JOUR 372 Module 3 Nathan Ackerman — Exposition Park

Data:

— Median income: $16,862 per capita, $36,329 household

— Ethnic and racial breakdown: 64% Hispanic, 14% Black, 12% Asian, 8% white, 1% two+

— Place of birth for foreign population: 76% Latin America, 20% Asia, 2% Africa, 1% Europe, 1% North America

— Languages spoken at home, adults 18+: 55% Spanish (68% for families with kids), 31% English, 9% Asian/Islander (1% for families with kids), 4% Indo-European, 1% other

— Population by minimum level of education (25 years old and over): 39% no degree, 21% high school, 22% some college, 12% bachelor’s, 5% post-grad

The data from the community I researched, Exposition Park around USC, paints the portrait of a community with a rich Latinx population and culture. Exposition Park is a community heavily populated with Latinx individuals, with 64% of the community being Latinx. This high number is typical in a community in California, of course — especially in Southern California — but even that rate is more than 1.5 times the rate of California as a whole.

In a similar vein, just a tick more than three quarters of the foreign-born population hails from Latin America. Just over half of people at least 18 years old in Expo Park speak Spanish at home. That number climbs to more than two thirds of families with kids.

The community is relatively low income, with a median figure of $36,329 per household. The number per individual member of the community is just below half that number. One statistic I found that stood out to me was that Exposition Park also has relatively low minimum levels of education, with a plurality of just below 40% of the adult population having no degree. In addition, less than half of that adult population has completed some college. I thought this was a somewhat interesting statistic when considering its close proximity to a university like USC, and it further reiterated to me that the University should be doing more to reach out and make itself accessible to lower income families in the community that it calls home rather than leaving them behind.

One social media strategy I found interesting from the “Street Reporting Without the Street” webinar was to look at the breakdown of usage of different social media platforms by race and apply those numbers to my communication methods. Obviously, the mainstream sites like Facebook and Instagram will be useful, but I would look at platforms that have high usage numbers particularly within the Latinx community and utilize those especially for Exposition Park. Not only would I use such platforms, like WhatsApp, but I would try to learn what it is about those platforms that stands out to these communities and try to integrate some of those same strategies into my other communication methods if I can.

I also think that the idea of using hashtags on sites like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook would be quite useful. Because I know the area immediately around USC somewhat just by living nearby for more than two years now, I would try to target specific locations or specific attractions and see if I can connect with members of the local community through that. Because I am obviously not an actual member of the Exposition Park community, it would require more research first. Along these lines, a moment that stood out to me during the webinar is when one of the guests said that there are only three search results for a hashtag, and they were told that that’s totally fine — even one search result could suffice. That would open up a potential line of communication, and it could branch out from there, allowing someone to really connect with members of the community on a meaningful level.