Press Release
October 21, 2005
NAHJ Disturbed by San Jose Mercury News Decision to Shut Down Nuevo Mundo
Media Contact: Joseph Torres (202) 285-3949(cell) /(202) 662-7143
Washington -- The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is disturbed that the San Jose Mercury News decided today to close down its Spanish-language weekly Nuevo Mundo after nine years of operation. The paper also decided to sell the Viet Mercury, its Vietnamese-language newspaper.
NAHJ learned that the Mercury News will begin distributing Fronteras de la Noticia in the San Jose area. The paper is produced and designed in Mexico and appears in 14 U.S. markets.
“NAHJ is troubled that the Mercury News decided to close Nuevo Mundo so it could cut costs and replace it with a paper that is produced in another country” said NAHJ Executive Director Ivan Roman. “The consequences are enormous for the Latino community and for journalism. It is critical for local news operations to have a presence in the communities they serve so they better understand the informational needs of those they cover.”
Roman added: “The Latino community is more than a consumer market to sell goods and products to. Spanish-language papers that cover the Latino community in the United States have a particular mission and have stronger ties to the community – qualities that an imported paper can not fulfill. We are concerned that more newspapers will decide to outsource newsroom jobs and abandon its commitment to have locally-based journalists cover the Latino community.”
According to an article published Oct. 1 in Editor and Publisher, Fronteras de la Noticia is produced by Mexico’s Danilo Black company and sold by the Kansas City-based United Press Syndicate. The editorial staff and designers of the Danilo Black company produce 22 pages of the 32-page tabloid, including news about Latin America, Mexico, sports, comics and feature stories. U.S. newspapers distributing Fronteras produce two editorial pages with the remaining pages devoted to selling local ads.
NAHJ is continuing to look into this issue and will address the situation as it learns more about the closing of Nuevo Mundo.
Founded in 1984, NAHJ's mission is to increase the percentage of Latinos working in our nation's newsrooms and to improve news coverage of the Latino community. NAHJ is the nation's largest professional organization for Latino journalists with more than 2,300 members working in English and Spanish-language print, photo, broadcast and online media.
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