Chris Chavez: "Cultivating a critical lens: Power and storytelling in the media."

“I’m interested in voice in the collective sense. Who gets to have a voice? Which communities get to be heard? Which other communities are rendered voiceless in this process?” - Chris Chavez, Director of the Center for Latina/o and Latin American Studies and Carolyn Silva Chambers Distinguished Professor of Advertising Professor Chris Chávez joins us at the Global Hearth to explore how the media and advertising industries systematically turn down the volume on Latinx voices, limiting access to freedom of expression and stifling diversity in representation.  Using National Public Radio as a case study, Chris explores how music can serve as a vibrant form of resistance, while documenting the institutional privileging inherent in training protocols that coerce journalists into neutralizing their cultural identities and homegrown accents to achieve commercial viability. Chris ultimately leads us into the question of why a free press truly matters, who the work is for, and what listeners can do to diversify and critically expand their algorithms to more accurately reflect the vibrancy that surrounds the increasingly globalized world.  Quick links:  What is “sociolinguistics?” Let's explore "Fractal Recursivity" Reporters Without Borders: World Press Freedom Index World Press Freedom Day Octavio Paz, Nobel Laureate Goodby, Silverstein, & Partners Don’t Shoot the Journalist! Laufer, Peter. Don’t Shoot the Journalists : Migrating to Stay Alive. London: Anthem Press, 2025. Print.  The Sound of Exclusion: NPR and the Latinx Public Chávez, Christopher. The Sound of Exclusion : NPR and the Latinx Public. 1st ed. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2021. Print. Isle of Rum : Havana Club, Cultural Mediation, and the Fight for Cuban Authenticity Chávez, Christopher. Isle of Rum : Havana Club, Cultural Mediation, and the Fight for Cuban Authenticity. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2024. Print. Chris Chavez’s Google Scholar Page Lastly, remember to follow University of Oregon Global Ducks on LinkedIn, and your questions, comments, insights (and favorite poetry!) are welcomed via email to [email protected]. Thank you for joining us at the Global Hearth.