 |
||
 |
 |
|
|
MA/PhD Theses Abstracts of Current Students & Alumni |
 |
|
Riopedre, Jorge A., August 1989 - RADIO MARTI: AN INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Abstract: Since Fidel Castro took power in 1959, international radio broadcasting has been one of several instruments used by the United States as a foreign policy response to the Cuban government. Broadcasts to Cuba began through clandestine radio stations like Radio Swan and Radio Americas, both of which ended programming during the 1960s after failing to draw an audience of their own. It is now generally accepted that both radio stations failed for lack of credibility, because their content and language were hostile and misleading. Nevertheless, one question is still unanswered: did the broadcasts fail only for lack of credibility or was it also the fact that international radio broadcasting was an unsuitable definition for such type of broadcasts? Although this thesis is about the influence of Radio Marti on the Cuban media, the search for an answer to that question seemed inevitable, if an explanation is to be found about why the same people who rejected Radio Swan and Radio Americas, received Radio Marti with open arms. The results of this thesis will show that an international radio broadcasting framework is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition, for the success of a type of radio station so specific as Radio Marti. As traditional international radio broadcasting services, Radio Swan and Radio Americas' were not specific enough to influencing public opinion in Cuba. Case studies about AIDS and the housing shortage in Cuba will show how Cuba's public policy has undergone changes as a consequence of Radio Marti. Radio Marti is not a traditional international radio broadcasting service, but an "intercultural communication system," designed to compete as a "domestic" Cuban radio station. As such, Radio Marti had to be accepted not only as a consistent, reliable, and authoritative source of news, but also as a transmitter of values, customs, and patterns of behavior with which the Cuban listeners could identify themselves. This intercultural approach allowed Radio Marti to become a more effective U.S. foreign policy response to the Cuban government, by removing the broadcasting policy to Cuba associated with Radio Swan and Radio Americas.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|