From segmented to fragmented: Latino media in San Antonio, Texas

Historical evidence reveals that the definition of Latino mass media is a f ragile but useful way to examine how cultural identity is forged tiro ugh e conomic and industrial practices. Focusing on the development of Latino med ia and their political economy in San Antonio, Texas, the researcher descri bes four constructions of Latino producers and audiences: segmentation, mas sification, pan-ethnicity, and fragmentation. These constructions demonstra te that these media were sites for Latinos to define themselves as producer s and audiences within the structural constraints of race and class in two nations, Mexico and the United States. The paper concludes the coexistence of these constructions today could be interpreted as positive signs of grow ing multiculturalism or negative effects of global trends that divide Latin os by class.