Hard Times for Spanish Media
A boom in Spanish-language papers in the Valley in the last two decades – largely owned by English-language newspaper chains, Stanley said, turned into a bust in the recent recession.
The Sacramento Bee’s La Voz, The Stockton Record’s El Tiempo, and The Modesto Bee’s El Sol were all shuttered in the last decade.
In 2007, the downward spiral continued with the closure of the weekly Las Noticias del Valle of Hanford, which was published by the Hanford Sentinel. The following year, El Mexicalo of Bakersfield, an independently-published newspaper, shut down because of advertising losses. And most Latino media in the Valley that have managed to stay in business, have made significant reductions in their staff and the number of pages they publish.
Spanish language broadcast media have also suffered. According to Stanley, in 2006, 20 Spanish language radio stations could be heard, just in the Fresno area, but now he says there are only a few.
For their long-term sustainability, more Spanish-language publishers are incorporating English-language content into their pages – a move that reflects the region’s changing demographics, despite a robust Latino population.
Read the entire article at New American Media.