Being Black and Latin@: How Telemundo Articulates Blackness within the Latin American Panethnic Identity

Authors

  • Yadira Gricel Nieves-Pizarro Universidad Interamericana
  • Juan Mundel DePaul University

Keywords:

Latino panethnicity, Afro Latinos and Latinas, Afro Cuban, Latino media, Content Analysis

Abstract

The representation of minorities in United States Latino media is scarce, as market forces push Latino panethnicity to appeal to a heterogeneous Spanish speaking audience in the country and in Latin America. Nonetheless, the biographical series “Celia” aired by Telemundo in 2015 featured an Afro Latino cast to depict the life of Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz. This study examines the portrayal of Afro Latinos and Latinas through a content analysis of the telenovela. Even though, Afro Latino characters were depicted in a positive light, they were still portrayed as something other than panethnic. This research contributes an empirical analysis of the representation of minorities in Latino media.

Author Biographies

Yadira Gricel Nieves-Pizarro, Universidad Interamericana

Yadira Nieves–Pizarro holds a Ph.D. in Media and Information from Michigan State University’s School of Journalism, as well as a MA and BA from the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Communication. She worked as a News Producer in Puerto Rico’s WAPA Television and currently works as an Assistant Professor of Communication in the Inter American University of Puerto Rico. Her research examines the shift from news to opinion in Puerto Rican talk radio. Other research areas that she pursues are the credibility audiences assign to news media vs. alternative media, as well as the representation of Latinos/as, Afro-Latinos/as and Puerto Rico in mainstream and Latino media in the United States.

Juan Mundel, DePaul University

Juan Mundel is an Assistant Professor of Advertising at DePaul University. Before joining DePaul, Juan pursued his doctoral degree in Media and Information Studies at Michigan State University, a Master of Science in Journalism at West Virginia University and a Licenciatura (BS) in Corporate Communication at Universidad Blas Pascal (Argentina). His research, while varied, involves the extension of marketing practices to second-generation social media platforms, understanding millennials’ consumption patterns, and campaign tailoring for vulnerable populations.

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Published

2020-06-30

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1-2 (2019): Platform Capitalism and Media, Identities and Communication

Section

Articles