Aquí no se habla Spanglish: the issue of language in US Hispanic media

Abstract

A strong and still growing ethnic community in the United States, Hispanic Americans, with a common language but culturally diverse, have for years constituted a challenge for the media. How to communicate with them? With the development of Spanish-language print, broadcast, and cable outlets within American territory, communication became easier. Some of these media, however, have for years denied Hispanic Americans one of their most genuine forms of expression: namely, the use of Spanglish, a language generated by immigrants. The two major Hispanic American television networks in particular have adopted the policy of vetoing the use of Spanglish. The issue may be very upsetting for many Hispanic Americans who consume information on a daily basis. It becomes even more upsetting, then, when the same media also self-appoint themselves as “representatives of the Hispanic American population”. If the hybrid language is one of the few elements that indeed unite and represent the Hispanic group in America, shouldn’t these media rethink their practices? This is exactly what this article intends to answer, taking the case of Hispanic American television, from an initial description of Hispanics in America, to a closer analysis of the major media outlets available in the country.