(NOTE: FWIW, this post was written several days ago, before the question arose about how often I say nice things about Latin Americans.)
When I moved to San Diego thirteen years ago, one of the things that I liked about the area was the ability it offered to listen to Spanish-language radio stations.
Faced with a lot of the junk on regular American radio, Spanish-language radio offered songs that were interesting musically and that featured lyrics that were often considerably more wholesome than what would be found on some English-language stations. (How many English-language songs have you heard about wearing a white shirt?)
But disturbing themes are present in the local Spanish-language radio market–like the image being projected by one of the most popular stations.
It’s call letters are XHTY (Mexican radio stations commonly begin with X instead of K or W) and its broadcast frequency is 99.7 FM, but it goes by the name "La Invasora."
What does "La Invasora" mean in Spanish?
"The Invader."
Here’s what the station’s web page says about it:
La Invasora is the fastest growing Spanish language radio station in San Diego. It’s the #1 Spanish language station in North County and #2 in the San Diego Metro area. *
San Diegans wake-up to El Levanton, one the best morning shows in town, which delivers humor, news, sports, great music and the hottest topics within the Hispanic Community with our popular personalities El Chon and La Chula.
La Invasora has high visibility in the market, obtained thru on going advertising campaigns on the top Hispanic television stations, print publications, billboards and community and grass roots events.
One of La Invasora’s specialties is producing high attendance events, such as Descarga Invasora Summer music festival in Tijuana had a crowd of over 45,000 in 2003 and our 4th of July music fest in San Diego drew over 25,000.
Station Profile:
La Invasora has a booming 60,000 watt Signal that reaches the greater San Diego/Tijuana area, the 3rd largest Hispanic market in the Country. Its format is the widely popular “Mexican regional” that plays a variety of today’s top Hispanic hits like Banda and Norteño collections.
Audience profile:
XHTY reaches a broad demographical and geographical are mainly composed 18-49 male and female demographic.
Now, the reason that radio stations adopt identities other than their call letters is because they think that the identity they craft for themselves will appeal to their target audience. For example, another local radio station (KPRI) has dubbed itself "Rock Without Rules," and it’s not hard to guess from its name that it wants to appeal to a younger, more rebellious audience than does station KMYT, which calls itself "Smooth Jazz."
Taking station marketing identities as a clue to who the station is trying to appeal to, what does it say when a local station starts calling itself "The Invader"?
In an English-speaking community in a radio market in the American Midwest, it might mean that the station is going after the same kind of young, rebellious market that "Rock Without Rules" is.
But when the language is Spanish and the market is mere minutes from the Mexican border and there are numerous people in the market who have crossed the border illegally, it takes on a different cast.
The cast is further affected when one realizes that there is an irredentist movement in the area in which some radical activists are advocating the idea that "Aztlan" (the American Southwest from California to Texas) should be flooded with illegal aliens who can one day gain sufficient strength to reclaim it for Mexico.
The fact that the station would conduct a massive marketing campaign for this identity, with logos like the one above put on busses, billboards, and auto decals, adds a rather brazen quality as well.
And the fact that the station is ranked as #1 or #2 in different regions of San Diego County in the Spanish-language radio market suggests that there are a significant number of individuals for whom the station and presumably its identity are appealing.
Now, I have to issue
THE BIG RED DISCLAIMER: The identity a station crafts for itself is only a part of its success or lack of success. Not everybody who listens to La Invasora views himself or herself as an invader. There are undoubtedly many listeners who just like the music mix or the on-air personalities. Not all listeners are illegal aliens or even aliens at all. And not all listeners are supporters of the radical Aztlan irredentist movement; many are also undoubtedly patriotic Americans. So the mere fact that someone listens to and likes this station is NOT an indictment of that person.
But the fact that a station would choose a marketing identity of "The Invader" and be highly successful with it against a background of massive illegal immigration including radical activists who want to remove territory from the United States and add it to Mexico is at least disturbing.
It also, frankly, does not serve to foster good community relations between English-speakers and Spanish-speakers. Like the counterproductive wearing and waving of Mexican flags at the recent anti-immigration control rallies, having "Invader" logos all over busses and billboards and automobiles is more likely to inflame community relations than calm them.
Too much should not be made of the station and its chosen identity. It’s just a radio station and a marketing campaign. But it’s a straw in the wind that reflects a disturbing underlying situation.
