Thread: people return to their home culture and home language

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Hispanic clout evident on radio
By DANIEL GILBERT
dgilbert@manassasjm.com
Thursday, August 10, 2006


With the Census charting a swell among Hispanics in the U.S., one industry is conspicuously well poised to benefit from the Spanish-speaking influx.

The industry doesn't need cheap, unskilled labor. Legal or illegal, it doesn't much care. In the market for Spanish-language media, only one thing really matters: how big the Spanish-speaking population is.

With a nod to the explosive growth of the Hispanic community - the nation's largest ethnic minority - public radio stations across the country are setting a new precedent: airing a show in Spanish.

Last week, public radio stations in Texas, Illinois, Washington state and Pennsylvania broadcast Epicentro Politico, an hour-long political analysis program in Spanish, produced by the Hispanic Communications Network and partially funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The show is the latest indication that the political engagement of Hispanics - following the mass immigration protests last spring - may not be fleeting.

"It is no coincidence that this show is coming out after Latinos have sprung out with a display of enormous political power," said Roberto Lovato, an analyst for New America Media, a California-based organization tracking ethnic media outlets. "Latinos ... have been and are going to be a very political community," he said.

Although Epicentro was first produced in June, the show's network has "had a hard time getting specific yeses and nos" from public radio stations about airing the program, according to Eduardo Lopez, senior producer for the Hispanic Communications Network.

"Most public radio stations don't have Spanish-language programming already, and they have to have a discussion to put the first Spanish-language program on the air," he said.

WETA is one of those. The station is not planning to air any programs in Spanish, said Katie Kemple, WETA's public relations manager, though airing programs in other languages has been considered.

WAMU, the other public radio station serving metropolitan Washington, D.C., also turned down Epicentro.

Epicentro may, however, get some play on local Spanish-language stations.

Carlos Alcazar, director of the Hispanic Communications Network, said Tuesday that an abbreviated, 60-second version of Epicentro would be sent to the network's 209 affiliates, all Spanish-language commercial stations, beginning the first week of September.

Two of those stations, WKDV-AM and WKCW-AM, are based in Manassas, while the third, WPWC-AM, is based in Woodbridge.

But riding atop the wave of Hispanic immigration, the Spanish-language format is expanding its appeal. Mainstream market broadcasters such as CBS and Clear Channel are entering the ethnic market, according to Rich Tunkel, senior sales manager for Arbitron, an international media and marketing research firm that tracks the audience share of radio formats.

As proof of the growing audience share for Spanish-language radio in the Washington metro region, industry analysts inevitably point to the former modern rock station WHFS-FM, which switched formats on Jan. 12, 2005, to Spanish-language tropical music. The station's pool of listeners roughly tripled.

The new Spanish-language format, WLZL-FM "El Zol," is the 15th most-listened to station in the Washington region, according to a 2006 Arbitron survey.

"Media companies are going after rating points, which means as many eyeballs and ears as possible," Tunkel said.

Kris Jones, media relations manager for the National Association of Broadcasters, agreed. "It's a booming demographic," he said, "something radio businesses are definitely paying attention to."

Radio businesses are paying attention. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting granted Epicentro $315,270 for its first 18 months, according to Alcazar.

"A critical part of CPB's mission is to expand the audience for public radio programming," said Michael Levy, a CPB spokesman, in a statement. "We see this program as an opportunity to reach more Hispanic listeners."

The success of ethnic media, industry experts agree, is driven by increases in population. According to Arbitron's figures, the Hispanic population in the U.S. increased by 21.5 percent between 2000 and 2005, nearly double the growth rate of the black population.

By Arbitron's count, Spanish-language radio had its largest audience share ever - 11.5 percent nationwide - in the winter of 2006, and Washington, D.C., was the 11th fastest-growing Hispanic market in the country.

Watching the millions of Hispanic protesters pour into the streets last spring, Alcazar was struck by the role of ethnic media in mobilizing Hispanics. Now, Alcazar sees Epicentro as a means to keep political engagement among Hispanics simmering.

"As journalists, we have to remember that we have to deliver balanced information," Alcazar said at Epicentro's launch on July 10. "But at the same time, our personalities, our hosts, and some of our programming ... definitely has to be advocacy-based."

Last spring, an alliance of Spanish-language print, radio, and broadcast journalists in the Washington region - including HCN's affiliates - forayed into politics, promoting a boycott by Hispanics for May 1.

A 2006 report by the Project For Excellence in Journalism noted a fundamental difference between mainstream and Hispanic media, which often uses the first person plural.

"The use of the word 'we' is interesting because of the way it links the identity of the station with its audience," wrote the authors of the report, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. "There is a definite feeling that the news is aimed at a particular community, and that the station is working with its viewers."

Industry analysts expect the market for Spanish-language media to be increasingly robust. The only limiting factor, Tunkel noted, is the Spanish-speaking population, which is still growing.

Even the assimilation of Spanish speakers into an English-speaking society is having little impact on the ethnic media market. "If anything," Tunkel said, "people are making a return to their home culture and home language."

If only they would return to their home country!

"There is a definite feeling that the news is aimed at a particular community, and that the station is working with its viewers."

The news is aimed at a particular community, the illegal one!

Even the assimilation of Spanish speakers into an English-speaking society is having little impact on the ethnic media market. "If anything," Tunkel said, "people are making a return to their home culture and home language."

LEGAL immigrants and citizens, should have only ONE home country...the USA!

When my Lithuanian great-grandfather came here legally, seeking political asylum, he happily and proudly learned and spoke English. This country became his HOME COUNTRY. He had one flag, one language. No one put Lithuanian on any gov't forms, nor had any radio shows in Lithuanian.

There's a quote about this issue, but I'm unable to locate it. Can anyone help?

"But at the same time, our personalities, our hosts, and some of our programming ... definitely has to be advocacy-based."

Well, now they are going to use our tax-dollars to promote their Open Borders garbage.......we just keep sinking....