a doorway to ethnic media in the american heartland
Archive for November, 2009
November 19, 2009 at 5:01 pm · Filed under Ethnic Media in Chicago, latino news media
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Who speaks for Chicago’s Latinos and what are they saying?
And who is telling their story?
That’s what we talked about the other day at our gathering of Chicago’s Latino press and community organizations.
We met at the National Museum of Mexican Art and there was very good news on top of the talk. The folks at Radio Arte (WRTE 90.5fm) announced a new partnership with Vocalo – 89.5 fm, public radio for and by the people. This a deal that will boast Radio Arte’s presence across the Chicago area.
We talked about the need for community organizations to decide how they are going to tell their message. Don’t just try to get your story in the mainstream news media, said Tania Unzueta of Radio Arte. Think of the Latino news media and the independent new media.
But don’t give up on the mainstream news media. Let them know what your story is and let them know you want them to cover it. That was the message of Teresa Puente, an assistant professor of journalism at Columbia College and who writes a blog – chicanisima for Chicago Now.
Fabiola Pomareda, a reporter at La Raza, suggested holding the news media — Latino and mainstream – accountable by studying what they cover and how they cover stories. Armed with the results, community organizations can then go to the news outlets, she said, and ask them to do a better job or a job that tells all that matters to the community.
Gerardo Cardenas, the editorial director for Contratiempo and the head of communications for AARP of Illinois wondered if it is correct to say that the the Latino community is too polite and too poised to speak up and tell the news media what it wants to see covered and what stories it needs to hear about.
And Tony Martinez, who is pictured above and who is news director for Telemundo Chicago – WSNS – agreed heartily.
“We have to be more demanding,” he said.
Si, se puede.
Stephen
November 13, 2009 at 4:50 pm · Filed under Latino newspapers, community reporting that matters, darn good writing
Every so often you come a story that makes you stop. Your eyes are stuck. You go back over the beginning and you keep reading.
You read because the words are powerful or the scenery is so strong or the message is so overwhelming.
I was scanning the stories in Extra when I came across this:
Miguel Pérez, 27, has boiled down his years as a gang member into three simple scenes.
• Act one: A conversation with a fellow gang member about his recent release from prison and the job interview his probation officer has lined up for him, his friend agrees to accompany Pérez to this interview.
• Act two: He is interviewed and denied employment based on his criminal record, lack of education and looks.
• Act three: Pérez and his friend argue about his loyalty to the gang and their neighborhood. His friend insists he should continue to sell drugs instead of looking for a way out. The confrontation escalates, a gun is pulled, Pérez gets shot, and the skit concludes with Pérez’ current reality. He was left confined to a wheelchair at age 19.
The memories are so vivid for Pérez, he leaves the room each time the play is performed and joins the cast to deliver the final message.
“You don’t have to hit rock bottom to decide to turn your life around. Take my word for it and understand the realities of gang life,” Pérez said.
The role he currently plays as Youth Family and Community Liaison for the local job readiness program Central States SER (Service, Employment, and Redevelopment) transcends the stage set by the three-act play. Pérez leads the Youth Empowered to Succeed (YES!) expansion project at SER’s South Side location in Ford City.
http://www.extranews.net/news.php?nid=5359
Isn’t that a good lede. It takes me there quickly and it also takes the reader to an issue that matters. The article was written by Adriana Gallardo.
Keeping in touch with your community is the secret power of the ethnic news media.
This Tuesday, Nov. 17 we are sponsoring a meeting with Radio Arte at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W.19th St., Pilsen. We will be talking about how the Latino press and Latino community organizations connect and how they can improve their links. The meeting is from 3 to 5 pm.
saludos,
Stephen
November 12, 2009 at 5:07 pm · Filed under Latino newspapers
Nelson Guadrado runs his hands over the front page. He has a new plan, a new strategy for business and he feels very proud about it. It is not just ready yet but he is sure it will do well. Like everything else has.
He feels good, indeed, about his newspaper, La Prensa.
Four years after starting the paper, its circulation is up to 15,000 and not falling.There are ads which is a miracle today. Every week he comes up with enough ads for the payroll for the two-dozen folks that La Prensa supports, and for that he is thankful.
But he is restless.
To keep the paper growing, he wants to expand so he can catch the Latino population that is moving around and is sprawled along the West and North Side. He wants to keep ads coming so he has been posting videos about restaurants and businesses and that has been bringing in money. He wants to keep people connected to the newspaper so he puts up as much as many videos as he can about community issues and Diego Giraldo, a Colombiano, boasts of having more contacts than he needs to keep the videos and stories coming. And the webpage is updated daily. The day Lou Dobbs quits, La Prensa has a picture and story of about his leaving CNN.
His website name was a brilliant snare. La Prensa US. Most of Latin America has a newspaper called La Prensa and so people have come calling on his website, bringing in as much as 1 million hits a month.
“In the beginning it was hard,” says Nelson who came here over a decade ago from Ecuador. But not today.
Stephen
November 7, 2009 at 2:36 pm · Filed under story telling, the stories of immigrants outside of their home countries
Out comes the singer and her group. Large black eyes. Flowing black hair. One musician behind her is from Ghana and another from Armenia and two, like her, from Israel. She embraces the audience with her eyes, the band begins and it’s not her I hear first, but an older man on the end of the aisle.
He begins every chorus a few words before she does. Every line just as she sings it in Spanish or Ladino, the language created by Jews expelled from Spain in the 15th century and then sculpted over the centuries and landscapes crossed to keep the language and their memories of it alive. It is a stew of flamenco and Middle Eastern sounds. I hear the Middle Eastern better than anything else.
The man at the end of the row in a baseball cap and worn fall jacket and a few days old beard seems to know every word. The folks in front shush him and so he stops singing, and I wonder. What do these words mean to him? Where did he learn these languages? What is it like sitting here in dark in Chicago in a crowded but small theater listening to words and music that must transport him so very far away.
It reminds me why Chicago is a place of strangers who have found a new home. Listen to my interview with Yasmin Levy to understand more about her music. And listen for the interview and more music on Chicago Is the World at 88.5 fm.
esteban
November 2, 2009 at 8:28 am · Filed under Reporting on ethnic communities, latino news media
Have you noticed the growing number Latino oriented ads on television and in the newspapers and magazine? Well there’s a good reason and its great news for the Latino news media. This story from adweek explains:
The Hispanic Market Is Set to Soar
The 2010 Census will radically alter the demographic map and the rules of engagement between Hispanic and general-market shops
Nov 2, 2009
- Noreen O’Leary
Hispanic Americans continue to grow in number at a rate four times that of the general population, with the 2010 Census expected to show their total rising to nearly 50 million, from 38 million in 2000. And second-generation Hispanics are fast becoming the driver of the group’s growth, with 88 percent of Hispanic children born in America, versus 61 percent of adults.
As a result, agencies that market to this segment are finding themselves in a strong position, armed with the skills and techniques to take on general assignments from big-name clients. Meanwhile, in a tight business environment, general agencies are starting to compete for work previously reserved for specialist shops.
Is an already competitive agency landscape set to become even more so?
“In the 2010 Census, we’ll see confirmation of a shift from Hispanic consumers who are first generation, where Spanish is the dominant language, to second-generation, bilingual, bicultural consumers. It totally transforms how we market,” says Cynthia McFarlane, chair of Publicis Groupe’s Conill, a Latino agency. “These are consumers who are as influenced by American culture as the country of origin of their families. There is a new American culture forming, and these consumers are having a tremendous impact on mainstream America.”
McDonald’s, which sees higher brand loyalty among its Hispanic consumers, has added offerings like breakfast burritos to its national menu. In further evidence of the growing bilingual voice of Hispanic consumers, McDonald’s runs ads with Spanish taglines in general-market media, and earlier this year used “Spanglish” in general-market advertising for the Quarter Pounder.
“We know the general market has become increasingly multicultural, with Hispanic music, Hispanic tastes, the Hispanic palate influencing a lot of general-market initiatives,” says Cristina Vilella, director of marketing at McDonald’s USA. “We lead with Hispanic insights but make sure they appeal to the general market.”
That blurring of distinctions within the Hispanic marketplace hints at the changes ahead for agencies and media firms. Hispanics now have about $863 billion in discretionary annual income, more than any other minority group in the country. (As of the third quarter, Americans overall had disposable income of $10.8 trillion.) Agencies argue that spending power is still underestimated and that upcoming Census findings — expected to be released beginning in early 2011 — will deliver a wake-up call to marketers.
“It will be a huge eye-opener when we see the growing affluence of the Hispanic marketplace, not just in buying power but also in household wealth,” says Conill’s McFarlane.
“We have 15 percent of the market but only 5 percent of the marketing dollars,” says Ingrid Otero-Smart, CEO of Interpublic Group’s Casanova Pendrill. “You’re going to see more general-market agencies pursue Hispanic accounts. They didn’t care when our budgets were $10 million or less, but now that we are dealing with more robust budgets and theirs are being cut, it’s a different story.”
