Saigon, Texas

Presto tardi - sempre che nel frattempo i governi di ogni colore non abbiano sbattuto tutti in galera per compiacere le frange più becere dell'elettorato - in Italia potremmo trovarci ad affrontare situazioni come quella descritta in questo bell'articolo del Chicago Tribune (ma originariamente diffuso dal New York Times News Service). La storia del successo di pubblico di una stazione etnica vietnamita dell'area di Houston è molto istruttiva e dimostra quanto possa essere importante una programmazione efficace per un mezzo apparentemente in disarmo come la radio sulle onde medie. Radio Saigon Houston (ufficialmente nota come KREH 900) esercita una influenza notevole sulla comunità vietnamita (la più forte, con 62.000 persone, di una già forte presenza asiatica nell'area), letteralmente incollata ai suoi microfoni. Questioni di irrinunciabile bilinguismo, ma anche di argomenti che i media americani non tratterebbero, come il problema dell'intingere o meno il cibo con le bacchette in una ciotola comune.

Secondo il giornale la presenza di questa stazione avrebbe addirittura influito sulla decisione di molte famiglie di migrare dalla California, zona elettiva della comunità vietnamita americana, a un Texas ritenuto, a torto, esclusivamente ispanico. Sono stato a Houston diversi anni fa e non ricordo di aver visto molti asiatici, ma non sottovaluto l'importanza del fattore "radio etnica" nel peculiare mix socioculturale di una nazione dalle mille - e tutte almeno duplici - identità. Nessuno negli USA si preoccupa di questa capacità di costruire comunità fortemente coese all'interno di una organizzazione sociale ispirata a una politica, una lingua, una cultura più unitarie. Certo, c'è sempre il problema della criminalità, delle bande giovanili, degli occasionali scontri tra gruppi etnici. Ma è perfettamente normale che sessantamila persone nella capitale americana del petrolio riescano a condurre un'esistenza tranquilla e a sviluppare un discreto potenziale economico ricreando nel Texas lo stesso ambiente della nativa Saigon. I figli nati in loco ovviamente preferiscono i format americani, ma grazie alla radio hanno una chance in più di non dimenticare il vietnamita. L'inglese come lingua del business è ovviamente una conditio sine qua non, ma nessuno pensa di imporla come strumento di revanchismo o, peggio ancora, di aperto razzismo.
Non voglio dire che qui in Italia la vistosa assenza di stazioni e programmazione etnica sia un sintomo di razzismo. Il problema semmai è la mancanza di frequenze. Ma le dimensioni quantitative delle comunità straniere che vivono e lavorano in pianta stabile nelle nostre città saranno presto equiparabili - se già non lo sono - alle situazioni vissute negli Stati Uniti e nelle metropoli europee più importanti. Non offrire l'occasione di ascoltare programmi locali in lingue diverse dall'italiano (la tv satellitare non è proprio la stessa cosa) equivale in un certo senso a spingere a una assimilazione forzata, esagerata; ferma restando la necessità di imparare bene l'italiano. Ma questa è solo una delle tante conseguenze negative del desolante quadro monopolistico che da queste parti impedisce l'accesso alle frequenze della radio a ogni forma di programmazione locale e comunitaria, etnica o nazionale che sia.

Ethnic radio station's programming mix persuades Vietnamese to live in Houston

By Cynthia Leonor Garza (New York Times News Service) August 29, 2007

HOUSTON — The phone lines are open.

Today's topic is sensitive, Radio Saigon Houston host Vu Thanh Thuy says into the mic in her balmy voice. To dip. And dip the same utensil or chopsticks again in the communal bowl or plate. One woman tells Vu, sitting in her Bellaire Boulevard studio, it makes her queasy to watch her aunt re-dipping her spoon into the soup pot. That instigates another caller who says America is too clean, that it respects individuality over family traditions of sharing food.
Over the past decade, Vu and her husband, Duong Phuc, Radio Saigon Houston (KREH-AM 900) co-owners, have secured a strong foothold in the Houston Vietnamese media market with programming that mixes talk shows with news and music. The station's presence is also credited with helping spur Vietnamese migration from the West Coast to the Houston area.
The station's growth with the Vietnamese-language radio format also illustrates a thriving and expanding Vietnamese community in Houston with an appetite for programs in their native language. Their staff has grown from five to 35 part-time or full-time employees, plus more than 80 contributing hosts. "This is just the beginning," Vu said. "At first, we thought the language will die down with the older generation, but our success has proven that wrong." Although California has long been considered the Vietnamese epicenter in the U.S., over the past few years Houston's comparably cheap real estate, cost of living and investment opportunities have attracted Vietnamese from the West Coast. Word about Houston's favorable market has spread in part due to the connection made by Radio Saigon Houston's simulcast news program that airs in Orange County, Calif., San Jose, Houston and the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, Vu said. Californians — and anyone who can access the radio station via the Internet — can get a dose of Houston from the daily programs.

Spreading success stories

Radio Saigon Houston has helped spread the rags to riches stories of some of Houston's most successful Vietnamese entrepreneurs, said Danny Nguyen, co-founder and president of the Vietnamese American Houston Chamber of Commerce. "I have a lot of inquiries from people in California. There are a lot more opportunities in terms of investment and development" in Houston, said Nguyen, a commercial real estate developer and investor. He has heard of people who sold their $800,000 California homes and moved to Houston, bought a bigger, cheaper house and used the leftover money as business capital. "Radio tends to be more ubiquitous than newspaper, and they do have stories about other Vietnamese around the country. Through word of mouth people learn about opportunities. That's how Houston is beginning to become known," said Julian Do, Southern California director for New America Media, the largest national collaboration of ethnic news organizations.

California transplants

Steve Le, who immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam when he was a baby, heard the buzz about Houston while living in the Golden State. The 25-year-old moved to Houston from Orange County last year to start a cabinet business. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't meet a California transplant," Le said. He said Vietnamese radio has helped create word-of-mouth buildup in California about Houston's opportunities. The station's impact on migration would not be unprecedented. Black radio was instrumental in the 1940s and '50s during the massive African-American migration from the South to the Midwest and Northeast.
In the Houston area, Vietnamese make up the largest group of Asians at nearly 62,000, according to the latest U.S. Census figures. By numerous accounts, California's Vietnamese media market is nearly saturated. But in Houston, there's room to grow. Radio Saigon Houston is just one of the media products under parent company Mass Media Inc., owned by Vu and Duong. Their bilingual newspaper, Saigon Houston Weekly, was launched last October, and Vu said they plan to start a home delivery service this October.
All of their print products plan to add more English content. But for the most part, they are not forgoing Vietnamese radio programming. Vu said there's a revival of interest in the language and culture among the younger generation, especially when they reach college age. Also, many parents take their children to Vietnamese language classes on the weekends. "They realize that being bilingual is better and bicultural is better," Vu said. But there are still plenty of young Vietnamese who prefer English — and the station hopes to serve their needs, too.

A bilingual life

Hairstylist Stacy Cao, 44, has lived in Houston for 15 years. She's more comfortable speaking Vietnamese so she tunes in to Radio Saigon Houston's morning news show in the car while taking her kids to school. "Sometimes you don't have time," Cao said. "Usually in the morning they have news, so if you don't watch TV or read the newspaper you can know [what's happening] from them."
It's a constant battle with her three children, who would rather hear a hip-hop station. Though they prefer English format radio stations, Cao thinks they'll come around to Vietnamese. For now, they're learning the language by attending weekend classes at a church.
(http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northwest/chi-0829radiosaigon_fillaug29,1,422358.story)