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Census turns to TV to assist its Hispanic outreach
By: Jeff Dufour
Examiner Columnist
09/22/09 4:05 PM EDT
The U.S. Census Bureau is getting a makeover — in the form of a character on Telemundo’s soap opera “Mas Sabe el Diablo.”
“We’re going to do something that I don’t think has ever been done before and that is to outreach to a very important audience of the census in a unique way … that can communicate the importance and the simplicity and the safety of the census in their own words with characters they know and love,” said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves at a Tuesday morning press conference.
Enter “Perla,” a Census worker played by Michelle Vargas, who will show up on screen within the next few episodes of the popular telenovela in order to inform the Latino community about the census.
“Through [Perla], the story of the census will unfold very naturally, in a very entertaining way,” said Don Browne, president of Telemundo Communications Group, Inc.
Browne explained by working with the Census Bureau, Telemundo is trying to combat the fear and misunderstanding concerning personal information many Latinos have about the census.
“We will go the death without revealing the data,” Groves said half-jokingly.
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