Robert Gordillo, author of the zip2save.com Hispanic business plan.

By Nancy Lane
President, zip2save.com & Suburban Newspapers of America

Note: Much of the information contained in this article was produced by Robert Gordillo, author of the zip2save.com Hispanic business plan.

The U.S. Hispanic market is now over 46.9 million in population with purchasing power slated to clear $1 trillion in 2010. U.S. Hispanic purchasing power has grown at a rapid pace, more than doubling over the past two 10 year periods and has grown 100% since 2000, far outpacing that of non-Hispanic spending.

Many markets served by community media companies have a significant Hispanic population but few are able to reach this growing audience in an effective way. Those community media companies that want to do a better job reaching the Hispanic community in their markets should consider the hiring or contracting of Hispanic journalists and sales executives. A Spanish language option on your web site is also a terrific idea (although translation issues can be tricky). And be supportive of organizations and events that are organized by the Hispanic community (and be sure to cover them in print and online).

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By Deb Shaw
Editor, Suburban Publisher

While the news media industry has spent the last few years reeling from the financial pitfalls of the economic meltdown, declining readership and plummeting advertising revenues, small dailies and community weeklies have proved profitable, and are, increasingly, the dominant source for local coverage.

So concludes The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism’s State of the News Media 2010 report, covering two areas that are of particular interest to SNA members — Newspapers and Online.

As expected, the report reveals the challenging economic state of the newspaper industry, and paints a stark picture of the woeful economic realities at many metro newspapers. However, it points out that smaller, suburban and community newspapers are faring much better economically.

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Joe Grimm is the visiting journalist at MSU and recently led a webinar for the SNA Foundation.

By Deb Shaw
Editor, Suburban Publisher

In his work with journalism students at Michigan State University, Joe Grimm sees it all. From curious and adventurous to completely abashed at the thought of asking subjects any sort of question, let alone impertinent & nosy ones, these kids run the gamut. Despite that, Grimm’s melting pot of undergrads often surprise him by the work they are producing in the digital space and he points to these self-taught projects as good examples of what can be done with contemporary leadership.

One of the early valuable lessons that Grimm imparted in a recent SNA Foundation-sponsored webinar about newsroom leadership was that his students are learning because he tries to make it safe for them to make a mistake and dangerous if they don’t try. That pearl of wisdom speaks volumes about culture, an element that is as important as any single thing you can do to motivate and lead your newsroom into trying and testing new ideas.

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