each in billings, plus a research firm and a festival producer. Goldman will be majority shareholder with management handled by Latin Force, a marketing consultancy. The idea is to tap into second-generation Latinos. Young and bilingual, they consume mostly English-language media but still retain aspects of their parents' heritage.

By 2010 the number of these "New Generation" Latinos could reach 15.4 million, according to the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C. Practically all growth in the coveted 18- to 34-year-old demographic comes from Hispanics, according to Pew. "The Hispanic market is getting so complicated and confus-ing," says Goldman Managing Director Kevin Jordan. "That's the reason to build a company like this."

Mexican Regiona Hits New York

One of the nation's top-rated Spanish-language morning radio programs has hit the NYC media market. “Piolín por la Mañana” (“Tweetybird in the Morning”) has hit the Univision-owned WZAA, which according to Saturday's edition of The New York Times, became "the first FM station in New York offering a format known as Mexican Regiona, which includes genres like ranchera, banda and norteña music."

Times reporter Seth Kugel reports that, "In most Hispanic hubs of the United States, the arrival of another Mexican regional station would have been nothing unusual. According to the Arbitron ratings service, the format attracts a 19.4 percent share of the Hispanic market, making it the most popular Spanish-language format by far. A recent Arbitron report shows that it is also the fastest-growing and that there had not been a single station playing a Mexican regional format from Maine to Pennsylvania in 2005."

Each semester I devote an entire class session to ethnic radio in my Master's course in Ethnic Marketing. It's great that the Times continues to shine light on the power of radio programming that reaches deep into ethnic communities better than other media forms.

Click [here] for the full article.

Hispanic Ad Spending Continues to Rise

ADWEEK reports on the announcement from media tracking agency TNS that they're projecting 5.4% growth for Hispanic advertising this year.

According to the article posted [here] on ADWEEK's site: "The Hispanic market is continuing to look very strong," said Steven Fredericks, president and CEO of TNS Media Intelligence. "The overall outlook for 2007 is relatively conservative at 2.6 percent, and the growth forecast for Hispanic media is more than double that.

Hispanic media buys have been smart investments for so many companies who have effectively reached into the Hispanic consumer market.

And many of the major investors behind Hispanic media ventures have seen their investments swell. This is exactly why Univision was able to sell itself for an astronomical amount of money to a team of investors. The Hispanic market continues to grow both in dollars and consumers and this is part of what makes tracking this market so exciting.

The Story Behind Pepsi's Early Marketing to African Americans

The Wall Street Journal today ran a lengthy excerpt from the new book by Stephanie Capparell titled "The Real Pepsi Challenge: The Inspirational Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business." The Journal, which is published by the Journal and Free Press (a division of Simon and Schuster), published the excerpt on the front of its Marketplace section.

Capparell writes that Pepsi hired an all-black marketing sales division to go after the Black consumer market which she reports was valued at more than $10 billion. Her narrative covers the experience and historical significance of this sales team and reports on the ethnic marketing strategies they and the company employed.

She writes, "The mission of the black sales representatives at Pepsi-Cola was to win over loyal new customers - first by making personal appearances, then by placing ads in the black press and setting up displays at mom-and-pop stores in black communities."

The marketing team "visited bottlers, churches, 'ladies groups,' schools, college campuses, YMCAs, community centers, insurance conventions, teacher and doctor conferences, and various civic organizations."

[Here] is a link to the book on Amazon and [here] is the description on the Simon and Schuster site.

I'm excited to be able to alert to this and share it, in the form of a case study, with my ethnic marketing students at Johns Hopkins University.

Pizza for Pesos at Texas Restaurant Chain

In a killer publicity stunt, Texas based pizza shop chain "Pizza Petron" announced it will begin accepting Mexican pesos as currency at its U.S. shops along with U.S. currency.

Pizza Petron launched as the pizza chain that aimed to attract unprecedented numbers of Hispanic American consumers to the popular American food and it has not been shy in trying to attract Spanish-dominant consumers. The company says its stores are "based in Spanish speaking or predominately Hispanic neighborhoods."

The Dallas Morning News reported on the announcement [here].

Ethnic marketing exec Juan Faura, whose book I have assigned in past semesters for my graduate course in ethnic marketing, tells the Dallas paper:

"If you're not in a border town, I don't see the functional benefit," said Juan Faura, president and chief executive of Cultura, a Dallas-based marketing and advertising firm.

He and others saw the program more as a marketing effort than a badly needed service.

"I would see it as a move by the chain to communicate unequivocally to the Hispanic market that they are for them," Mr. Faura said.

"I don't see any other reason for it."

He's exactly right. This is a huge publicity stunt more than anything else. A good publicist might squeeze an extra couple days worth of attention out of this by helping attract a protest outside corporate headquarters or the various store locations. Free publicity can be enormously valuable.

Click [here] for the company's official announcement.

Guess the Quickest Way to Anger Asian American Consumers?

Can you guess the most expedient way Toys R Us could pick to turn off and anger Asian American consumers and other customers?

This is a good one: choose an Asian American for an enormous prize and then revoke the award because her mother is not a legal resident of the United States. Oh and do it a month after opening the first store in Shanghai, China which is in the same coutry where the vast majority of the chain's products are made.

As far as ethnic marketing disaster case studies go, this is one of the best.

Saturday's New York Times has the full story [here - permalink] by immigration writer Nina Bernstein. The Times report - which is accompanied by a photo from the World Journal because the Times could not reach the family - comes after the story hit the bigtime in popular Chinese-language daily The World Journal and made its way around the Internet via a e-mail notification campaign.

Can a major corporation win by being perceived as anti-immigrant? I doubt it, that's why I think this was strange business decision and applaud the Times for reporting on it. By the way, the Times says the winner was a "black American" and that another runner-up mother, whom I presume was disqualified as well, was born in El Salvador.

Southern Blacks in Major Leadership Roles in Congress for First Time

The Wall Street Journal published an article by staff writer David Rogers on Wednesday on "Southern Blacks' Ascent to Top Posts in Congress." Great piece and it's a reminder that a change in the control of Congress not only can shift policies and priorities, but it can also change history. African Americans and Hispanics have great allies and stronger direct representation with this new Congress - and I hope this translates into greater progress on many important issues.

Click [here] for the Wall Street Journal piece.

Historic: First Black Governor in Massachusetts

Deval Patrick was sworn in yesterday as the Governor of Massachusetts. It makes him the first Black to lead the state government and it makes me proud of my home state.

Click [here] for a Boston Globe story on what this means for African Americans.

News Report: Ford Reaffirms Value of Ethnic Marketing Strategies

An excellent Washington Post article today by staff writer Sholnn Freeman reports on Ford's latest campaign which is "devoting considerable energy to attracting niche customers." The article reaffirms what I have been teaching my students at Johns Hopkins University and telling my clients: ethnic or multicultural marketing strategies can be highly effective.

While the article itself reads like a corporate promotional piece, I love it because it makes for a great case study for my Master's degree course in ethnic marketing.

The story quotes a professor at the College of William and Mary who delivers quite an understatement. There has been evidence that the largest minority groups in the U.S. over-index the mainstream consumer on auto purchases and remain more brand loyal. So it is really a no-brainer that automakers reach out to these consumers. The biggest challenge continues to be how to create a message and brand/product line that is in-culture or fits well in-culture. This is not to say company's like Ford can not help drive the culture a little as well - afterall they spend billions of dollars on consumer advertising. But the Post story reports that Ford is borrowing from some of the most notable figures and media organizations that are strong among ethnic audiences and tying their brand to them.

Freeman writes that, "While many other customers have fled, lots of African Americans have stayed local to carmarkers in Detroit. African American and Hispanic artists celebrate American car brands in music and culture. Hip-hop and R&B have given Cadillac new life with lyrical backing of the over-the-top Escalade SUV and the flashy Cadillac brand itself."

She reports that: "Ford will sponsor a sweepstakes on Spanish-language Univision.com..."
and that "Ford's marketers also think they've got a strong shot with Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese people..."

Click [here] for the article.

'Slap in the Face' for Blacks

How can a search for a nanny end up like a slap in the face for Blacks?

New York Times writer Jodi Kantor reports in today's paper that, "Like hailing a cab in Midtown Manhattan, searching for a nanny can be an exasperating, humiliating excercise for many blacks, the kind of ordeal that makes them wonder aloud what year it is."

She finds "that many black parents do not have the same child care options as their colleagues and neighbors." And later she writes that, "The problem may be as much about class as race" and attributes the finding to a Harvard sociologist.

Click [here] to read the story.

The Hispanicization of American Catholicism

The New York Times Magazine has a major Christmas-eve cover story on "The Hispanicization of American Catholocism." From my initial quick read tonight, I find that the story puts heavy emphasis on the changes in the church in Los Angeles, but also paints a national portrait, including the following report from writer David Rieff:

"Nationally, Hispanics account for 39 percent of the Catholic population, or something over 25 million of the nation’s 65 million Roman Catholics; since 1960, they have accounted for 71 percent of new Catholics in the United States. The vast increase, both proportionally and in absolute numbers, is mostly because of the surge in immigration from Latin America, above all from Mexico, that has taken place over the course of the past three decades. Today, more than 40 percent of the Hispanics residing in the United States, legally and illegally, are foreign-born, and the fate of the American Catholic Church has become inextricably intertwined with the fate of these immigrants and their descendants."

Rieff explains these and other significant shifts in the church make-up and writes, later in the story that, "The question, though, is whether these changes represent something lasting. Is this a real turning point in the history of the American church that will lead to its enduring revival or, instead, only another cycle in that history? "

Rieff argues that, "The question, of course, is whether an increasingly conservative hierarchy, both in Rome and in the United States, will choose to allow it to remain so or will alter its course. It is this decision that will in the end determine whether the Hispanicization of the American church signals its rebirth or is a false dawn after all. "

I find it fascinating that this story is able to add another layer to the media's - and of course my own - growing interest in the Hispanic influence on America, and global issues as a result.

Click [here] for the article.

Top Shows Among African American TV Viewers

USA Today published Nielsen ratings data showing the top ten shows among African American TV viewers in mid-November:

Click [here] to see it on the USA Today website:

Spotlight: Tops among African- Americans

Avg. viewers (millions)

1 Dancing With the Stars (ABC) 3.1
* Dancing W/Stars results (ABC) 3.1
3 Day Break (ABC) 2.7
4 CSI: Miami (CBS) 2.6
5 Girlfriends (CW) 2.4
* All of Us (CW) 2.4
7 60 Minutes (CBS) 2.2
8 CSI (CBS) 2.0
9 Shark (CBS) 2.0
10 Grey's Anatomy (ABC) 1.9
Source: Nielsen Media Research, week of Nov. 13

Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together (MATT.org)

Nearly a year ago Lionel Sosa contacted me about a new non-profit organization he was putting together, from scratch. The group, which would become Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together, sought to become the first online non-profit organization to build a web portal devoted to dialogue between Mexicans and Americans.

MATT.org has grown into a tremendously successful organization in the months since it officially launched (the site launched on Cinco de Mayo - May 5th). Americans and Mexicans have visited the English and Spanish versions of the website, generating millions of clicks. Virtually all content and projects are posted to both the English and Spanish websites.

Here are a few of the terrific MATT efforts worth pointing out:

1.) MATT.org launched a micro-loan program that allows Americans to invest in Mexican small (or micro) businesses all with the goal of securing or creating jobs in Mexico. More jobs and job security in Mexico equals less desperation and hopefully less illegal immigration. Click [here] to check out a promotional video about the program and to learn more about the process and loan recipients.

In case you missed it, the Nobel Peace Prize this year was awarded the man behind the largest and most successful microloan programs in the world. MATT.org partners with Kiva and Mexico-based ADMIC for the program.

2.) MATT.org has a tremendously successful discussion board section where thousands of people from the U.S. and Mexico debate the important and sometimes less important issues facing our two countries and two peoples.

The comments are lively to say the least; they are noteworthy, sometimes controversial, and occasionally offensive depending on who's posting. Since the site is open to anyone the comments reflect that. Click [here] for the discussion section which feature 10 forums with about 35,000 posts and more than 16,000 members.

3.) MATT.org has begun to circulate a petition urging Congress to make it easier for American citizens to vote in national elections. Click [here] to review and/or sign the petition.

4.) The site features commentaries, news summaries and original reporting as well as statements from the MATT on important issues facing the two countries. I help lead the editorial team at the site and we're developing outstanding content and research projects for the coming months.

5.) And this might be the coolest development thus-far: MATT has established a new relationship with Quepasa.com a fantastic, growing online community with more than 350,000 members. The site has really taken off and is attracting a lot of national media attention and national advertisers.

Will Obama’s candidacy advance racial bridge-building?

Will Obama’s candidacy advance racial bridge-building? I am certainly excited when I think about the possibility. The New York Times has a profile which implies that Sen. Barack Obama has quite a different take on the challenges facing our country. His old mentor, the famed attorney Laurence Tribe, is quoted as saying he'll be hard to pin down on some issues because of his unique background and identity.

The New York Times’ Jeff Zeleny, formerly of the Chicago Tribune - one of Obama's hometown papers, wrote for Sunday’s paper that, “As the third African-American senator since Reconstruction, Mr. Obama represents a new generation of black leaders who are connected neither by lineage nor by personal experience to the monumental struggle for racial equality.” Zeleny goes on to analyze some of Obama's writings on this subject in the article titled "Testing the Waters, Obama Tests His Own Limits."

Click [here] for the article.

First Hispanic to Chair the Republican National Committee?

Liz Sidoti of the Associated Press breaks the news that Florida Senator Mel Martinez will become chairman of the Republican National Committee. Read the story [here]. Media Matters criticizes CNN's John King who apparently broke the story [here].

An "official" announcement has not been made yet, and tomorrow's stories will likely cite AP as the source. But it appears to be certain.

A few thoughts:

Senator Martinez will be the first Hispanic to chair the Republican National Committee.

The appointment of Sen. Martinez to Chair the RNC is an important step for the Hispanic community as it intimately ties one of the nation's leading Hispanic leaders to the strategy and policies of the Republican Party. When the RNC speaks, it will now speak with a Hispanic voice. And I think this will mean much more than speaking Spanish, it will mean speaking in a way that is at least somewhat attuned to the issues and concerns in the community.

But I assume some major Hispanic organizations will oppose the appointment because of Martinez's conservative position on life and other issues. It might be accurate to say that his personal position on major contemporary political issues are both in line with, and divergent from, the Hispanic community agenda at the same time.

Given the pummeling Republicans took at the polls in the competition for the Hispanic vote during the mid-term elections, this appointment is significant because it sends a message that the Party intends to be more in-touch with the Hispanic community in the walk-up to the 2008 presidential election.

I also think this is important because it sends a clear message about the role President Bush hopes the RNC will play in helping to support efforts to pass historic, comprehensive immigration legislation and to resuscitate the Party's image in the Latino community. When Sen. Martinez speaks about immigration, he speaks about his own personal experience.

News on the Year of the Black Vote, Black Candidates

This election year has been an interesting one for those of us that track political party outreach to minority voting groups. Here's the latest news on this subject:

Today, the Associated Press reports [here] on a poll conducted by AP and AOL Black Voices
which finds "GOP Outreach to Blacks Falters."

And, also today, Reuters reports [here] that "Many conservative blacks still vote for Democrats."

Yet, as AP recently reported [here], "Black Republicans Urge New Voter Habits."

This month's edition of Ebony Magazine has a well-written, major story (teased on the front cover) titled "The New Black Power." In the article, the magazine says "From Maryland to Ohio, Pennsylvania to Tennessee, nearly a half-dozen Black political candidates are competing for some of the highest offices in the nation. If many of them win, the victories could mean a historical increase in African-American political might. If most of them lose, it could send a discouraging signal to Black America." Ebony profiles prominent African American candidates from both parties, including Democrat Deval Patrick who is running for Governor of Massachusetts and is widely expected to be elected.

Here in Maryland, Republican Lt. Governor Michael Steele is running for Senate against Congressman Ben Cardin. The Washington Post recently reported that Cardin had a 10 point lead, and that's part of the reason this race has not been seen as among the most competitive in the nation and when national Republicans groups have spent so little supporting Steele.

But, the Los Angeles Times reported on this race in today's newspaper [here] and finds that "Once trailing by more than 10 points, Steele narrowed the margin to where the race is now considered by some to be nearly a tossup."

Steele, who is African American, received endorsements from a group of prominent African Americans from Prince Georges County recently. The Washington Post reports on the endorsements [here] and The Washington Times reports on it [here] and the Baltimore Sun [here].

Today, the Post also reports on the broader African American outreach efforts across Maryland this cycle, [here].

Some in the Democratic Party are warning that garnering support from Black voters will become more difficult for the Democrats in the future, but the AP poll out today appears to contradict those beliefs.