Newspaper provides Spanish speaking residents with news link

By Dana Ehlschide
News Bureau Director

For many reading the newspaper is a top of the morning daily ritual, but imagine what it would be like if the hometown newspaper was printed in another language.

That's the problem many immigrants face. With the Latin American population growing in Shelby County as well as around the state, the publisher and editor at The Sentinel-News in Shelbyville thought it was time to come up with a way for the Spanish-speaking residents to keep up with the news.

In the summer of 2000, the management at The Sentinel-News began printing two to four pages of their 7,600 publications in Spanish once a month for the Hispanics in the area. The goal was to provide the approximately 5,000 to 8,000 Spanish-speaking residents in and around Shelby County who were "unserved" with news and information, said Publisher Jim Edelen.

"It just didn't catch on," Edelen said. "Most of them didn't know it was in there and it wasn't getting to the places it needed to be where they would have access to it."

Last summer the bi-weekly newspaper began publishing a totally Spanish publication Hoy en Las Americas, which translates as Today in the Americas. They began by publishing approximately 1,500, 12-16 page tabloid size publications once a month and this June that grew to a 28-36 page tab published twice a month. The tabloid is distributed in seven counties and southern Indiana. Jefferson County, which according to the 2000 census, has the largest Hispanic population in Kentucky is included in the Kentucky distribution area.

The paper contains stories of Hispanic interest in The Sentinel-News translated into Spanish. There are also original stories written by other writers contracted through The Sentinel-News. They also have a summer intern who is a Spanish major on staff as well as picking up AP stories of interest. The tabloid contains stories of both national and local news as well as tips on health, family and finance.

Edelen said the papers are given away in areas where the projected market would most likely respond. These places include the Kentucky State University Student Center and several Mexican restaurants in the area. Distribution date is Friday.

"The Hispanic population seem to have responded well to the concept," Edelen said. "We just have to find out where to give them away. There are selected markets. It is a different niche."

The tabloid has a variety of advertisers including grocery stores, realtors, restaurants and car dealerships and Edelen said they don't have a problem obtaining advertisers for the tabloid.

Edelen hopes to continue to find markets where the free publication can be distributed and continue to increase circulation.