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.”

Por Virginia Torres
The UNITY News

Hace dos años, los profesores de periodismo y estudios chicanos del campus Northridge, de la Universidad del Estado de California, se unieron para un nuevo reto: crear un programa de periodismo en español y editar un periódico.

Sus estudiantes hispanos, que crecieron hablando en español, querían escribir historias sobre sus comunidades en su idioma primario. Se sentían más confortables escribiendo en español que en inglés. Pero sus habilidades necesitaban ser pulidas.

En otras universidades del país, como las de Miami, de la Ciudad de Nueva York y en Texas, en El Paso, también crearon programas similares.

Pero ahora, esos experimentos están luchando por sobrevivir. Los programas reciben pocos fondos de las diversidades para publicar periódicos en español. Cada día se les hace más difícil a los estudiantes encontrar empleo. Los recortes en las redacciones han limitado la capacidad de contratación porque comenzaron por las ediciones en español.

Y lo que es peor, algunos empleadores cuestionan la capacidad profesional de esos periodistas.

“Muchos piensa que la prensa en español puede hacer un buen periodismo”, dijo José Luis Benavides, profesor asistente de periodismo en el campus Northridge y jefe del programa de español. “La gente en las redacciones cuestionan la capacidad de juicio de los estudiantes o su objetividad si cubren determinados asuntos, personas o usa ciertas fuentes”, añadió.

Según Alonso Yañez, editor jefe del El Nuevo Sol, en Cal State Northridge, una ex editora del periódico y que trabajó con él, “fue un buena escritora y una buena reportero”.

“Desde el otoño pasado,  está intentando conseguir trabajo y no lo logra. Es un poco frustrante que alguien como ella no pueda conseguir trabajo. Me pregunto cuales oportunidades tendré yo”, dijo.

El objetivo del programa es enseñar los valores tradicionales del periodismo al mismo tiempo que el idioma y cultura de las comunidades que hablan español, en busca de una cobertura periodística más veraz y justa, dijo Benavides.

Los estudiantes del campus Northridge, localizado en el valle de San Fernando, en los alrededores de Los Angeles, sólo pueden graduarse en periodismo en español.

Los estudiantes deben preparar reportajes en español y escribir para El Nuevo Sol, que se publica dos o tres veces por semestre. Realmente desarrollar y mantener el programa es una lucha constante para estudiantes y profesores.

“El programa todavía es pequeño y está en desarrollo”, dijo Yañez, quien se gradúa a fines de año.

El primer programa de periodismo en español se desarrolló hace 15 años en la Universidad Internacional de la Florida. El programa originalmente ofrecía una maestría para entrenar estudiantes que trabajaban para publicaciones latinoamericanas. Pero ahora, el programa de 25 alumnos incluye algunos de Estados Unidos.

“Hoy día la necesidad de periodistas que escriben en español está bajando. El mercado se está comprimiendo y no hay espacio para el crecimiento”, comentó Wilfredo Cancio Isla, editor asistente de noticias locales de El Nuevo Herald, que recientemente dejó en la calle a unos 250 profesionales.  

By VIRGINIA TORRES
The UNITY News

Two years ago, journalism and Chicano studies professors at California State University in Northridge united for a new venture: create a Spanish-journalism program and publish a Spanish-language campus newspaper.

Their Latino students who had grown up speaking Spanish wanted to tell stories about their communities in their first language. They felt more comfortable writing in Spanish than in English. But their writing skills needed to be sharpened.

Similar programs have sprung up in response to student demand at a handful of universities across the country, including the University of Miami, the City University of New York, and the University of Texas at El Paso.

But now these experiments are struggling to survive. The programs have little funding from their universities to publish Spanish-language papers. Students are finding it hard to get jobs. Mainstream newsroom cutbacks also have limited hiring by cutting Spanish-language editions of their papers.

And worse, some say employers continue to question the training of these journalists.

“Nobody thinks Spanish-language media can do good journalism,” said Jose Luis Benavides, assistant journalism professor at Cal State Northridge and head of its Spanish-language program. “People in the newsroom will question the student’s news judgment or objectivity if they cover certain topics, certain people or use certain sources.”

Alonso Yañez, editor-in-chief of El Nuevo Sol at Cal State Northridge, said the El Nuevo Sol editor he worked with as a reporter was “a good writer and a good reporter.”

“She’s been applying since last fall and hasn’t gotten a job,” he said. “It’s a little bit frustrating if someone like her cannot get a job. What chances do I have?”

The goal of the interdisciplinary program, Benavides said, is to teach traditional journalism values and tenets along with the language and cultures of Spanish-speaking communities for more accurate and fair coverage.

Students at Cal State Northridge, located in the San Fernando Valley within the city limits of Los Angeles, can only minor in Spanish-language journalism. Benavides hopes to develop it into a full-blown major in future years if enrollment continues to grow. Already, enrollment in the program has jumped from just a handful of students in 2006 to 35 today.

Students in the program must take Spanish-language media writing and write for El Nuevo Sol, the Spanish-language student newspaper published two or three times a semester. Still developing and maintaining the program continues to be a struggle for students and professors.

“The program is still small and in progress,” said Yañez, who graduates this fall. “I don’t know how many students will continue to take the minor and continue with what we are doing.”

The first Spanish-language journalism program was developed 15 years ago at Florida International University in Miami. That program originally began offering a master’s degree to train journalists who worked for Spanish publications in Latin America. Now, the 25-student program includes Spanish-speakers from the U.S., as well as Latin America.

“At the beginning, the struggle was convincing the university that ‘Yes, there are people who want to write in Spanish!’ ” said Lilliam Martinez-Bustos, coordinator of the Spanish-language master’s program.

Today, she said, the challenge is finding bicultural, bilingual professors who can give students diverse perspectives. The professors that teach in Spanish for the master’s courses also teach in English for undergraduates. The program’s goal is to help students gain experience in Spanish-language media and find their first jobs, she said.

Such jobs are becoming increasingly hard to come by.

“Today, the demand for Spanish-writing journalists is decreasing,” said Wilfredo Cancio Isla, assistant city editor for El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish edition of the Miami Herald that started in 1987 and has recently gone through a round of layoffs. “If the market is down, there is no room for growth.”