World News
Catholic press uses variety of ways to reach Spanish-speaking Catholics
Published: March 1, 2012
LEVITTOWN, Pa. (CNS) -- Catholic communicators around the country are working hard to reach out to Spanish-speaking Catholics, who are becoming an ever larger percentage of the Catholic population. Many dioceses incorporate some Spanish-language material in their diocesan publications, others into their websites and other new-media platforms, and a handful have separate all-Spanish publications designed especially to meet the needs of Latino Catholics. Tim Walter, executive director of the Catholic Press Association of the U.S. and Canada, said most dioceses are still struggling to find the best way to reach out to Hispanics. "A Spanish translation of the articles" in the English-language publication on a website or in the publication doesn't necessarily meet the needs of the Hispanic reader, because that doesn't take cultural differences into account, he said; there needs to be content tailored to the needs of the Hispanic community. Walter added that including Spanish text in a newspaper that is mostly in English has the additional positive effect of acclimating the English-speaking reader to the growing presence of Latinos in the ranks of American Catholics. In an interview with Catholic News Service, Walter said there are nine Spanish-language newspapers and magazines that are CPA members. Among the oldest of these, founded in 1977, is the Washington Archdiocese's El Pregonero. Like most of the Spanish-language papers, it is funded by a combination of advertising and an archdiocesan subsidy. Larger than most Spanish diocesan papers, it has a circulation of about 25,000 in the Washington metropolitan area and is published biweekly; most Spanish-language diocesan papers are monthlies with circulations closer to 10,000.
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