Racist Legacy Haunts Old Media: Just When They Need Help

Earlier today, I posted on a topic that, at first glance, is not very near nor dear to my heart: Celebrity Moms. To be brutally honest, I am not sure which celebrities are Moms and which aren’t. Regardless, for those who managed to read a ways into that piece, my true interest did emerge: bilingual publishing — or for that matter, multilingual publishing, which, in my view, is one hugely profitable element of the New Business Model that can save a dying industry from extinction.

But only, of course, if anyone tries it!

That post drew a reaction from a journalist I have long known and admired, Ricardo Sandoval. We’ve worked together in a number of venues over a number of decades. Rick is the kind of person who can inspire an old cynic when times get bad, even when the future seems its most bleak.

So, reading his words, in one sense, broke my heart. But, also, I recognized that what he was saying to me is all too true. Thus, with his permission, I share his insights with you (he was responding to my lament that no major media companies yet simultaneously publish in English and Spanish):

David,

It’s fear of a Brown Nation.  It’s why many mainstream media outlets would rather put out half-assed efforts such as weekly, thinly reported and edited Spanish-language newspapers, instead of integrating that coverage into the principal newspaper.

There should be a double-edged approach to reaching out to the Latino market.

1) LANGUAGE affinity is important. Yes, it’s important to be able to speak and write Spanish for the portion of the audience that is monolingual.  But that segment of the Latino population is always in flux because, eventually, Latino immigrants learn English and will buy English language media.  Eventually, the monolingual product might be left behind, unless it is…

2) RELEVANT. Univision succeeds not just because it speaks Spanish, but because it is the country’s best source of broadcast news about Latin America, especially at a time when mainstream media continue to eliminate Latin America-based foreign correspondents.

Latin America is not a ”foreign” story for this audience; it’s where they recently lived, and probably where relatives still live and where many still have deep interests.  And even locally, Univision affiliates usually offer way more stories about immigration, poverty, and race relations than mainstream media.  It follows the old journalism rule of reflecting back to an audience what’s going on in the community.

Sadly, we could do all that in the mainstream press.  We choose not to because the Latino community seems foreign to us, and old stereotypes persist, such as “They don’t read English,” and “They don’t buy ads.”  Also, there always seems to be a fear in mainstream newsrooms of being “too Latino” and putting off what are perceived as mainstream readers.

As someone who, in 30 years of journalism, has heard things like “now that we’ve hired you we can make a normal hire,” and “we already have a Hispanic reporter…,” I’ve always hesitated to speak out because I’d come off sounding bitter.  All I’m trying to do, however, is tell the powers that be that by playing the game under our traditional rules and with our traditional tools — and not looking beyond ourselves – we’re missing out on what could be a life-saving revenue stream.

Worse, there is, within easy reach, enough demographic and marketing research to demonstrate the market potential of the growing Latino community.  The simple fact that it’s ONE THIRD of the population in California ought to be enough. The subtle reality is, as well, that the Latino community is diverse: conservative v. liberal and a rainbow of races, and rich and poor … Heck, they’re just like us!

I could go on …

rsp

This post reflects, my friends, why I became a journalist 43 years ago, as a tender-minded teenager: To try to ensure that the ugly reality Rick is describing becomes more widely appreciated. To make certain that voices like his are heard.

Thanks to Ricardo Sandoval for this post.