By SIERRA JIMINEZ
The UNITY News

When it comes to Latino newspapers, some readers tend to think that Spanish-language tabloids are a new, up-and-coming market. On the contrary, Latino newspapers have been around for nearly 200 years.

This September, Latino journalism will celebrate the bicentennial of the first Spanish-language newspaper, El Misisipi.

Launched Sept. 7, 1808, El Misisipi started as a community-based newspaper in New Orleans. During the 1800s, El Misisipi, and its followers such as La Gazzetta de Texas, played an essential activist role.

In Central and South America, the press was not free to report on whatever they desired.

“The newspaper became the prime cultural center for Latino culture,” said Nicolas Kanellos, professor of Hispanic literature at the University of Houston.

As the number of Latinos and Spanish speakers in the United States increases, there is a higher demand for Spanish-language media.

“Ten years ago, there were five dailies,” said Federico Subervi, journalism professor at Texas State University-San Marcos. “Now, 10, 15 years later, we have almost 20, with the circulation going up.”

Today, there are more than 20 Spanish dailies and 350 weeklies in the United States. The problem with this massive influx, according to Subervi is that a “vast majority” of them are commercially-oriented.

In an effort to educate the public on the history of Latino journalism, Juan Gonzales, founder and editor of El Tecolote, and Félix Gutiérrez, professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, are working on a multimedia project called “Voices for Justice.”

The project, which begins September 2009, includes a book, a documentary and an interactive Web site, www.eltecolote.org/voices/.

Gutiérrez said Latino journalism is “not a product of demographics, advertising and technology alone. It’s also a part of history.”

topic: Industry Issues
tags: El Misisipi, Latino newspapers, Spanish language

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 10:02 pm and is filed under Industry Issues, Print. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.