Washington D.C based El Tiempo Latino is one of the main digital and print properties in the U.S. Hispanic market. The Hispanic community is disproportionately subjected to false information and manipulation via social media and other means. El Tiempo Latino aims to provide its audience with truth-based information, particularly through reliable news media in Spanish, CEO and publisher Javier Marin tells Portada.
El Tiempo Latino is a 32-year-old widely recognized newspaper in Spanish out of Washington
D.C. Javier Marin’s El Planeta Media purchased it from Jeff Bezos/The Washington Post in 2016 closing a historic acquisition with the support of the seller’s organization. The company is now a nationwide news provider with a fast-growing engagement within the U.S. Hispanic audience.
El Tiempo Latino: The Mission
In an era of widespread public distrust of institutions, El Tiempo Latino is committed to being a trustworthy news media entity that provides useful and timely information to Spanish speakers
in the United States. Marin tells Portada that this context explains his own company’s deep sense of responsibility. “We aim to provide our audience with the information they need, particularly through reliable news media in Spanish. We aim to be an accelerant of relevance for our community and an agent of change by providing our audience with the information they need to make good decisions and to feel included and empowered in this country.”
Nationwide Content Provider
Marin explains that “El Tiempo Latino’s digital platform reaches more than 5 million Latinos in the U.S.”Our in-house developed methodology includes effective processes to produce 120 videos and 600 articles per month with our own editorial desk plus rights to curate/translate news content from The Washington Post, The Economist, and Financial Times.” Marin adds that El Tiempo Latino “currently has more than 40,000 subscribers and 400,000 social media followers.” El Tiempo Latino also has other media brands including El Tiempo Politico, NowThis en español – a partnership with Vox Media, Salud podcast (partnered with Harvard Medical School and GBH) and El Planeta (a local Boston news outlet).
Truth-based reporting is at the heart of El Tiempo Latino’s initiatives. According to Marin, “the entire United States will benefit from integrating the Latino community more completely into our society and, toward that end, we facilitate access to valuable information in Spanish. The goal is to reduce political polarization, narrow the economic gap, motivate entrepreneurship, provide more work opportunities, celebrate a vibrant culture, protect public health and allow everyone to live their lives to the fullest.”
Google: Take Due Note
Unfortunately, Spanish-language publications in the U.S don’t get ranked well by Google and other search engines. The search giant may be favoring Latin American publications. Marin says that “U.S. Hispanic news media is underrepresented in search engines. Research done by several Hispanic news entities presented to Google shows that less than 10% of news in Spanish featured by Google News come from US Hispanic news media entities.”
El Tiempo Latino: Relevant Topics for Hispanic Audiences in the U.S.
To Marin, a key editorial topic will be Latino representation in positions of power and access to the same
resources as the rest of the U.S. population: “as our community grows bigger and stronger, the ratio between the size of the Latino population and the impact of Latinos and their representation in every sector including public elected officials, C-Level corporate positions, entertainment and any other position of power, will likely be unfairly disproportionate.” Marin already sees the Hispanic community as more involved and engaged in politics and policy content. “They are informed actors who can make changes through their vote,” Marin concludes.
