Bilingual Newspapers and Their Impact in the Community
by rodrigo sánchez
Bilingual newspapers, although usually small and often dependent on donations, have a specific audience that allows them to be more direct and better serve the community.
Living in Alaska, where the population can feel isolated from the rest of the United States, it is clear how people form communities based on shared interests or develop a passion for serving their local area.
Alaska has 27 newspapers and 24 broadcast stations, covering areas from Haines, Nome and Barrow, according to the Alaska Press Club’s journalism directory. Likewise, Alaska serves as a global hub due to its strategic location. Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport is perfect for emergency transcontinental landings, cargo transport, and as a key route to East Asia, as it is situated near the Arctic Circle.
Alaska attracts people from all over the world, many of whom decide to stay and live after visiting as tourists. Within all this diversity, Alaska remains a place of small communities, further highlighting the importance of establishing a strong sense of community.
Someone who has connected with small communities and understands the value of local journalism is Paola Banchero. She is currently a professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage in the Department of Journalism and Public Communications, but has worked in journalism her entire life as a reporter and editor at the Kansas City Star, the Kansas City Business Journal, the Anchorage Daily News, and the Senior Voice.
Having firsthand experience in journalism and reporting on Alaskan stories, Banchero is an appropriate voice to advocate for the significance of bilingual news and the service it provides to the community.
In a conversation with her, Banchero shared her perspective and highlighted the relevance of publishing stories linked to the culture of the community.
An interesting point she made about bilingual newspapers is that, although they are usually small and often rely on donations, having a specific audience enables them to be more direct and serve the community better.
Additionally, they face fewer hierarchical pressures, which gives writers more freedom to focus on stories related to their home or reality. This aligns with Professor Banchero’s explanation that bilingual publications tend to concentrate on topics and news less common in larger newspapers.
Likewise, in a virtual interview with Professor Joy Mapaye, also a professor of Journalism and Public Communications at UAA, she highlighted a point that aligns with Banchero’s words when she says: “Whenever possible, news organizations should provide audiences with ways they can take action to help solve problems or support those in their community or beyond.”
With this in mind, the perspectives of instructors involved in how local people consume media coincide with the goals of organizations like Sol de Medianoche News.
Such media not only inform people but also become a direct source of culture and community by offering knowledge and awareness about the cultural ties that are part of our reality. It makes perfect sense for bilingual news organizations to preserve that closeness to the culture that connects people from the same countries, especially since those who produce them tend to have grown up in those communities or know them personally. In a world where repetition has become commonplace due to the demands of consumerism and artificial intelligence technology that replicates what already exists, preserving platforms that celebrate culture and community is essential to keeping a population united.
