Havana as a 1940s-1950s Latin American Media Capital

Abstract

This essay examines the Cuban broadcasting industry's prominent position in the 1940s and 1950s Latin American media landscape by analyzing the transformations of Havana-based radio and television and the media exchanges between Cuba, the U.S., and Latin America. The author pays special attention to the ways in which the concentration of creative talent in Havana, in addition to industrial, legal, economic, and cultural factors, fostered the growth of Cuba's commercial broadcasting. In addition, the essay traces Havana media connections across the region and conflictive economic, industrial, and political moments that provoked the migration of Cuban media professionals to various Latin American countries before the 1959 Cuban revolution. The project argues that during the 1940s and 1950s Havana was one of the most important commercial broadcasting centers in the region, which facilitated the incorporation of Cuban exiles into the Latin American and U.S. Spanish-language media workforce during the 1960s and 1970s.

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