The Future of Minority Media

The Rocky Mountain News made great strides to become a newspaper that reflected the diversity of the local community. But its closure does not bode well for the future of minority media. The following is a guest post from Dr. Delio D. Tamayo, a former member of the Rocky Mountain News Latino Advisory Council:

The closing of the Rocky Mountain News after 150 years of uninterrupted publication prompted me to ponder the future of journalism and of the newspaper industry in particular. As a resident of Colorado and a former member of the Rocky Mountain News Latino Advisory Council, I feel particularly affected by the loss of the paper.

As I look into the future, the words to the popular Spanish song “Qué será, será” are often in my thoughts. But despite the song’s optimistic reply, “será lo que debe ser” (whatever it ought to be it will be), I fear that what will be ought not to be.

For minority communities, I am afraid, the “sera” already is: Our so-called prominence turned out to be the bloom of a day. The Rocky Mountain News/Scripps Parity Program has vanished, along with input from the Latino community through the Latino Advisory Council. It was a bonafide effort by the newspaper to become a reflection of the community in general, but as we say in Spanish, “lo bueno no dura.”

What awaits us in our journey into the immediate future is not the promised land of a diverse media system, but rather, a return to segregated news. The closure of the Rocky Mountain News, the dwindling size of newspapers, and the lack of minorities in decision-making positions in the remaining mainstream publications such as the Denver Post crowd out important news relevant to our people in favor of what is still regarded as appealing to the general population.

Instead, we’re left with our longstanding community or specialty publications, which serve an important role, but which suffer from ever more limited resources and a narrow reach. Our ability to influence general policies and social attitudes through the media is emaciated and in need of urgent assistance.

Granted, we will still have several columnists in our midst that will, on occasion, shine a light on the issues we care about. And the newly arrived social avenues from the Internet, such as Facebook, will continue to allow us to share our triumphs and tribulations to some degree. But our ability to bring our life experiences to bear in the mainstream media is severely hampered.

With storm clouds gathering around newspapers, it is hard to come up with a forecast of clear skies for the future of journalism. But I can’t imagine a future without newspapers. And as much as I would like to see newspapers stand on their own two feet, I see a role for state and local governments in helping to preserve local news. Many industries receive indirect government aid in the form of tax breaks in order to support local operations. The same type of incentives could be offered to newspapers. Aid of this kind would preserve editorial and newsgathering independence.

Despite the blows, I predict that the newspaper industry will scrape off the mud and stand up tall. I hope they succeed so that the será will indeed be “lo que debe ser”. However, it will need to be more attractive to changing demographics. If its content continues to ignore the presence and expanding role of minorities in local communities, it will dig its own grave.

Dr. Delio D. Tamayo is a veterinarian practicing in Aurora, Colorado. An immigrant from Colombia, he is a former member of the Rocky Mountain News Latino Advisory Council.

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