A second generation of Hispanic TV channels has arrived in the US, with a new take on language and its staple series, the telenovela. Sean Davidson reports.
The recent Democratic National Convention in the US included among its many speakers Julian Castro, mayor of San Antonio and a rising political star. Together with his brother and fellow politician Joaquin, he is expected to be a key player as the party looks to attract more Hispanic voters in campaigns to come.
Castro gave a rousing speech to the assembled delegates, after which a commentator on one of the US cable news networks remarked it was good to get “an immigrant’s perspective” on the political issues of the day.
The thing about that is, Castro was born in Texas. He attended Stanford and Harvard and speaks English without so much as a glimmer of Español. And yet, to the irritation of many Latino viewers, he was assumed to be a recent arrival.
It is a sign, says Johnathan Gwyn, CEO of Latino media firm Mi Casa Broadcasting, that something is askew in US television and its treatment of Hispanics.
“That’s how we’re looked at, unfortunately,” he says from his office in Houston, Texas. “Even though we see a lot of Latinos in the mainstream media, we’re never the analyst or the head correspondent.” READ MORE
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