Latina/os and the Media

The U.S. mainstream media have a love and hate relationship with Latina/os. On the one hand the media treat as hot property such stars as Jennifer Lopez, Eva Longoria and America Ferrera; on the other they contribute to the role of Latina/os as eternal foreigners, having continually to assert their belonging and citizenship. Latina/os and the Media brings together the scholarship of communication studies scholars working on issues of Latinidad and presents it in a coherent, vibrant and accessible form to shed light on the complex relationship between Latina/os and the media. Latina/os and the Media includes the coverage of the following: the participation of Latina/os in media production; the forms in which Latina/os are represented in media; the ways that Latina/os interpret media and that other audiences interpret Latina/os in the media; and the social scientific effects of the forms in which Latina/os are represented on Latina/os in particular and culture at large. The book draws on a rich set of examples to illustrate its conclusions. It will be the first port of call for anyone wanting to know about the relationship between Latina/os and the media, including for those students taking classes on minorities and the media, or issues around race and diversity.

Angharad Valdivia, Professor of Communications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign