FULL DISCLOSURE: I am a freelance reporter and cover the Hispanic television industry for Multichannel News, which competes against TelevisionWeek. Furthermore, I pitched a TelevisionWeek editor a number of story ideas in 2005. I never heard back from him. That said, I bear the publication and its staff no ill will whatsoever. The following post does not in any way represent the thinking (unofficial or official) of Multichannel News. This is a purely personal statement.
The TelevisionWeek "special report" "Hispanic Market: Adjusting to Life in the Mainstream" unintentionally begs the question of whether mainstream trade publications can adjust in order to cover the Latino television market.
You don´t have to understand Spanish in order to cover Hispanic television but it sure helps avoid the many mistakes that appear in today´s TelevisionWeek article.
The story reports Fox Sports en Español has the rights to air the "Interlega" soccer tournament , which I take to be a reference to Mexico´s InterLiga championship. FSE also airs the "Copa Sudamericana" but not the "Copa Sud Americana" mentioned in the article and they certainly do not transmit the "Copa Liberatordes".
Please don´t think the reporter has it in for FSE. ESPN Deportes is described as a "Spanish network". Now, I bet general manager Lino Garcia would not mind being based in Madrid or Barcelona but ESPN Deportes is a Spanish-language network. Not a Spanish network.
Perhaps the reporter is single, which would help explain the reference to "suegas" instead of "suegras", which happens to be the name of the Azteca América show. Not "Suegas".
In the case of "Objectivo Fama" the reporter decided to add the letter c perhaps to compensate for the r stolen from "suegas".
Most baffling, though, is the reference to how ESPN Deportes will reportedly "herald its increased distribution via satellite-delivered DirecTV and Comcast's Dish Network". Wow, that´s a helluva story. I had no idea Comcast had purchased EchoStar´s DISH Network lock, stock and barrel.
The earlier and silly mistakes can be explained but not justified by the lack of a Spanish-speaking reporter, copy editor and editor. The reference to Comcast owning DISH Network makes clear this article was not closely reviewed.
The most basic mistake in the article is "Fox Sports en Espanol" as opposed to "Fox Sports en Español". The tilde may not seem important but it is all that keeps a Happy New Year (Feliz Año Nuevo) from being a Happy New Anus (Feliz Ano Nuevo).
For more translation gaffes turn here.
This is funny. We don't get "Fox Sports en Espanol" here in Australia.
Posted by: spanish learn online | August 06, 2007 at 06:25 PM
Excellent article and comments.
However, I think cable television is becoming extinct and will eventually be replaced by satellite TV which is becoming the norm, especially in locales outside the United States. More information about satellite TV is at http://www.1-satellite-tv-facts.com
Posted by: docsharp01 | March 26, 2008 at 07:32 PM