Border Culture, Mexican Identity, Class, And Media Consumption: A Look Into “Fresa” High School Students

Abstract

The border strip between the south of the United States and the north of Mexico provide an excellent opportunity to study the effects of the flow of media productions from the United States to Mexico. Many communication theories have attempted to explain the reception of transnational media flows to Latin American countries. Scholars from the cultural imperialism camp argue that the flow of culture is unidirectional from capitalist or First World countries (mainly the United States) to developing countries (also know as the Global South); other theories claim there is an asymmetrical dependence between developed and underdeveloped countries (Fejes, 1981). However, recent arguments claim audiences tend to prefer content closely related to their own cultural values (Straubhaar, 1991).Audience research has concluded there is no evidence to support the loss of cultural identity in some Latin American countries and regions according to their media preference (Straubhaar, 1991 Lozano, 1992). Nonetheless, those studies have also found that regardless of the geographical or cultural proximity to the United States or Europe, upper and middle class audiences tend to prefer to a certain degree US media content or international programming over domestic programming.