News, Noticias, Nouvelles - non-English newspapers - Brief Article - Industry Overview

American Demographics,  Nov 1, 2001  

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Guess how many newspapers are published in New York City? Three? Five? Even Manhattanites familiar with all seven of the city's English language papers may be unaware of the additional 198 ethnic newspapers published in New York's other four boroughs - more than three times the number there were just a decade ago. Ethnic newspapers - presenting a range of linguistic and cultural perspectives including Chinese, Hispanic, Arabic, Caribbean, Russian, Korean and more - are proliferating nationwide. Chicago has more than 80 publications; in Los Angeles where there are 60 local ethnic papers, La Opinión is now the largest Spanish daily read across the country. New California Media, a statewide network of ethnic news groups, includes over 200 publications among its members.

Yet while ethnic newspapers win tremendous support from their loyal readers, they don't receive the attention from marketers that many mainstream newspapers do. Some of this neglect may be justified as advertisers have found several major disadvantages in dealing with the ethnic press. Many smaller papers operate like startups. Their immigrant owners are often unaware of how the newspaper business functions in America and might not know how circulation audits, newsstand distribution or ad sales operate. Most don't belong to press associations, which can provide the network needed to build a smart advertising strategy and attract businesses and investors. Nor do they have the financial resources to conduct the audits and readership surveys advertising agencies demand.

Advertisers often assume ethnic newspapers are simply not worth the bother. That's about to change. Long overlooked and underestimated, several converging factors are making media decision makers take notice of the ethnic press. First, the mainstream newspaper industry is in the midst of a continuing decline in both revenue and readership. Moreover, their troubles have been exacerbated by the slumping ad market, making advertisers more selective about where they place their dollars. This slump has opened the door to alternative forms of media, with the ethnic press ready to compete for limited ad budgets.

At the same time, the ethnic press is getting smarter: papers are beginning to organize and actively seek national advertising. As a result of such efforts, and prodded by recent Census Bureau figures showing the multicultural and multilingual future of America, some advertisers are starting to wake up to the potential of the ethnic press. While many of the smaller papers have circulations between 5,000 and 10,000, several major players are emerging with circulations of 360,000 (Chinese-language World Journal) and 615,000 (La Opinión).

"Ethnic newspapers are not only underrepresented in most media budgets, their audiences are undervalued," says Vincent Martinez, market director of the multicultural division at American Minorities Media, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based advertising placement firm. "Within 16 months after the census data [describing where ethnic minorities live] comes out, media buyers will have a real understanding not only of how many and who these consumers are, but where they are. A prudent prediction would be that by first quarter 2002, advertising in the ethnic press will be getting much more attention."

But for advertisers to best take advantage of the ethnic press, they need to understand how such newspapers operate, get past certain logistical and cost obstacles and capitalize on the advantages these papers can offer.

First, marketers should understand where these papers are coming from - why they were started, what function they serve in their communities and the close relationship they enjoy with their readers. For many newspaper owners, publication is a labor of love, not a business prospect. They often consider their newspapers a way to foster community spirit among immigrants and ease the transition process for new arrivals. Many smaller local papers operate as a second business for their owners.

As a result, a startling lack of sophistication about even basic advertising, media and business practices often pervades the ethnic press. Many papers lack a dedicated sales staff, and traditional journalistic practices are sometimes loosely interpreted, which doesn't inspire confidence among the larger media companies.

"It's true there are caveats to advertising in the ethnic press," admits Sandy Close, executive director of New California Media, a network of ethnic press organizations. "It's fragmented. There's a need for standardization in tracking, pricing and invoicing - and the ethnic press is quite aware of these needs."

While working on an energy conservation media campaign for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Lisa Cote, vice president and associate media director at advertising agency Mediacom in Los Angeles, learned a fast lesson about the ethnic press. "With some of the smaller papers, there's not as much separation of church and state," says Cote. "Some of them would say, 'If you run an ad in our paper, we'll give you editorial support.'" While Cote believes the ethnic press will become increasingly important in mainstream ad agency buys, she also found the ethnic media market to be highly politicized, with some publishers urging her to consider whether a paper was minority owned in addition to weighing standard bottom-line measurements, such as reach and readership.