Representations of Latinos in media vary significantly depending on whether they are self-generated or created by non-Latinos. Latinos began representing themselves positively and complexly in Spanish language newspapers in the mid-nineteenth century to be joined in the early twentieth century by Spanish-language radio and literature. By the mid-1960s, self-generated Latino images appeared in film, television and Broadway.

More frequently during this time frame, non-Latinos represented these same experiences through commonly recognized stereotypes. Male and female images of the dark-skinned bandit, revolutionary, peasant, Latin lover and the seemingly less offensive Spanish aristocrat carried over from written to visual media at the beginning of the twentieth century In the mid-twentieth century to these enduring stereotypes were added the buffoon, the boxer, the gang member and the illegal alien.

Scholarly debates about the accuracy and impact of such images has continued since the 1970s. A 1994 study by the National Council of La Raza indicated mass media continually underrepresented and misrepresented Latinos despite modest gains made by other ethnic American groups after the Civil Rights movement. According to the same study as Latinos and other Americans receive most of their information through mass media, the control and generation of Latino images remains of paramount importance.