Arizonalatinos.com

Arizonalatinos.com was created to focus on the needs and lifestyle of Latinos in Arizona.
We’ll talk to Diana Prieto-Bernal, publisher and Cindy G. Castillo, editor in chief for Arizonalatinos.com, about the website and the information it is providing for Latinos in the community.

Transcript:

JOSE: ARIZONALATINOS.COM WAS CREATED TO TAKE FOCUS ON THE NEEDS AND LIFETSYLES OF LATINOS IN ARIZONA. JOINING US TO TALK ABOUT THE WEBSITE IS DIANA PRIETO BERNAL, OPERATIONS DIRECTOR AND CINDY CASTILLO, EDITOR IN CHIEF FOR ARIZONALATINOS.COM. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US ON "HORIZONTE." WE SAID IT WAS CREATED TO FOCUS ON THE NEEDS AND LIFESTYLES OF LATINOS IN ARIZONA. WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY THAT?

DIANA PRIETO BERNAL: IT WAS A NEED--

JOSE: YOU WERE THE FOUNDER FIVE YEARS AGO?

DIANA PRIETO BERNAL: WE LAUNCHED THE PUBLICATION FIVE YEARS AGO. WE USE THE TERM ONLINE PUBLICATION AND A LOT OF PEOPLE LIKE TO USE THE TERM WEBSITE WHICH IS OKAY. OTHER PEOPLE USE THE WORD ONLINE MAGAZINE. WE ARE AN ONLINE PUBLICATION FOR LIFESTYLE AND WITH THAT WE MEAN IT IS NOT BREAKING NEWS OR FOCUSED ON POLITICS AND IMMIGRATION EVEN THOUGH WE DO TOUCH A LOT ON THAT. OUR MAIN FOCUS IS WE WANT TO PROVIDE THE COMMUNITY A SOURCE, EASY ACCESS, TO NAVIGATE FROM YOUR PHONE, FROM YOUR PC OR WHEREVER YOU ARE AT AND FIND OUT WHAT ARE THE FUN THINGS TO DO CURRENTLY IN ARIZONA.

JOSE: WE ARE SHOWING SNAPSHOTS OF THE WEBSITE SO PEOPLE HAVE A SENSE FOR WHAT THE PUBLICATION LOOKS LIKE. THIS IS THE MAIN PAGE AND THEN WE HAVE CLOSE UPS OF A COUPLE RECENT SHOTS AND A LIST OF ARTICLES. THESE ALL LOOK PRETTY WEIGHTED TO ME. ZIKA. THIS IS THE POLITICAL PAGE. A LOT OF INFORMATION. WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK HAVE YOU GOTTEN SINCE LAUNCHING THIS?

DIANA PRIETO BERNAL: VERY POSITIVE. IT WAS SOMETHING THE COMMUNITY WAS SEARCHING FOR ONLINE. WE ARE VERY EASY TO FIND. THAT IS THE GOOD THING ABOUT US. LET'S SAY SOMEONE IN LOS ANGELES IS LOOKING AT HOW TO REACH LATINOS IN ARIZONA ALL YOU HAVE DO IS GOOGLE HOW DO I REACH LATINOS IN ARIZONA AND WE COME UP. LOCALS, TYPE IN THINGS DO IS DO THIS WEEKEND. YOU GET ON THE COMPUTER AND GOOGLE THINGS TO DO IN ARIZONA FOR LATINOS. YOU JUST MOVED FROM SPAIN OR JUST GOT HERE FROM MEXICO OR MOVED HERE FROM VENEZUELA, COLOMBIA, ARGENTINA, OR BRAZIL.

JOSE: YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE COMING FROM SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES BUT THE WEBSITE IS IN ENGLISH. WHY WOULD IT APPEAL TO THEM?

DIANA PRIETO BERNAL: IT APPEALS TO PEOPLE THAT ARE LOCALLY AND DO SPEAK ENGLISH. IT APPEALS TO ANYONE THEY DON'T HAVE TO COME FROM THOSE COUNTRIES THEY CAN MOVE FROM OTHER STATES. I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT MOVE FROM FLORIDA AND LOS ANGELES. MOST OF OUR AUDIENCE WE TARGET COME FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES THEY ARE FULLY BILINGUAL.

JOSE: AND YOUR BACKGROUND IS IN SPANISH LANGUAGE MEDIA SO YOU COULD IF YOU WANT TO.

DIANA PRIETO BERNAL: WE COULD AND WE DID. I THOUGHT IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO ENGAGE TO THE COMMUNITY IN THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE BUT NOT THAT THEY IT DIDNT WORK OUT. I FEEL WE HAD MORE RESPONSE IN ENGLISH AND MORE SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITIES ARE DONE IN ENGLISH SO A LOT OF THE ARTICLES WERE JUST IN THERE TO

JOSE: AND SPEAKING OF THOSE ARTICLES, CINDY, WE LOOKED AT THE LIST. YOU ARE DOING A LOT OF WORK. TELL US ABOUT THE EDITORIAL CONTENT AND THE JOB YOU DO THERE.

CINDY CASTILLO: MY JOB IS TO WORK WITH OUR TEAM OF WRITERS AND WORK AROUND WHAT IS GOING TO BE PUT UP ON THE SITE, WHAT IS GOING TO WORK FOR OUR READERS, JUST BASICALLY KEEP OUR WRITERS IN THE KNOW OF EVERYTHING GOING ON IN AND AROUND ARIZONA AND EVERYTHING IN THE STATE AND JUST FEATURE ALL OF THE GOOD THINGS LATINOS ARE DOING HERE IN OUR STATE MORE THAN ANYTHING.

JOSE: TELL US HOW YOU GOT INVOLVED. YOU WERE A JOURNALISM MAJOR AT ASU.

CINDY CASTILLO: I GRADUATED FROM THE CRONKITE A YEAR AND A HALF AGO. AND DURING MY FIRST YEAR HERE AT CRONKITE I STUMBLED ACROSS ARIZONALATINOS.COM OUT OF PURE COINCIDENCE. I HAD MY FIRST INTERNSHIP AND MEDIA RELATED JOB. AND NOW BEING EDITOR AND CHIEF IS A HUGE BLESSING AND I AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE WORK DIANA ENTRUSTED IN ME.

JOSE: WHAT HAS CHANGED OVER THE TIME PERIODS?

CINDY CASTILLO: IT HAS CHANGED SO MUCH. I HAVE LEARNED A LOT BEING THERE. OUR STORIES ARE WAY MORE IN DEPTH. WE HAVE A LOT MORE CONTENT, MORE PEOPLE RESPONDING, AND MORE PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS REACHING OUT TO US AND WANTING TO BE FEATURED ON THE WEBSITE AND BEING INTERESTED IN HAVING THEIR STORY OR THEIR EVENT OR SOMETHING ELSE IN THEIR LIFESTYLE SHARED ON OUR WEBSITE.

JOSE: AND DIANA, YOU MENTIONED LIFESTYLE IS A PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS. WHAT DO YOU HEAR IN TERMS OF FEEDBACK? IS THAT WHAT ATTRACTS THE MOST ATTENTION FROM THE READERS? AS OPPOSED TO MEATY THINGS?

DIANA PRIETO BERNAL: IT IS REALLY HARD AND DIFFICULT. THERE IS SO MUCH INFORMATION AND WE WANT TO SHARE SO MUCH. ARIZONA IS A VERY POLITICAL STATE, OF COURSE.

JOSE: THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE SHOW, KIND OF.

DIANA PRIETO BERNAL: YEAH? WE HAVE A LOT OF THINGS GOING ON THAT ARE POSITIVE. NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT LATINOS IN ARIZONA, IMMIGRATION, AND POLITICS. WE HAVE THAT BUT WE HAVE A LOT OF POSITIVE THINGS. WE HAVE AMAZING RESTAURANTS. WE HAVE VERY CULTURAL. WE HAVE THE SALVADORIAN EVENT COMING UP. WE HAVE CONCERTS COMING UP. PHOENIX IS A REALLY BIG CITY AND IT IS BECOMES COSMOPOLITAN. IT IS DEVELOPING INTO THAT SO I WOULD NOT TAKE TO TO COSMOPOLITAN YET. THERE IS A GROUP AND A CERTAIN DEMOGRAPHIC THAT DEMAND AND NEED THAT CULTURAL INFORMATION. WE FEEL, OR I FEEL, WE DO A GOOD JOB EXPOSING THAT TO THE READERS. YOU CAN FIND ANYTHING FROM THE NEWEST PERUVIAN RESTAURANT OPENING UP. THE COLOMBIAN RESTAURANT THAT OPENED UP IN MESA. WE COVER THE ENTIRE VALLEY BECAUSE LATINOS ARE EVERYWHERE. WE HAVE SO MANY CONCERTS, SO MANY EVENTS. TOP FIVE PLACES TO GO TO DANCE SALSA AND MERENGUE AND REGGAETON. THERE IS SO MANY FESTIVALS COMING UP. TAMALE FESTIVAL. YOU CANNOT IMAGINE HOW MANY EVENTS WE HAVE TO OFFER.

JOSE: SPEAKING OF THE DIVERSITY AND WE ARE ALMOST OUT OF TIME SO LAST QUESTION. DO YOU HAVE A SENSE YOU ARE GETTING NON LATINO VISITORS AND MAYBE BREAKING DOWN THEIR STEREOTYPES OF THE LATINO COMMUNITY AND WHAT IT HAS TO OFFER?

CINDY CASTILLO: DEFINITELY. I HAVE GOTTEN A LOT OF COMMENTS WHEN IT COMES TO BUSINESSES AND LEADERS THAT WANT TO REACH OUT TO THE LATINO COMMUNITY. WHEN THEY SEE OUR CONTENT AND THE BUSINESSES OPENING UP AND THE NEW INITIATIVE WE ARE WORKING ON. THEY ARE IMPRESSED ON THE MARK LATINOS ARE HAVING. IN ECONOMICS, THE BUYING POWER WHEN IT COMES TO POLITICS AND THE CHANGES WE ARE MAKING HAPPEN IN ARIZONA.

JOSE: IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU GUYS HAVE DONE A GREAT JOB AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING HOW IT DEVELOPS OVER TIME. THAT IS OUR SHOW FOR TONIGHT.