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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Ethnic Papers Move Beyond Earthquakes, Stereotypes

Virginia De Leon Staff writer

It takes an earthquake, some say, or a hostage crisis.

To get news from home, something terrible has to happen, said Maria Gaines, a native of Panama and editor of Spokane’s La Prensa Bilingue.

Local TV and radio stations, as well as The Spokesman-Review, don’t focus on issues that are important to ethnic communities, she said - issues such as immigration for Hispanics, or black English, for African-Americans.

That’s why these groups have started their own newspapers.

La Prensa, Spokane’s only Spanish-language newspaper, made its debut in December, five months after the first issue of the African-American Voice. Spokane’s gay and lesbian community also has its own newspaper, Stonewall News.

“There was no place in town for people to tell their own stories,” said Bob Lloyd, publisher of the Voice and an Eastern Washington University art professor. “I wanted a voice for blacks in this community. … The goal is for us to talk to each other.”

Neither Gaines nor Lloyd wants to compete with mainstream media. They hope their papers supplement other media and provide a different perspective.

Mainstream media tend to use the same sources over and over again, Lloyd said. They assume that all blacks share the same opinions, he said.

The ethnic newspapers are more in touch with community members, he said. They not only express diverse thought but also help create unity within the groups, he said.

The Voice, for example, publishes photos of Kwanzaa and other community celebrations. The pictures introduce African-Americans to one another, said Irene Fisher, a Voice subscriber.

“The Voice tells the black community what’s going on,” said Fisher, a Spokane resident for more than 40 years. “We don’t get that sort of news anywhere else.”

In the same way that La Prensa’s Spanish headlines are directed to local Hispanics, the Voice’s headlines and stories speak to blacks: “How is your prostate brother?” was the headline on a health article in December’s issue.

The Voice doesn’t intend to exclude people of other races, Lloyd said. But in a gathering of African-Americans, the conversation is different from that in mixed groups because blacks share a common history, he said.

“We don’t need to repeat things and to explain them to each other,” he said. “Sometimes, you just need a place to let your hair down, be yourself and talk like you were in the barbershop with your friends.”

, DataTimes