The radio in Puerto Rico and Texas: Two Worlds Apart

    When I lived in Texas as a humble student--owning only a few books, a computer without a hard drive, a beat up used car with 200,000 miles, and at times living in apartments literally as big as a closet--the radio was a constant companion.  It was cheap and readily accessible.  It would let me know of incoming ice storms, opinionated debates, and upcoming events; it kept me in touch with things which impinged upon my well-being.   While my situation has changed since then, I believed that the radio had not.  Upon moving back home, Puerto Rico, I still noticed the important information and opinions that emerged from it.  Certainly, it was 'richer' in the sense that the local was more important than the national, contrary to what tended to occur in the 'largest' state of the US.  Important newspeakers said what they really thought, both in the morning and the afternoon.  The radio shows "Ultima Palabra" and "Fuego Cruzado" are gems of locally based public opinion, providing information that impinge upon the Puerto Rican well being in the fullest sense of the word. However, when I recently went back to Texas for a visit, I was shocked by what I discovered: the radio, as a forum for genuine pubic debate, had died.  Austin, a city known for its liberal character, was overwhelmed with precanned conservative ideological mush.  The real themes were not discussed, and the opinions emitted concerned trivialities of the same level of importance as the show "Friends", which is to say not much.  Changes wrought upon the industry by the FCC have led to vast consolidations, which are turning the few forums of genuine public expression into a hammer to destroy this set of opinions and ideas that naturally emerge from the ground, from the lived experience.  Those who live here in Puerto Rico, and who are so concerned about national culture, should be taking every measure possible to influence broader political-legal changes in the United States--at least as far as possible within the colonial context.  The death of the radio in Puerto Rico could lead to the death of our culture.