Hispanic media in San Diego and the Nation

VENEVISION, Caracas, Venezuela's principal television station sent their top television news reporter, Fabiana Steinmander, to visit La Prensa San Diego and study the nature and form of Hispanic media in San Diego and nationally. Steinmander is the political and economic reporter broadcasting daily from Caracas. She also is the producer of the only OPINION program of radio station KYS f.m. broadcasting from Caracas.

The Dialogue

Señor Muñoz, does the U.S. Government attempt to control or censor La Prensa San Diego?

If you're asking me, are we outwardly controlled and do we really have `freedom of the press? Yes, to some extent. In the 60's-70's we suffered actual oppression and efforts to destroy us. Media control in America, now-a-days, is not as obvious as it is in many other countries of the world. It is quite clear that in some other non-democratic countries reporters are not permitted to report what they see or hear of their government or of influential people. The Reporter who does often courts death. The media that dares to print or broadcast such information faces immediate closure and the publishers may `disappear' to never be heard of again. Amnesty International frequently publishes records of Media oppression in the various countries.

In our country, most of the time control is manifested much more subtler. Newspapers such as mine are confronted with economic sanctions for daring to print a differing opinion, i.e. advertising is withheld to the point that you can't survive. The mainline media controls the rules under which we operate and we are forced to operate

under rules which make it impossible to be other than a small media. Economic oppression make it impossible to participate fully as a member of the 4^th estate. The national Media conglomerates control what will be the news in our country. In today's paranoid society it takes courage to print your truth as opposed to controlled propaganda. We do have the freedom to print it but there is a heavy price to pay and there are not many reporters or publishers that have the courage or the convictions to do so.

Mr. Muñoz: How much does it cost to publish La Prensa? I note that you are a weekly...

Just let me say that we pay out every penny that we make to come out every Friday. It costs from $200,000-$300,000 per year to print and pay the overhead. We have been in business for 23 years and have never been in the black. You can say it is a labor of love and it helps to not have to depend on the income from the paper to make ends meet at home.

I note you give your paper away. Why don't you charge for your paper?

That goes back to personal ideology. Since the day that I first started La Prensa San Diego, I made the decision that no one would be denied the ability to read La Prensa just because they didn't have the nickel or dime to pay for it. We survive on advertising. We only charge subscriptions for mailing the paper.

I know of your paper because I discovered you on the World Wide Webb. I was surprised. I don't see too many Hispanic newspapers on the Web.

We decided that we wanted to make our stories available throughout the State, and the Country. Reaching out world wide was not really in our planning. That we do is a pleasant surprise. That we have readers in other countries was an unexpected bonus. We are one of the very few Mexican American owned bilingual newspapers that has a Web site.

Are you mostly read by Latin American countries?

Surprisingly no. We seem to attract MORE readers from Euorpeon countries. We have quite a few readers in Canada. It is only recently that we discovered that there is a sizeable Latino population in Canada. We even received an offer from Canadian sources to relocate in Canada. But it is too cold for us.

Are there many Hispanic newspapers in the country?

No, not really. There are five or six daily Spanish language newspapers in the U.S.

However none are wholly owned by our people. Most are now owned by major newspaper conglomerates (White). We do have numerous weeklies. As I recall, I believe we have around 85 weeklies. The majority are tabloid size. There are numerous monthlies or bi-monthlies that are infrequently published. La Prensa San Diego is one of the few broad sheet newspapers in the country that is bilingual.

Do you cover Latin American News?

In a limited sense. We are located along the border of Mexico, and the Mexican media does a very good job of covering all the important news from Latin America such as Venezuela. Our Spanish-speaking readers have access to all the Tijuana media and there is no purpose in our making duplicate efforts to cover extensively all of the countries of Latin America.

Señorita Steinmander Before we end this dialogue may I ask you if you have ever been to Lake Maracaibo?

Yes! I went to the University in Maracaibo to study Communications. It is a very beautiful area but it is mostly known for the oil wells that are located in the lake.

I ask to clarify a point for me. We have a U.S. Congressman that represents our area in Washington D.C. His name is Duncan Hunter. In the past he related to me that his Grandfather was very well known and beloved by the Venezuelanos...

That is true. There are statutes in the main plaza in his honor. He is very well known, loved and respected. He came to our country when he was a young man. I believe he was an Engineer. He was the discover of the oil fields under El Lago Maracaibo. He brought the drills, & the expertise to develop Mara-caibo into one of the largest oil producing areas in South America at that time. His contributions to our country are discussed in the schools and festive celebrations are held in his memory. He spent many years there. He was considered a true friend of our people.

Thank you for verifying that part of the Hunter history for me. The Congressman is very involved with Latinos along our borders. But in a far different manner than his Grandfather.

(Miss Fabiana Steinmander is a graduate of the University of Zulia, Venezuela where she received her degree in Communication in 1993. She is currently employed by VENEVISION, Caracas, Venezuela as a reporter on Noticiero de informacion de ultima hora. She concurrently works for KYS f.m. in Caracas. Her duties are to produce the `Opinion' program "Estamos en KYS" that is an hour and a half long. Fabiana is in town visiting her uncle Moshe-Ben—Eostiola of Irving, Ca.)

Other articles republished from La Prensa San Diego