Insider Tells of La Palma's Last Days

• It has been clear that the once "all almighty" Post had never care about Hispanics or Latinos, whatever you want to call us. They saw us as "cash cows" thinking they were going to profit with us. The Post has it days numbered... y me alegro mucho!! They are racist and insensitive. However La palma staff should be proud. they were the first ones to report real stories, the first latin paper to have journalists. They are a lot of Spanish magazines and so called "newspapers" in palm beach county,but they lack quality.

• When La Palma was first set up, as is the case for most new publications, a five year plan was set up that allowed for the paper to lose money at the onset. However, the paper surprised everyone when it made money in its first year. Which probably set it up to fail because it couldn't maintain that level of revenue. That initial flush of success is what allowed the papers staff to begin to grow at the beginning and actually behave like a real paper. Relevant sections, sufficient reporters, a freelance budget, etc.... More than anything, the pressure to continue its gains, was exacerbated by the bloated staffing levels of the Post and what that was doing to the company's bottom line. As to the support the Post, gave La Palma. Give me a break. We fought with the Post for advertising support. To give some incentive to the ad reps selling the english paper to also sell the spanish. We never had an adequate ad sales staff and ad sales, after that initial rush was never the same. By way of editorial resources we had our own writers, our own designers, but we had to borrow photographers from the pool, and believe me, we were never the priority. And unlike the Post, we ran a much higher percentage of submitted photos in our pages. To say that the Post didn't care about English language readers "or" Spanish language readers, is disingenuous at best. They certainly cared more about their english readers because the vast majority of Post executives were english only speakers with little contact, and even less regard for the Latino community. JBart was an exception, he spent real time working on his spanish. Not something any of other executives could say. And for that to be the case in South Florida, with its high percentage of spanish speakers (let alone economic might) is amazing. As to the economics. Yes, its grim in South Florida, but the Post still manages to soldier on. Losing money, yes. And Cox may finally decide to pull the plug at some future point. But the company, at least for now, seems willing to hang on until better days comes along for the Post. They do not have that kind of patience, or foresight, for La Palma. Ironically, because this is South Florida, much of that hoped for resurgence will likely stem from the Latino community. The argument that "quality of coverage" has little effect on readers habits seems absurd on its face. If that were the case, why do newspapers spend time worrying about "getting it right" in the first place? Hello! Its the stock and trade of our business. And it shouldn't be any different just because a paper is in spanish. Those readers don't want to be insulted by BS coverage any more than english readers do. Thats why we consume newspapers, because they print factual, verifiable, usable information. I do agree that the initial impetus for La Palma was to stem El Sentinel's northward creep. However, if corporate suits never looked beyond that in their strategic thinking, shame on Post executives for being so short sighted. They had an exploitable market they didn't understand, had no idea how to reach, refused to give a real voice to those of us who had experience in the Latino community, and worse wouldn't give us even a semblance of the resources necessary to tap it. Saying "t�s a shame the La Palma experiment didn�t work, but give the Post credit for trying" makes my blood boil. Its like saying too bad the one-armed paraplegic couldn't run the 100 meter dash in world record time. Good try though! [Grin]

• La Palma performed a valuable function for the local Latino community but it clearly wasn�t profitable. And the Post couldn�t afford to lose money. It was really as simple as that. Of course the Post doesn�t care about Spanish-speaking readers. It also doesn�t care about English-speaking readers. It only cares about readers who can sustain an ad revenue base that allows for a profitable business model. Unfortunately, in Palm Beach County, for now, that happens to mean English readers. You could just as easily argue that Palm Beach County�s Latino-owned businesses gave up on La Palma by slashing their advertising budgets. Or you could argue that Latinos gave up on those Latino businesses by cutting their spending, forcing the businesses to cut their ad budgets, forcing the Post to close La Palma. And so on and so on. It�s much sexier to blame Post executives than grim economic realities, but doing so strikes me as naive. You could debate whether it would have made a difference if the Post staffed La Palma like a real functional newspaper instead of leaving it to one reporter to cover the entire Latino community, but the results from the rest of the newspaper world suggest it wouldn�t have mattered. If the last few years have taught us anything, it�s that quality of coverage has little effect on newspaper reader habits, and even less on advertisers� budgeting decisions. It�s also worth remembering that the Post never really wanted to open a Spanish-speaking newspaper. It�s hand was forced by the northward creep of El Sentinel. The Post didn�t want to own the Latino market so much as it wanted to defend its territory from foreign invaders. Now that that threat is gone, there�s even less incentive to keep La Palma around. It�s a shame the La Palma experiment didn�t work, but give the Post credit for trying. I hope Palm Beach County will once day be able to sustain a Spanish-language newspaper again.

• Thank you Lisa Rab for having the guts to cover this. And the reporter is right. Soon a smart businessman or woman will realize theres an open market and cash in. Sadly, if La Palma was run better, they could bring in enough to help float the rest of the paper.

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