Spanish-language Media Research Articles

Richard ‘Pancho’ González, Race and the Print Media in Postwar Tennis America

Latinos and Latinas have a long history in the sport of tennis. This article examines the life of Richard ‘Pancho’ González, a Mexican-American tennis player who overcame racial and class barriers to reach the top of professional tennis in the 1950s. It focuses on the changing media coverage of González in English- and Spanish-language newspapers, mainstream magazines and sports journals. The article shows how the English print media constructed González as the ‘bad boy’ of tennis during the Second World War but then a decade later celebrated his athletic achievements as symbol of American democracy. The Spanish-language media repeatedly praised González as a role model for Mexican American youth. Ultimately, the racial ideologies communicated through media sources played an important role in the representation of Richard ‘Pancho’ González and the visible contributions of Latino athletes in US sports.

Mediated Resistance: The Construction of Neoliberal Citizenship in the Immigrant Rights Movement

On 25 March 2006, between 500 000 and 1 million protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles to protest anti-immigrant legislation. The march was the largest in Los Angeles history, and astounded organizers, participants and pundits alike. Spanish-language mass and news media played an important role in mobilizing support and shaping the tactics of protest used during the march. This critical reading of the media coverage highlights the ways in which the Spanish-language media reporting served to promote an extremely limited model of citizenship and political agency particularly suited to neoliberal, post-9/11 tactics of governance and control. This paper also examines how these discourses are taken up by pro-immigrant protesters themselves, who internalize these discourses of citizenship and legitimacy.

Process Evaluation and Participatory Methods in an Obesity-Prevention Media Campaign for Mexican Americans

To address obesity and related morbidities, community-based participatory research (CBPR) strategies were employed to design and evaluate a Spanish-language media campaign promoting physical activity and healthful food choices among Mexican Americans. Process evaluation including content analyses on types and focus of media messages was conducted. Focus groups assessed appeal and trustworthiness of messages. All media campaign products featured role models and experts. Campaign messages primarily (91%) appeared in TV morning show segments. Newsletters presented individual and family role model stories. A majority of newsletters (68%) were distributed through churches and "promotora" outreach efforts. CBPR lends itself to the selection and tailoring of evidence-based media campaigns. Moreover, CBPR guidance resulted in media messages that were credible and appealing to audience. Process evaluation strategies that gather information from the community provide solid evidence for how to modify the campaign to best meet audience expectations.

Political Protest, Ethnic Media, and Latino Naturalization

In the spring of 2006, anti-immigrant legislation triggered historic immigrant rights protests in cities throughout the United States. In places like California, protest of immigrant-targeting legislation is not new. A hostile political context in California during the mid-1990s stimulated naturalization rates, voter registration, and turnout among Latinos therein. The spring 2006 immigrant rights protests provide a unique research opportunity to further examine the relationship between a contentious political climate and Latino immigrants' decision to naturalize. Earlier work highlights the role of Latino civic organizations in naturalizing and mobilizing co-ethnics to vote. This article considers an additional key variable: the ethnic media. Unpublished data from citizenship application workshops sponsored by a national Latino civic organization and a pilot survey of workshop participants were used to examine patterns of participation in the protests and use of Spanish-language media for political information among Latino naturalizers. Although this article examines an unfolding issue, it may hold implications for the future of Latino politics. A link between the recent immigrant protests and the decision to naturalize by Latino immigrants may suggest that a cohort of newly enfranchised Latinos will have high rates of participation.

Prometheus Unbound: Poetics of Power and La Megamarcha Dos Mil Seis Los Angeles

To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite;To forgive wrongs darker than death or night;To defy Power, this seems omnipotent;To love, and hear; hope till Hope createsFrom its own wreck the thing it contemplates.Prometheus Unbound, 18201Percy Bysshe ShellyIn ancient Greek myth, Prometheus is the Titan who most loves mortals. Zeus assigns him the creation of the human race, and Prometheus designs the human race in the image of the gods. While Zeus does not provide the people with a means of survival, Prometheus gives them fire. To punish him, Zeus orders that Prometheus be chained the highest summit of the Caucasus mountains where his liver is be eaten by an eagle; because the Titan is immortal, the organ re-grows and is eaten anew every day.The story of Prometheus' rebellion against the Olympian chief has been adapted by writers throughout the ages, and each version has its particular uses. Though almost entirely lost, the original Greek play by Aeschylus had Zeus and Prometheus eventually kiss and make up after Prometheus is freed and their accounts are settled. In Shelly's verse drama there is no reconciliation. In Goethe's poem the two are portrayed as natural enemies; one is allied with humankind, the other is an authoritarian and unsympathetic godhead.Goethe has Prometheus first ruminate on the innocence of humankind and then declare himself its protector in a notable act of solidarity against abusive power:Here sit I, forming mortalsAfter my image;A race resembling me,To suffer, weep,To enjoy, be glad,And thee scorn,As I! 2Having identified with man, Prometheus, man's progenitor, vigorously asserts their common fate vigorously claims a common fate that they will share beginning with, to suffer. This mutual condition, seen vis-a-vis Zeus' omnipotence, leads the assertion of the final line where identification culminates in what we might today term coalition politics. Just like (wo) man is made in the image of Prometheus, so too will s/he come defy arbitrary and abusive power.Today, the adjective may be attributed anyone with remarkable boldness, ingenuity, and creativity and I would argue these descriptors apply the immigration megamarch of March 25 in Los Angeles in 2006. Los Angeles Times reported police estimates of 500,000 people; organizers cited twice as much, placing the number at one million participants.3 Latinos and sympathizers of all backgrounds poured into the L.A. downtown streets not marching in homogenous unison but in polyrhythm. Observers took note of the fact that the march was multiethnic, multinational, and multigenerational. Many a baby stroller, infant backpack, and even family pet accompanied the marchers. And not all marchers were the same. A considerable amount of them came in contingents: student groups, grass roots and political action organizations, conchero dancers, a large party of the F.M.L.N., religious groups, and the South Central Farmers, among others, marched as distinct groups displaying their respective affiliations peacefully and en masse. Sensenbrenner's H.R. 4437 was the rallying cause but the potential for such a movement had always been there: as several signs proclaimed, The Giant Wasn't Sleeping: S/he Was Working!This was a new cultural event that went beyond the immediate and urgent political goal of rejecting anti-immigrant policy-making. Its elements, which normally extend in individually variegated, private or semi-private gestures of resistance throughout the geographical expanse of metropolitan L.A. and southern California, had been bound together and were in full swing, radiating Promethean audacity. Internal differences aside, the pluralism of the marchers promulgated a form of unity in coalition, and this was best expressed by the chosen attire of the marchers. Organizers and the Spanish-language media had asked for white be worn. …

Attitudes about Violence and Dating Among Latino/a Boys and Girls

ABSTRACT This study examined the relationship between acculturation, gender stereotypes, and recent aversive and fearful dating experiences, and attitudes about dating violence in dating, urban Latina/o youth (N = 442). All participants completed self-administered surveys at school. Relative to girls, boys held more attitudes accepting of dating violence. Females reported less belief in stereotyped gender roles (i.e., more belief in gender role egalitarianism) than males. Adolescents with higher levels of Spanish language media use were more likely to endorse traditional rather than egalitarian gender roles. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that gender was an important predictor of dating violence attitudes even after other variables were controlled. Implications for dating violence interventions and future directions for research are explored.

Broadcasting Behavior Change

Awareness about folic acid's effectiveness in reducing the risk of certain birth defects has increased among women in the United States; however, few Hispanic women are consuming enough folic acid daily. A 1998 survey conducted by the Gallup Organization for the National March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation found that English-speaking Hispanic women had lower folic acid awareness (53% vs. 72%) and lower daily consumption (29% vs. 33%) than non-Hispanic White women. In 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted baseline surveys with Spanish-speaking Hispanic women in selected U.S. markets to measure folic acid awareness, knowledge, and consumption. A Spanish-language public service announcement (PSA) volunteer campaign and a paid Spanish-language media and community education campaign were conducted in 2000 and 2002, respectively. Comparisons of postcampaign surveys indicate that the paid media campaign was significantly more effective than the PSA campaign in increasing folic acid awareness, knowledge, and consumption among Spanish-speaking Hispanic women.

Research Issues for Improving Treatment of U.S. Hispanics With Persistent Mental Disorders

Research Issues for Improving Treatment of U.S. Hispanics With Persistent Mental Disorders

Spanish web searching tools: An exploratory study

AbstractWeb search engines are now major tools that people use to find information on the Web. Few studies have examined the extent and functionality of these Web searching tools that support Spanish‐speaking users. Our study identified 72 publically available Spanish‐language‐supporting Web search engines. The research questions are the following: a) What Web searching tools are available to Spanish speaking users?, b) What are the features of these tools?, c) What are the current web search engine restrictions? d) What are the functionalities of multimedia Web search engines that allow searching in Spanish? The Web functionality methodology developed by Tjondronegoro and Spink was adapted and modified to examine the functionality of Spanish Web search engines. The findings include: (1) limited set of Web search features for Spanish‐speaking users, (2) a lack of Spanish language interfaces, (3) lack of functionality in 18% of the Web searching tools examined, and (4) due to the high interest in Spanish language media, a need for multimedia Web search tools to support Spanish language users. Further research is needed to examine the needs of Spanish language users and the development of Spanish language Web search tools.

TWO STEPS FORWARD

In this essay, I contend that one can understand neither the development of mass action among contemporary immigrants, nor the sporadic nature of that action, without attending to the historic role of parties and community-based organizations in shaping immigrants' political mobilization. I draw connections between the mass immigrant-rights demonstrations that took place during the spring of 2006 and what we know about how immigrants' political participation in the United States is structured by (1) the declining influence of political parties, and (2) the critical function of community-based organizations. These organizations were the focus of my recent book,Democracy's Promise: Immigrants and American Civic Institutions(2006). Why haven't activists been able to sustain the momentum that brought hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters out into the streets during the spring of 2006? Although they, along with the Spanish-language media, played a critical role in organizing mass demonstrations against punitive immigration legislation in early 2006, labor organizations, workers' centers, advocacy and social service organizations, ethnic voluntary associations, and religious institutions face severe constraints in terms of engaging in sustained, consistent political mobilization and, therefore, mainly achieve limited mobilization. However, voter registration data from the National Association of Latino Elected Officials suggest that the demonstrations may have spurred interest in more traditional types of political participation among immigrants and their supporters. Thus, while it is true that, for the most part, political participation does not take place overnight, there may be ways for U.S. civic institutions to speed up that process through direct mobilization and the provision of information that helps immigrants to feel more comfortable and confident taking part in the political system. Trusted community-based institutions represent a vital potential force in promoting political inclusion for immigrant newcomers who contribute to so many other aspects of American life.

Evolución y uso de los lenguajes controlados en documentación informativa

News documentation lacks suitable instruments of classification and indexing, the only exception being the Subject Reference System of the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC), which is not yet fully developed. The most relevant contributions to classifying and indexing news in Spanish-language media, both in Spain and internationally, is reviewed. We also studied the development and use of controlled vocabularies for processing news information, primarily specialized thesauri. Finally, news documentation characteristics specific to indexing and information retrieval for print news media are described in detail.

Is changing the language enough? The Spanish-language ‘alternative’ in the USA

Alternative voices in the USA have been found in ethnic media outlets that provide information in languages other than English and focus on issues often ignored by the mainstream news. One such example is the Spanish-language media, which have had a long history in the USA. A content analysis was performed to analyze broadcast news in San Diego County to assess the similarities and differences between an ethnic news channel, KBNT (Univisión affiliate), and a mainstream station, KGTV (ABC affiliate). The data from the content analysis show some diversity in the stories covered, but the overall frequency of story type was fairly consistent among the stations. The corporate structure of Spanish-language media is looking more like its English-language counterparts and this oligopoly structure may make it more likely to follow trends such as displacing public discourse with entertainment and reducing the availability of diverse voices.

Foundation Awards Grants to Promote Recognition, Treatment of Mental Illness

Foundation Awards Grants to Promote Recognition, Treatment of Mental Illness

The Gender of Latinidad: Latinas Speak About Hispanic Television

There is a lack of information on how Latinas consume popular culture in general and how they interact and respond to Spanish-language media in particular. Studies on representation and stereotyping in the Spanish-language media as well as audience research within the Latino community are recent phenomena in the Latino media scholarship. This article examines how a group of 27 immigrant and nonimmigrant Latinas from the city of Austin, Texas, evaluate and negotiate women’s representations in Univision and Telemundo, the two largest Hispanic networks in the United States. Women of diverse income levels participated in a series of 1 to 3 in-depth interviews between 1999 and 2002. The main focus of the study is on the respondents’ evaluations of gender, race and class representations in the talk shows El Show de Cristina and Laura en América. Interview transcripts reflected Latinas’ ambivalent and conflicted relationship with the television programs. Latinas felt attacked, insulted, offended and embarrassed by women’s portrayals in certain entertainment and humor shows. The respondents used their criticism of women’s sexualization on Spanish-language television as a strategy to escape labels and stereotypes ascribed to Latinos by the majority groups. Women used class as a marker of difference and distinction among different groups of Latinas. They also challenged the concept of Latino cultural unity—Latinidad—so promoted by the networks and in general disagreed with Cristina and Laura’s declared philosophy of Latino empowerment. Two concepts emerged from the relationship Latinas experienced with the Hispanic TV: ambivalence and distinction. These results are discussed in terms of Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice.

Highlights of the 1998 Institute on Psychiatric Services. Issues in public-sector managed care.

Highlights of the 1998 Institute on Psychiatric Services. Issues in public-sector managed care.

Single-visit program for cervical cancer prevention in a high-risk population

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of a single-visit cervical neoplasia screening and intervention program. Methods: A sample of asymptomatic, nonpregnant, indigent, adult women who had not had a Papanicolaou smear for at least 2 years ( N = 126) was recruited through Spanish-language media in Orange Country, California. Women who volunteered underwent a free, single-visit program combining a health questionnaire, education, an immediately read Papanicolaou smear, loop electrosurgical excision of the transformation zone for those with dysplastic cytology, and an exit questionnaire gauging satisfaction and educational impact. Main outcome measures included the frequency of cervical cancer risk factors and barriers to health care, incidence of cervical neoplasia, feasibility, short-term educational impact, and acceptability of interventions. Results: All 126 patients had at least one cervical cancer risk factor; 101 (80.2%) reported at least one barrier to health care. One hundred sixteen (92.1%) had a normal Papanicolaou smear, and three (2.4%) with a mildly atypical smear were referred for colposcopy. Seven (5.6%) patients had a dysplastic smear and underwent same-day loop electrosurgical excision of the transformation zone without complication, with histology revealing koilocytotic atypia (two patients), cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) I (two), CIN II (two), and CIN III (one). No case of invasive cervical carcinoma was identified. The mean time from performance of Papanicolaou smear to receipt of cytologic results was 2.2. hours, and the mean total visit time was 3.6 hours. Patients found the single-visit program to be both beneficial and satisfying. Conclusion: This single-visit program is feasible and may overcome barriers to the diagnosis and management of cervical neoplasia in patients at high risk.

Single-Visit Program for Cervical Cancer Prevention in a High-Risk Population

To evaluate the feasibility of a single-visit cervical neoplasia screening and intervention program. A sample of asymptomatic, nonpregnant, indigent, adult women who had not had a Papanicolaou smear for at least 2 years (N = 126) was recruited through Spanish-language media in Orange County, California. Women who volunteered underwent a free, single-visit program combining a health questionnaire, education, an immediately read Papanicolaou smear, loop electrosurgical excision of the transformation zone for those with dysplastic cytology, and an exit questionnaire gauging satisfaction and educational impact. Main outcome measures included the frequency of cervical cancer risk factors and barriers to health care, incidence of cervical neoplasia, feasibility, short-term educational impact, and acceptability of interventions. All 126 patients had at least one cervical cancer risk factor; 101 (80.2%) reported at least one barrier to health care. One hundred sixteen (92.1%) had a normal Papanicolaou smear, and three (2.4%) with a mildly atypical smear were referred for colposcopy. Seven (5.6%) patients had a dysplastic smear and underwent same-day loop electrosurgical excision of the transformation zone without complication, with histology revealing koilocytotic atypia (two patients), cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) I (two), CIN II (two), and CIN III (one). No case of invasive cervical carcinoma was identified. The mean time from performance of Papanicolaou smear to receipt of cytologic results was 2.2 hours, and the mean total visit time was 3.6 hours. Patients found the single-visit program to be both beneficial and satisfying. This single-visit program is feasible and may overcome barriers to the diagnosis and management of cervical neoplasia in patients at high risk.

Language acculturation and screening practices of elderly Hispanic women. The role of exposure to health-related information from the media.

The present study examined the hypothesis that language acculturation of Hispanics in the United States increases their exposure to media-based health information which, in turn, increases medical screening practices and knowledge of cancer symptoms. We interviewed 598 elderly Hispanic women (55-92 years of age) residing in Los Angeles. Language acculturation was measured with items on understanding of English and language preference for interpersonal communication, reading materials, television, and radio. Recency of screening (physician breast exam, Pap smear, routine physical exam, mammogram) and exposure to media-based health information were assessed with Likert-type scales; knowledge of symptoms of breast, cervical, colorectal, and oral cancers was assessed through open-ended questions. The results of multiple regression analyses provide support for the hypothesis. First, language acculturation predicted media exposure after controlling for demographic variables. Second, media exposure predicted screening and symptom knowledge after controlling for language acculturation and the demographic factors. The findings suggest that cancer prevention programs should use Spanish-language media to reach a wider Hispanic audience, especially those who are monolingual.

The increase in Spanish-language media in California from 1970 to 1975: an index of the growing use of Spanish

The increase in Spanish-language media in California from 1970 to 1975: an index of the growing use of Spanish

Mass Media Orientations among Hispanic Youth

This five-city survey of southwestern Mexican American youth focuses on media behaviors, functions and preferences, comparing media orientations of Hispanic boys and girls in the 5th and 10th grades. Both Spanish and English-language media orientations are assessed. Access to media, media use, and media content preferences for television, radio, records and tapes, newspapers, magazines, comic books and movies are detailed, as well as television and newspaper functions. The pattern of findings among these youngsters seems to parallel major external findings regarding boy-girl and age group mass media experience comparisons. The amount of media experience cumulates to about nine hours each school day Spanish-language media are little liked and seldom used.