* ENGLISH VERSION BELOW
La historia de c贸mo surgi贸 La Estrella de 罢耻肠蝉贸苍 es una historia inusual.
Originalmente, la idea de una publicaci贸n en espa帽ol e ingl茅s fue concebida por el 蜜柚直播 Citizen, que hasta su cierre en 2009, ten铆a un acuerdo operativo conjunto con el 蜜柚直播. Seg煤n ese acuerdo, los dos peri贸dicos eran editorialmente independientes pero compart铆an recursos de una tercera entidad que operaba la imprenta y creaba publicidad para ambos.
El Citizen se form贸 en 1870, y para su 130 aniversario en el a帽o 2000 se decidi贸 celebrar. Un grupo de escritores revis贸 microfichas de ediciones anteriores del peri贸dico para obtener los aspectos m谩s destacados de su historia, pero en el camino descubri贸 algunos escritos muy preocupantes. En los d铆as en que el peri贸dico estaba en manos privadas, tanto los titulares como las historias ten铆an muchos insultos raciales.
People are also reading…
Roy Olivas, editor de la secci贸n Calendario del Citizen, ten铆a un titular de primera plana de la d茅cada de 1950 impreso y enmarcado para colgar sobre su escritorio. El titular dec铆a: 鈥淓l autob煤s lleno de espaldas mojadas volc贸鈥. Y tampoco era el t铆tulo m谩s irritante descubierto. El desarrollo de la historia no fue menos ofensivo.
La raz贸n por la que colgaba sobre su escritorio era para recordarnos a todos que lo que escribimos se convierte en el primer borrador de la historia, y seremos juzgados por las actitudes de las generaciones futuras tanto como las nuestras.
La escritura anterior era un signo de los tiempos. Tambi茅n lo fue lo que nosotros escribimos.
En el Citizen, cubrir las culturas mexicoamericanas y nativoamericanas de 罢耻肠蝉贸苍 hab铆a sido una prioridad al menos desde que yo comenc茅 en 1987. Pero nos qued贸 muy claro que hab铆a elementos de la poblaci贸n local de habla hispana que no estaban siendo servidos, y que hab铆a historias cada semana que ser铆an adecuadas para un tratamiento biling眉e.
Y aunque ambos peri贸dicos ten铆an escritores invitados que escrib铆an columnas ocasionales en ingl茅s y espa帽ol, realmente no hab铆a una divisi贸n de nuestro peri贸dico adecuada para ese prop贸sito. Y as铆, la lluvia de ideas comenz贸 a sugerir una publicaci贸n biling眉e.
Cuando el editor de Citizen, Michael Chihak, lo llev贸 ante la junta combinada del Star/Citizen para su consideraci贸n, algo sucedi贸. Nunca escuchamos la historia completa, pero al final se decidi贸 que, dado que el Star ten铆a una circulaci贸n m谩s amplia, tendr铆a la publicaci贸n biling眉e, y as铆 naci贸 La Estrella de 罢耻肠蝉贸苍.
En el Citizen, por supuesto, nos decepcion贸 no haber podido producir lo que hab铆amos imaginado. Pero reconocimos que al menos una necesidad en la comunidad que hab铆a existido durante mucho tiempo ten铆a muchas posibilidades de ser satisfecha. Y con el tiempo, particularmente en los a帽os en que Ernesto Portillo Jr. estuvo asociado con La Estrella, se convirti贸 exactamente en lo que esper谩bamos.
Se ha creado una voz que sirve a todo 罢耻肠蝉贸苍 y cuenta historias importantes de sus poblaciones mexicoamericanas y latinas. Eso es algo de lo que todos podemos estar orgullosos.
ENGLISH VERSION
How La Estrella came to be is an unlikely story.
A Spanish/English publication was originally conceived of by the 蜜柚直播 Citizen, which until it鈥檚 closing in 2009, had a joint operating agreement with the 蜜柚直播. By that agreement the two papers were editorially independent but shared resources of a third entity which operated the printing press and created advertising for both. The profits were split between the two companies, then Gannett (Citizen) and Pulitzer (Star).
The Citizen was formed in 1870, and for its 130th anniversary in 2000 it was decided to have a celebration. A group of writers went through microfiche of back issues from the paper to pull up highlights of its history but along the way discovered some very troubling writing. Back in the days when the paper was in private hands both headlines and stories had many racial slurs. Roy Olivas, who was editor for the Calendar section of the Citizen, had a front page headline from the 1950s printed and framed to hang above his desk. The headline read, 鈥淏us full of wetbacks overturned.鈥 It was hardly the most pungent headline uncovered. And the story writing was no less offensive.
The reason it hung above his desk was to remind us all that what we write becomes the first draft of history, and we will be judged by the attitudes of future generations as much as our own.
The earlier writing was a sign of the times. So was what we wrote.
At the Citizen, covering the Mexican American and Native American cultures of 蜜柚直播 had been a priority at least since the time I started in 1987. But it became very clear to us that there were those Spanish speaking elements of the local population who were not being served, and that there were stories every week that would be well suited to a bilingual treatment. And while both papers had guest writers who wrote occasional columns in English and Spanish, there really wasn鈥檛 a division of our paper suited to that purpose. And so brainstorming began to create such a bilingual publication.
When then Citizen editor Michael Chihak took it before the combined Star/Citizen board for consideration, something happened. We never heard the full story but in the end it was decided that since the Star had the wider circulation, it would have the bilingual publication, and thus La Estrella was born.
At the Citizen we were of course disappointed that we didn鈥檛 get to produce what we had envisioned. But we recognized that at least a need in the community that had existed for a long time stood a good chance of being filled. And over time, particularly in the years when Ernesto Portillo, Jr. was associated with La Estrella, it became exactly what we鈥檇 hoped. A voice has been created that serves all of 蜜柚直播 and tells important stories of its Mexican American and Latino populations. That is something all can take pride in.
Daniel Buckley es ex escritor de arte y cultura para el 蜜柚直播 Citizen convertido en documentalista. Trabaja en su proyecto de película y libro The Mariachi Miracle. Contáctalo en mariachimiracle@gmail.com.