Delivers content online with translation option and in print edition format.
National Hispanic Heritage Month begins Sept. 15, but The Republican, through its weekly Spanish-language sister paper, El Pueblo Latino, already has a number of projects underway that celebrate the culture for a wide audience to enjoy on an ongoing basis.
This December, “Nuestra Historia: A History of Latinos in Western Massachusetts,” which can be pre-ordered through The Republican, and which is written in English, will be released as the fourth volume in the paper’s Heritage Series on different ethnic groups in the area.
El Pueblo Latino will also publish a special section with stories from the book, translated into Spanish on Sept. 22 in conjunction with its heritage month edition, and the paper now has an electronic, commonly referred to as an "e"-edition, version of El Pueblo for interested readers, whether or not they read in Spanish, teachers of Spanish and other educators, or Spanish learners, as well as businesses seeking to expand their advertising audience.
The e-edition allows viewers to click by page through the edition, and enlarge articles to read. There is an option to translate the articles into English. Coverage includes both news and features, some reprinted in Spanish from The Republican, and others written for El Pueblo Latino by bilingual staffers Elizabeth Roman and Damaris Perez-Pizarro.
“The printed copy of El Pueblo Latino continues to grow readership. It has the largest circulation of any Hispanic publication in Western Massachusetts,” said Frederick F. Fedesco, vice president and general manager of The Republican. “The e-edition of EPL provides even more opportunities for people to read it every week at no cost. We want everyone to have the ability to read the local news provided by EPL. so the e-edition provides a translation to English and a few other languages.”
Harold Blanco, general manager and graphic designer for El Pueblo, noted the e-edition is a different option, for several reasons, from El Pueblo Latino app that some readers use.
“The El Pueblo Latino app, available for smart phones, iPads and Kindles, is a digital replica of the actual newspaper, whereas the e-edition is not just a replica, but it also allows you to read the articles as just text with the option of translation,” Blanco said.
This approach, he noted, makes the product a “good tool” for English-as-Second Language teachers, or teachers of Spanish, “to get kids, who prefer to read online and who would not pick up a newspaper normally, interested in local news.”
“Once you have an e-edition account, you are able to see the actual pages of El Pueblo Latino as they appear in print. When you click on any article on the page, that article appears on the right side as text in Spanish. You can translate the article into English by clicking on the ‘translate’ button on the top right hand side of the screen,” Blanco said.
“The e-edition allows a person who does not read Spanish, to read the El Pueblo articles in English, and find out more about what is happening in the Latino community.”
He added the varied delivery approaches allow El Pueblo staff “to give the public as many options as possible to get their Spanish news in whatever medium they are the most comfortable with.” The paper’s name translates as the “Latin People” or the “Latin Community.” According to the U.S. Census Bureau reports, some 40 percent of Springfield’s population are Latino.
“We can provide news in Spanish/English digitally to those who we cannot reach with our print copies, but who still like to see it in the format of the print version,” said Blanco of El Pueblo Latino, whose articles and columns can also be read individually in Spanish on Masslive.com under the “Living” category.
Blanco said El Pueblo Latino readers get a variety of coverage in the paper that has a Sunday publication date, but is available to the public and in stores on the prior Thursday, and is currently free. The print version is home delivered, and is also available in stores, like Barnes & Noble, in Holyoke, and Stop & Shop, on North Main Street, in East Longmeadow, and other locations, including schools, Post Offices and libraries, in more than a dozen area towns and cities, ranging from Hadley to Agawam, and from Southampton to Granby.
“We cover area events in the Latino community in Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee and surroundings areas. We have entertainment features, artists, movie reviews, restaurant reviews, food reviews and photo galleries. We also have a health and lifestyle section as well as a political page and weekly opinion columns,” Blanco said.
Recent articles in El Pueblo include “Un milagro para Julian” a story about an 8 month old who needs a kidney; “Holyoke tiene nuevo superintendente” a story about the new superintendant of Holyoke Public Schools; and “Celebrando Nuestra Cultura.” an article about the Holyoke Latino festival and parade.
Columnists include Pepe Luis Pedraza, who writes the inspirational “Reflexiones” (“Reflections”), and the syndicated Esther Cepeda, who writes on a varied topics. Any business interested in being a drop-off location for El Pueblo should call Gilberto Perez at (413) 885-3704. Any school interested in getting the print edition of El Pueblo should also contact Perez.
Any school or teacher interested in the e-edition of El Pueblo should contact Denise Browne at dbrowne@repub.com. She is also the contact for schools interested in getting The Republican.
Send general queries to elpueblolatino@repub.com. To advertise in the section, contact Phillip Borras at (413) 788-1182, or email pborras@repub.com
The email edition of The Republican is available free to the paper’s subscribers. For delivery of The Republican, contact customer service at (413) 788-1100.
The special edition containing stories from “Nuestra Historia: A History of Latinos in Western Massachusetts,” will be inserted into the Sept. 15 edition of The Republican in English. The book, scheduled for a Dec. 13 release, can be pre-ordered at a discount through The Republican at www.pedimentbooks.com/store/product/nuestra-historia/
To access e-edition of El Pueblo:
Go to www.elpueblolatino.net.
Scroll down the right side of the page.
Click on the section that has the El Pueblo Latino app logo.
Click on “Sabía usted que El Pueblo Latino tiene una App?”
Below the options to download the app, there is the link to the e-edition. “Versión electrónica.” Get started:
Click on the link “Versión electrónica” to reach the log in page for e-edition
Sign up to view the e-edition by creating an account through filling in all the required fields.
Once you have an account you will be able to view the actual pages in PDF format of the print version of El Pueblo Latino. Click on any article on the page (left hand side), to see the same article on the right side as text. You will be able to translate any article into English by clicking on the “translate” button on the top right hand side of the screen.