Stop Asking For the Latino Community’s Attention Without Investing In Our Newsrooms

Latino newsrooms are slowly fading away, which is such a strange concept considering that Latinos are heavy consumers of news especially in digital format and make up at least 20 percent of the U.S. population according to recent census data. Yet Latino media is suffering and not much is being said about it. People are just noticing the shutdowns and hiatuses and moving on.

I’d like to shine a light on why I think this is happening and it has everything to do with those who are supposedly allies and always rooting for diversity.

Why Multicultural Media Matters and Who’s Being Left Out

Multicultural media matters for a myriad of reasons. For one, it dismantles the idea that there’s a monolithic type of person living in the United States. It creates space for nuanced stories, distinct voices and communities that are largely ignored by mainstream outlets. Latino newsrooms specifically have spent years building trust and proximity with an audience that legacy media has historically overlooked.

And yet there’s clear hesitation from brands to invest in multicultural markets, which is confusing considering the Latino community holds over a trillion dollars in buying power and still isn’t being tapped into. Latino media has historically tried to bridge that gap by offering earned media: content written about a brand, for free. That’s fine. The community deserves to know what’s out there and what could benefit them. But there are only so many earned media pieces you can produce before it starts to feel off and before you realize the relationship is entirely one-sided.

The Partnership Problem and the Cost of Surviving

In media, we understand that our colleagues get compensated when they land placements and because we want to be team players and good partners, we work with them, happily. But that comes at a cost. On the newsroom side, we aren’t being compensated by these brands, often legacy brands, for the support we show them. This isn’t a conversation about pay-for-play. It’s about media partnerships especially since Latino newsrooms rarely have the heavyweight investors behind them that, say, the Washington Post does. I don’t blame outlets that go that route. Anyone who works in a newsroom understands the importance of paying staff and ensuring everyone earns a livable wage.

It’s frustrating when people call newsrooms “sellouts” for trying to monetize because if they looked closely, they’d see it’s done to benefit the community and amplify the stories mainstream media won’t touch. Sometimes you have to feed into a corporate pipeline to make that happen and there is no shame in that. I’ve met people who shame those bringing revenue into newsrooms through marketing efforts, insisting we focus only on the story. But then guess what? We all go hungry. We live in a digital landscape that demands a completely different approach than when traditional media was the norm.

Brands Want Access But Won’t Invest And We’re Done Pretending That’s Okay

Let’s talk about the brands that won’t support us but still expect content from Latino newsrooms. It feels deeply one-sided and I’m tired of pretending it isn’t. It’s BS.

Latino journalists, writers and content creators are grateful for the experiences brands offer but experiences don’t pay overhead or staff salaries. That’s the hard truth. We need brands and the people working with them to understand this. To support indie Latino newsrooms with a campaign here and there, even if it’s not massive, because everything adds up.

We pour into our community selflessly and when we ask for support from those holding the large checkbooks we hear crickets. Then those same brands launch sweeping campaigns targeting the Latino community and wonder why they’re not landing. It’s because they’re not tapping into the newsrooms that have built real trust and proximity to that community. Just like Anglo newsrooms, we deserve to be compensated for the audiences we’ve worked so hard to build.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

So what does real support actually look like? It really isn’t that complicated. Latino newsrooms need paid campaigns that treat us as legitimate media partners rather than a charity box to check. They need display advertising that helps keep the lights on and staff paid. And they need social media integration that extends the reach of the work we are already doing for these communities every single day. None of this is a big ask. It’s the same investment brands make without thinking twice when they walk into a mainstream outlet.

Latino newsrooms are shutting down but there is a solution and it’s time for those who can to act on it. So many people claim to care about us. But it makes you wonder: do they?