Overview

The cultural politics creating and consuming Latina/o mass media. Just ten years ago, discussions ofLatina/o media could be safely reduced to a handful of TV channels, dominatedby Univision and Telemundo. Today, dramatic changes in the global politicaleconomy have resulted in an unprecedented rise in major new media ventures forLatinos as everyone seems to want a piece of the Latina/o media market. Whilecurrent scholarship on Latina/o media have mostly revolved around importantissues of representation and stereotypes, this approach does not provide theentire story. In Contemporary Latina/o Media, Arlene Dávila and Yeidy M. Rivero bring together an impressive range of leadingscholars to move beyond analyses of media representations, going behind thescenes to explore issues of production, circulation, consumption, and politicaleconomy that affect Latina/o mass media. Working across the disciplines ofLatina/o media, cultural studies, and communication, the contributors examinehow Latinos are being affected both by the continued Latin Americanization ofgenres, products, and audiences, as well as by the whitewashing of "mainstream"Hollywood media where Latinos have been consistently bypassed. While focusingon Spanish-language television and radio, the essays also touch on the state ofLatinos in prime-time television and in digital and alternative media. Using atransnational approach, the volume as a whole explores the ownership, importation, and circulation of talent and content from Latin America, placingthe dynamics of the global political economy and cultural politics in theforeground of contemporary analysis of Latina/o media.