Are Mainstream Newspapers Selling to the Wrong Audience?

Though pundits everywhere are touting the wholesale death of the newspaper as we know it, it surprised us to learn that some are actually thriving, we just might not recognize their names. Despite often being left out of the conversation, many of the country’s ethnic publications continue to buck the industry trend. One in particular, El Diario La Prensa, is not only the nation’s oldest Spanish language publication, but also the fastest growing newspaper in America during two out of the last three years. On The Media recently sat down with executive editor Alberto Vourvoulias to find out the secret behind their success.

It was interesting to see the ways that class factors into this discussion. While El Diario maintains a presence on the web, since most of its readers don’t have desk jobs, print remains the primary source they turn to for their news. Vourvoulias points to this as a prime example of really knowing your audience and finding the most effective ways to connect with them. Given that much of mainstream media’s target demographic – middle class readers who can sell the largest amount of advertising – are increasingly turning to the web for their news, he questions if this current thinking is out of date. When examining the types of stories and areas being covered in El Diario, Vourvouilas discovered that there is a large population in the U.S. that is being under served by the mainstream, namely the working class.

Whether or not changing the formula of what news is being covered and for whom can save our print newspapers, it’s certainly valuable information to consider the next time you’re thumbing through your local edition or more likely, surfing its pages online.

The entire interview with Vourvouilas can be heard below.

[via On The Media]