We want to build an alternative, bilingual media platform that challenges mainstream narratives about the Rio Grande Valley, the southernmost region along the Texas-Mexico border. Our platform will be online-based and publish videos, live broadcasts, podcasts, and articles. From culture to food, from music to politics, from LGBTQ issues to immigration news, we’ll deliver authentic content and start a new era of media serving the community.
In the Valley, we’re proud of our unique borderland culture, a vibrant blend of southern Texas and northern Mexico. As a community that thrives on the power and influence of more than one million immigrants and people of color, the Valley symbolizes an opportunity for many to re-imagine and write their own story.
But mainstream media only talks about our border region in limited frameworks that mostly stick to stereotypes and stories that misrepresent who we are. Our identities are often filtered, edited for commercial and political purposes, or misrepresented on a national scale. Our geographical location on the Texas-Mexico border makes us an attractive target for dangerous politics, and this has encouraged others to attempt to speak for us or presume to understand what is best for our region.
We need a media platform that shifts narrative-building power from corporate and mainstream media to community members. By creating our own platform that re-envisions the media’s relationship with the community, we will challenge those tired stereotypes and superficial frameworks that mainstream media has made popular. Community members, not outside groups or people disconnected from our region, will drive how, when, and which stories are published.
Support Neta by visiting netargv.org to back our Kickstarter, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
For media inquiries or general information, email la@netargv.com.
