Newspapers Aim Special Publications at Latinos
A handful of California’s mainstream newspapers are chasing after one of today’s hottest marketing prospects--the Latino population.
Earlier this week, the Daily News began to publish a free, weekly Spanish language newspaper, Vecinos del Valle (Valley Neighbors), that will reach 48,000 homes in the San Fernando Valley. By May, the Fresno Bee plans to publish Vida en el Valle (Life in the Valley), a separate, bilingual newspaper that will reach 30,000 homes in the Fresno area. And for more than a year, The Times has published Nuestro Tiempo (Our Time), a bilingual section that reaches more than 419,000 homes.
The San Diego Union has indicated that it too may eventually publish a Spanish-language paper.
For years, specialty publications like the popular La Opinion have primarily served local Latinos. But now, marketing experts suggest, this may be just the beginning of specialty papers--targeted at minorities--that are published by mainstream newspapers nationwide.
“For the first time in U.S. marketing history, language has become the real demographic barrier,” said Henry E. Adams, executive vice president at Market Development Inc., a San Diego research firm that specializes in Hispanic marketing. “It used to be things like sex or age, but now language is the stumbling block.”
Newspaper executives generally say that these special Spanish-language editions and sections are mainly bids to increase readership. And that is true. But those new readers are actually the key to increased advertising sales. Analysts say the real fuel behind this sudden expansion is the keen desire by a growing number of major advertisers to reach Latinos--and the subsequent desire of newspapers to profit from that.
“This is all advertising-driven,” said Roger Sennott, general manager of Market Development Inc. “The big advertisers want Spanish-language outlets.”
The trend can be seen in other media as well. The number of Spanish-language TV and radio stations continue to grow. Yellow Pages that are written in Spanish keep expanding into new markets. And several major publishers, including Whittle Communications, have recently announced plans to publish general interest Spanish-language magazines.
Perhaps, more than just about anywhere else, this growth can be seen in Los Angeles County, which has a Latino population of 3.3 million, or 36.4% of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Latinos could comprise 40% of the city’s population by the year 2010.
“It is a market we have not been effectively reaching,” said David J. Auger, publisher of the Daily News. “The time is right for us to try.”
So this week, the Daily News began to publish Vecinos del Valle, which is delivered weekly to select Latino subscribers and non-subscribers to the Daily News, primarily in the cities of San Fernando, Sylmar, Pacoima and Sun Valley.
The paper--which is written entirely in Spanish--is published by the advertising staff of the Daily News, said Auger. “The idea was conceived by that group,” he said. The first 12-page issue, which is about 50% news and 50% advertising, includes an article on bilingual education. Among its largest advertisers is Budweiser.
Auger declined to state the start-up costs of the publication, but he did say he expects the paper to be operating profitably within several months.
Meanwhile, the Fresno Bee has said it plans to begin publishing a weekly bilingual publication by May that will either be mailed or delivered (independent of the Fresno Bee) to families with Latino surnames throughout Fresno County and nearby communities. That publication, Vida en el Valle (Life in the Valley), will initially be delivered free of charge, but will eventually seek “volunteer” subscriptions of $15 per year, said Ray Steele Jr., general manager of the Bee. The paper will also be sold on newsstands for 25 cents.
“We think the Hispanic market is growing, and we want to be a part of that growth,” said Steele. He noted that at least six Spanish-language newspapers already are published in the Fresno area. And if Vida en el Valle is successful, he said, the concept could be tested in other parts of the state, including Salinas, San Jose and Bakersfield.
At the same time, Nuestro Tiempo, the monthly, bilingual Latino section published by The Times, is also studying expansion.
“There is consideration of becoming a weekly publication,” said Frank O. Sotomayor, editor of Nuestro Tiempo, which is written by Times staff and free-lance writers. “Our editorial goal for Nuestro Tiempo is simply to provide more coverage about Latinos and to reach those readers we had not been previously serving.”
Nuestro Tiempo, which primarily circulates in central and East Los Angeles, is distributed through a combination of home delivery and mailings. Its circulation in the San Fernando Valley, where it will now go head-to-head with Vecinos del Valle, is about 21,000.
There are indications that the San Diego Union will also get in on the act. The newspaper has had discussions about publishing a Spanish-language newspaper, said Gerald L. Warren, editor of the Union. “It’s definitely in the long-range planning,” he said, but he declined to place any timetable on the project.
Some say the mainstream newspaper to most aggressively court Latinos is the Miami Herald.
In 1976, it first published a Spanish-language section. And in November, 1987, it began to publish El Nuevo Herald, a daily Spanish-language newspaper distributed along with the Herald to more than 101,000 homes. “The Hispanic population continues to grow,” said Roberto Suarez, publisher of El Nuevo Herald and associate publisher of the Miami Herald. “That explains our growth.”
With 65 employees, the paper averages about 48 pages per issue. Among its major advertisers are Budweiser, Publix (a supermarket chain) and Burdines (a retail chain). The Herald reportedly spent more than $3 million to start up the publication.
