[Linganth] Mexican Spanish & U.S. Latina/o media

[Christie Lopez]

I agree, the Washington Post article was interesting.  I don't think
between Telemundo and Univision we're in danger of eliminating the
intricacies of the spoken Spanish language immediately, though.

Hispanic people identify themselves by their dialects between countries and
within a country  much more so than those of us in the US.  It gives a
sense of culture, provides a biographical map, and is a source of pride.

There has been the long-standing debate as to which Spanish is the most
correct--that of Spain or Mexico.  Ask any Mexican and they will tell you
it is theirs of course!  Ask any Spaniard and they will wonder why you are
asking such an obvious question.

Ms. Davila's book is interesting, but I question its direction.  Within our
own country television personalities neutralize English accents and
dialects to be more easily understood.  If we're talking global
communications for advertising or other media, you want the largest
possible group to understand what you're talking about.  Segmenting by
special interest or dialect groups is too costly and just impractical.


> [Original Message]
> From: <phaney at mail.utexas.edu>
> To: <linganth at cc.rochester.edu>
> Date: 8/5/2004 11:29:10 AM
> Subject: [Linganth] Mexican Spanish & U.S. Latina/o media
>
> Interesting to see the Washington Post article.
>
> There are connections between Spanish-language TV networks and Mexican
media
> conglomerates, but they are not "Mexican" companies per se.
>
> For an insightful analysis of Spanish-language media that includes both a
> business history and some discussion of language ideology, Arlene
Davila's bok
> _Latinos, Inc._ is indispensible.
>
> --Pete Haney
>