Earlier this month, there was a shake-up in Spanish-language radio as 18 large-market stations throughout the U.S. are being sold. Some are understood to be ultraconservative, and the new buyer it’s a group run mainly by Democrats. The stations include Radio Mambi in Miami.
In an interview with Radio Ink, Latino Media Networks co-founder Stephanie Valencia spoke about various topics, including the plans for the radio stations, along with the one in South Florida, which has been at the heart of tension over this takeover.
The first question asked to Valencia was about the decision to launch their network, which is an initiative “to help Latinos make sense of the world and their place in it.”
“Latino Media Network is a content creation and distribution company that is intended to help Latinos make sense of the world and their place in it,” Valencia said.
“There’s an ocean of information that Latinos are navigating in the world today, and they are looking for trusted voices, messengers, and platforms to make sense of the world.”
When it comes to the plans for stations like Radio Mambi in Miami, Valencia says that their intention isn’t to turn to station into a one that gears to Liberals.
“No, and we are not intending for this to be political in the Democratic and Republican sense of the word. Part of what we want this to do is build empowerment for Latinos. Radio is an important platform to help shift the sense of our own identity and belonging in this county. Part of the challenge we have as Latinos isn’t that people don’t see us.”
“In fact, we’re invisible in a lot of cases to many different people, but that we don’t see ourselves as being influential or that we don’t belong here. That we feel like guests here in this country. So part of the notion of our own ability to create power and empowerment among Latinos is our own ability to see ourselves as belonging here and being influential as well.”
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
