<< Chapter < Page Chapter >> Page >

There is a constant dispute over the famous "ratings" 24 hours a day; ratings that will provide television companies with millions of dollars. The rest is done by their local affiliates that provide competition to attract more people. In Los Angeles, for example, the 6 pm news of KMEX Channel 34 ( Univisión ) attracts the most viewers in the great metropolitan zone, even more than those in English.

Radio

Radio is another phenomenon that has acquired stratospheric dimensions. More than 600 radio stations of AM and FM frequencies tell us the news, give conversation, allow dialogue, make us laugh, facilitate social services to us, and make us sing and dance to all the rhythms and music of the Hispanic world. Both of the top national programs in the morning as far as the number of listeners tuned in are Hispanic radio stations of Los Angeles. The programs of "The Piolín in the Morning" and “El Cucuy," have the highest listener indexes in the country with their jokes and services between 4 and 11 in the morning. The first one is by the Mexican announcer Eddie Sotelo, and the second with the Honduran Renán Almendárez Coit.

Written press

In addition to the newspapers of the countries of origin, the Hispanic or Latinos of the United States have more than 1,500 publications in daily and weekly newspapers, big and small, that compete to inform the million García, Fernández, Pérez, etc. This is not counting several magazines with national reach, and keeping in mind that great national publications have versions in Spanish. People, Vanity, National Geographic, and Good Housekeeping are available as People en Español, Vanidades, National Geographic en Español, and Buen Hogar not to mention the magazines directed to concrete groups like Hispanic Business of Santa Barbara, California; Latino Leaders, the National Magazine of the Successful American Latino, of Texas; and others.  People en Español is the highest selling Spanish-language magazine. Though new publications are rare in any language, the magazines Tu Ciudad, written in English, and Hombre (bilingual) have just been released.

Declining language

It makes me scoff to hear talk of the 40 or more million Hispanics that want to be reached by all publications written in Spanish for the simple reason that it is not true. That amount indicates the existence of individuals of Hispanic ancestry, the ones who use Spanish as the language in which they communicate. The Census, specialized studies, and surveys reveal that the first generation of immigrants speak Spanish almost exclusively and hardly attempt to speak in English. They are the ones that read the news in Spanish. Their children speak English and a little Spanish. Many dominate the language if their parents made them learn it and teach it to their children in turn, who already usually read the news in English and a little in Spanish. They understand the language of their parents, but use it very little. Many only use it to speak with grandparents. The third generation; the grandchildren of immigrants, no longer speak, read, or understand Spanish. They do not feel comfortable or safe maintaining a conversation in that language. However, marketing research studies detect a possible tendency for Hispanic youth to recover the paternal language because it seems "cool" to speak it.

Get Jobilize Job Search Mobile App in your pocket Now!

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store Now




Source:  OpenStax, Immigration in the united states and spain: considerations for educational leaders. OpenStax CNX. Jul 26, 2010 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11174/1.28
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.

Notification Switch

Would you like to follow the 'Immigration in the united states and spain: considerations for educational leaders' conversation and receive update notifications?

Ask