Spanish publications thriving

 

I found this interesting.  I didn’t know that the decline in newspaper readers did not apply to Latinos.

 

 

http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060827/BUSINESS/608270342/1003

 

Spanish publications thriving

Home News Tribune Online 08/27/06

THE ASSOCIATED PRESSCHICAGO — Here’s some good news for the beleaguered U.S. newspaper industry: Hispanics read newspapers much more faithfully than the general population. They just prefer to do it in their native language.

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Despite the overall circulation decline of U.S. newspapers, Spanish-language publications are thriving due partly to a burgeoning population whose impact is growing. Advertisers were advised at a conference Friday to take note of that expansion and to discard outdated perceptions about how to connect with Hispanics.

“Hispanic publications are an incredibly effective tool in reaching your target consumer,” said Bob Shamberg, chairman and chief executive of Newspaper Services of America, a print media planning and buying agency.

Shamberg said there’s been huge improvement in the quality of Spanish-language information and a better understanding of Hispanic consumers and how they use media. But long-held perceptions that radio and TV are the best way to reach them are slow to change, he told the advertising summit of the National Association of Hispanic Publications.

Alejandro Sanchez, a media strategist for the San Jose Group ad agency, said cultural reasons explain why Hispanics, or Latinos, read newspapers more than other groups.

“They trust the paper,” he said. “They can see it on TV, they can see it online, but . . . the paper has that sense of ultimate authority.”

The trend of low newspaper readership among Americans age 18 to 34 also does not apply as much to Hispanic consumers, he said.

“Our time is a little different from other cultures,” Sanchez said. “We take time to do these things. We like to sit down and read the papers because “That’s what my dad did.”‘