Latina/os and the media
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Latina /os a nd the media Angharad N. Valdivia Polity, Malden, Massachusetts, 2009, Paperback, 216 pp., $26.95, ISBN: 978-0745640082 Latino Studies (2011) 9, 344–345. doi:10.1057/lst.2011.37
As the largest minority since 2003, Latino/as have intensified their research in many academic disciplines, among them, marketing, media studies and sociology. The heterogeneity of Latino/as’ media consumption, potential bilingualism and commercial spending add to their research appeal. Angharad Valdivia’s Latina/os and the Media summarizes academic research into an understandable book on the role of Latino/as in the US media economy. Combining and integrating two disciplinary areas, Latino/a Studies and Media Studies, the book fulfills its main objective: to provide an overview of Latino/as’ relationship with the media, specifically, news stories, magazines, television, film, advertising and Internet. Latina/os and the Media is divided into four major Media Studies chapters: production, textual/content analysis, audience and reception, and effects and cognition. Each chapter demonstrates the heterogeneity of Latinidad and its manifestation among various types of Latino media representation, production and engagement. Two case studies at the end of each chapter, “The Homicide Report” and “Jennifer Lopez,” apply Latino/a Media Studies concepts to real world scenarios, using two different media perspectives. The former focuses on an actual media medium, and the latter on a
celebrity who has managed to achieve success across mediums. Chapter 1, Production, questions who the producers of Latino/a media are, and notes that at least five components of Latino/a media production exist: (a) media produced in the United States for global distribution, (b) transnationally produced media, (c) Latin American and Peninsular productions, (d) Latino media that targets Latinos and (e) mainstream media that includes subtle signifiers of Latinidad. Whether Latinos participate in the production of media is still open to debate. In order to understand Latino/a media production, the interaction among individual, organizational and institutional levels must be taken into consideration in assessing how media is distributed to Latino/a audiences; however, it is not until Latino/as achieve a high degree of agency that they will have more say in how to carry out their work as actors or producers of media. Chapter 2, Textual/Content Analysis, provides a detailed presentation of Latino/a media portrayals and themes. As content material is more accessible, this is the most extensive and fruitful of the four chapters. As Valdivia points out, “while we may not use media content as a mirror or direct reflection of reality, we still use it as an instructor of reality” (71). The most
r 2011 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1476-3435 Latino Studies www.palgrave-journals.com/lst/
Vol. 9, 2/3, 344–345
Book Review
complex aspect of textual analysis is the difficulty in identifying characters as Latino/a. In effect, Latina/os and the Media questions what elements (fo
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