At a Latino journalists’ gathering in South Philly this fall, I was struck that so many new arrivals worked for Al Día News Media, launched 30 years ago as a bold Philadelphia bilingual weekly by a Colombian émigré, Hernan Guaracao.
Name Al Día This means being up-to date, which is essential for any business that wants to continue in business.
“We’ve hired six more journalists in the past year,” boosting the enterprise’s full-time staff to 15, plus freelancers. “Our funding mostly comes from advertisement,” plus “minimal” foundation support, said Martin Alfaro, director of business development. This includes a $150,000 renewable grant from the Lenfest Institute for Journalism last year and partnerships with Comcast, among others. The Lenfest Institute also owns The Inquirer as a nonprofit, non-controlling entity.
In their Center City newsroom recently, Alfaro and Alaitz Ruiz-Arteagoitia, senior business development executive, detailed how the group has responded to the shift toward digital media, which has convulsed the print and broadcast media, and the rising population of U.S.-born Latinos, who as national media consumers and producers aren’t as closely tied to the immigrant-neighborhood papers their parents read for news from the block or their birth countries.
Highlights, trimmed to clarity and length
Alfaro: It’s a mix. Three pillars are what we focus on: Culture, Politics, and Business. These stories are both local and from Latin America. Our focus has grown beyond Philadelphia, though I think Maria Quiñones Sánchez [former City Council member, now mayoral candidate] still has the record for the most Al Día covers ever.
There are print, online, and email options. The glossy weekly print is full of advertising.
As we see our readership grow across the country, particularly in areas where there is a high Latino population, digital is our main focus. On a monthly basis, we see between 300,000 and 400,000 website visitors. The print readership [with several readers per copy] The average weekly population is around 100,000
When I came here, Hernan gave me this book Al Día published: 200 Years of Latino History at Philadelphia. All those people, from Father Félix Varela, who pressed for Cuban independence from exile in Philadelphia, and Manuel Torres, the first Colombian ambassador to the U.S., who is buried here at St. Mary’s, to people we know today. These stories are our responsibility. We must tell stories that are inspiring today.
Who will be the next author? [Recent covers feature the late musician, promoter, and organizer Jesse Bermudez, Comcast executive Jose Velez-Silva, medical-testing overseer Ana Pujols McKee, and college-funding leader Fidel Vargas.]
I was born [in Honduras] the same year Hernan started Al Día — 1992. I see its growth as a reflection in my own personal development. I don’t have all the answers, but we are growing, as we learn, each week.
The U.S. Latino population continues to grow and is not limited to the major cities or the border areas. The percentage of Latinos in Utah is on the rise, even though it might be surprising.
Even within Latino families and communities, the landscape is changing. There is a lot to be proud of, even among my siblings. It all depends on their birth dates. My life is very different from that of my cousins, who are the same age as I am.
The country is becoming more multicultural, including Latinos. It used to be Salvadorans married Salvadorans, Colombians went with Colombians, but now that’s less common.
Ruiz-Arteagoitia: It’s a really interesting question. This will end with assimilation. When I think about my family, it is hard to see the end. I see many different cultural and national trajectories. My father is a second generation Mexican American who had to assimilate. My mother is a Spanish immigrant from the first generation. She has strong family ties. It’s always changing.
When I grew up in Washington, we had neighborhoods that people from outside would say were “Hispanic” — Columbia Heights, Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant — that were really diverse and have become more diverse. If you went there, you will see, maybe it was predominantly Salvadoran, now it’s more Honduran, also a lot of Guatemaltecos.
You are familiarized with the show. La Guagua 47? It follows the bus route through all neighborhoods and shows so many different communities. [Created by Alba Martínez and a team of professionals, it was backed by SEPTA and Al Día and others they helped recruit.] You can see the beautiful Mexican community that has grown up in Philadelphia. This area was once stereotyped as Puerto Rican/Dominican. This amazing community garden has been created by a group Mexicans. It attracts many people. This type of cultural marriage will continue to grow, I believe.
Alfaro: It was very interesting — we interviewed more than 80 candidates, from California to Puerto Rico to New York. Students from Temple. Everyone discussed the challenges of moving from the initial. [immigrant] Generation to the next generation [born here].
Is language what defines us? It’s really about the culture. Jensen Toussaint is one of our editors. His parents are Haitians. He arrived here without much Spanish. [and learned fast]. Nigel Thompson is one of our writers. He’s from West Chester; he went to Temple. If he didn’t speak a lot of Spanish when he came here, he damn sure understands some now. One of our business managers arrived with very limited Spanish proficiency. However, his knowledge of the people he is working with is unsurpassed.
The newsroom code-switch naturally between Spanish and English. That is what we love.
Our reporting is as impartial as possible.
Cultivating relationships is a huge part of what we’re doing to drive some impact. It is possible to have more productive conversations if we try to reach clients directly. We can sell more than a product. That’s where you see partnerships and events.
Alfaro: Lenfest understands the challenges in our local news environment. We have been very thoughtful about the future direction of our media. Many of the publications that had been so significant to communities all across the country were taken over by large media companies. It is what happens when you don’t evolve.
We learned a lot from Hernan. We cannot remain small if we want to be independent and grow, to continue innovating and improving every day.