Presented on May 24, 2015, at the 65th International Communication Association (ICA) Conference in Puerto Rico.

1. The role of world news on the
national identity and political
change of Puerto Rico
(El papel de las noticias internacionales en la identidad
nacional y los cambios políticos de Puerto Rico)
AITZA M. HADDAD NUNEZ
HOWARD UNIVERSITY

2. Introduction
 Mass-media has effectively shaped national
and transnational identities
 Concepts of identity are communicated
through the use of media such as television,
radio and the press (Roth, 2009)

4. Yes, Students Protested in San Juan on May 13 and the
US Media Ignored It
(Latinorebels.com)

5. Development and International News
 “Economic development is the most important
determinant of a country’s place in the network of
international news flow” (Shoemaker & Cohen, 2006,
p.4)
 Progress is impossible without development in technology
and in the control of one’s own communication system
(Masmoudi, 1981)

6. Colonial Status and Media System
 In 1990, the first comprehensive analysis of Puerto Rico’s mass
media political economy, concluded that the fundamental factor
shaping the media system, and therefore the communication
structure, of the Island was the Island’s status with the US.
 Given Puerto Rico’s colonial status, the mass media of the Island
was:
1. Largely supported by capital from the US,
2. Under the judicial and regulatory system of the US,
3. And affected, in structure and content, by struggles concerning
Puerto Rico’s relationship with US
(Subervi-Vélez, Hernández-López & Frambes-Buxeda, 1990, 1992)

7. AM/FM/Class A Radio Stations in Puerto Rico
(2014 FCC Ownership Report)
Female
(Hispanic,
White)
10%
Male (White 99% - Two or
More Race 1%)
82%
No Majority
Interest Gender
8%
Hispanic
91%
Non-Hispanic
6%
No Majority
Interest Race
3%

8. FPTV/LPTV Stations in Puerto Rico
(2014 FCC Ownership Report)
Female (Hispanic,
White)
5%
Male
91%
Joint Interest
Gender, Hispanic
Combination,
White
Combination
2%
No Majority
Interest Gender,
Ethnicity, and
Race
2%
Hispanic
55% Non-Hispanic
45%
White
84%
Black
8%
No Majority
Interest
Race
8%

9. Shaping & Sharing of Power through
Communication
 There are three main communication problems affecting
and facilitating the continued exercise of US unilateral control
over the island:
1. The (false) discourse of “post-colonialism” created after WWII
2. The use of misleading euphemisms in the media, such as
commonwealth, and legal labels, such as incorporated territory;
3. The highly charged connotations of the term colony, which
makes some scholars shy away from using it
(Font-Guzmán and Alemán, 2010)

10. “The production of meaning is a key instrument for the
stabilization of power relations” (Jorgensen & Philips, 2011, p.32)

11. Discourse under Colonial Situations
 A colonial situation is based on the relationship of
power between one group of people over another,
which is shaped and sustained by an ideology of racism
(Memmi, 1965, p.38).
 Thus, racism becomes a necessary evil of colonialism. But
it’s not just racism, but colonial racism

12. Colonial Racism
[C]olonized’s racism is the result of a more general delusion: the
colonialist delusion […] The racism of the colonized is then
neither biological nor metaphysical, but social and historical. It
is not based on a belief in the inferiority of the detested group
but on the conviction, and in large measure on the observation,
that this group is truly an aggressor and dangerous […] In brief,
it is not aggressive but defensive racism (Memmi, 1965,
pp.130-131).

13. Effects of Colonial Racism
Puerto Rico’s non-stopping colonial situation has had direct
negative effects on Puerto Ricans’ national identities and
their emotions, especially on the ones living on the Island,
as well on how the world sees and feels about them…
In 2003, feelings expressed by participants of four focus
groups:
Echoed the writings on colonialism of the 1960s;
 Negative concept of the country’s social and political situation,
and of the Puerto Rican collective
(Varas-Díaz & Serrano-García, 2003)

14. From Colonial Racism…
 The struggle between colonialism and national identity;
 Raises the problem of participants feeling proud about being
Puerto Rican as individuals, but ashamed of the group as a
collective entity at the same time
 Suggests that young Puerto Ricans have not yet completely
internalized the colonial ideas
(Varas-Díaz & Serrano-García, 2003)

15. To Panethnicity
 Panethnicity refers to “the development of bridging organizations
and the generalization of solidarity among ethnic subgroups”
(Lopez & Espiritu, 1990, p.198)
 Telemundo and Univision have openly tried to find the most
suitable programming for the labeled group of “Hispanics” or
“Latinos”
 Both networks researched highly rated shows to determine the
common patterns of the characteristics of the Spanish-language
television programs accepted by all Hispanics, regardless of their
particular national origins (Álvarez-González, 2010)

16. Panethnic Identification:
Problem or Solution?
Colonial racism through media increases panethnicity
 The higher panethnic identification is, the lower national identity
would be
 The colonized is condemn to have a mutation of language, and
therefore of identity, but also a loss of memory, and thus, of
history (Memmi, 1965);
 The dangerous effect of the colonial reality of partial concessions
and marginal inclusion to which Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans
are subjected is putting Puerto Ricans at risk of losing the sense
of who they are (Font-Guzmán & Alemán, 2010)

17. Conclusion
 The social and legal structures and scenarios in which communicative events about Puerto
Rico and Puerto Ricans take place, codify them in ways that “legitimize” or obfuscate their
occurrence as part of the colonial situation (Font-Guzmán & Alemán, 2010)
 In order to put Puerto Rico back on the map, and with that, be able to reframe and
facilitate a long-overdue discourse that can shape and share the discussion about how to
reconcile US international obligations towards Puerto Rico, three things are crucial:
1. The recognition of Puerto Rico as a colony in the analysis of the current false post-
colonial discourse;
2. The decoding of the encoded illusions and idioms that are constituted by, and are
constituting, the systems of truths and representations of Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans
in the current discourse of colonial racism in domestic and international news;
3. Determine who are the stakeholders in the power relations producing the social practices
that are constituted by, and are constituting, the current discourse of panethnic
identification of Puerto Ricans, domestically and internationally.

19. References
 Álvarez-González, J. (2010). Structural Characteristics of the 50 Highest–Rated Television Shows Broadcast by Univision and Telemundo Network
for the Hispanic Markets in the United States and Puerto Rico. Journal of Spanish Language Media, 3, 92.
 Federal Communications Commission (2014). Report on ownership of commercial broadcast stations. FCC.gov. Retrieved from fcc.gov at
https://www.fcc.gov/document/report-ownership-commercial-broadcast-stations-0.
 Font-Guzmán, J., & Aleman, Y. (2010). Human rights violations in Puerto Rico: Agency from the margins. Journal of Law & Social Challenges, 12,
107-149.
 Griffin, E., et al., (2013). A first look at communication theory 8th edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
 Jorgensen, M. W., & Phillips, L. J. (2011). Discourse analysis as theory and method. Sage.
 Masmoudi, M. (1981). The new world information order. World Communications: A Handbook (New York: Longnan 1984), 14-27.
 Memmi, A. (1965). The colonizer and the colonized. Beacon Press: Boston, Massachussets
 Roth, W. D. (2009). ‘Latino before the world’: The transnational extension of panethnicity. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 32(6), 927-947.
 Shoemaker, P. J., & Cohen, A. A. (2005). News around the world: Content, practitioners, and the public. Nueva York: Routledge.
 Subervi-Velez, F. A., Hernández-Lopez, N. M., & Frambes-Buxeda, A. (1990, 1992)). Mass Media in Puerto Rico. Mass Media and the Caribbean,
149-76.
 Varas-Díaz, N., & Serrano-García, I. (2003). The challenge of a positive self-image in a colonial context: A psychology of liberation for the Puerto
Rican experience. American journal of community psychology, 31(1-2), 103-115.