For the first time in a new magazine in an era in which the printed media collapses, Especially among the LatiniansIt appears to be somewhat similar to stretching on a chair in the garden on the Titanic deck while falling.
So, imagine my surprise when I discovered a new one last month while eating breakfast at a Mexican restaurant in Bakuima.
But let’s start at the beginning.
For decades, El Aviso and El Clasificado photographed Spanish newspaper wars in southern California together-but on each other.
The previous monthly was free, shiny, focused on unwanted entertainment stories; The last bare was the Latin version of Pennysaver. The publications were competitors on the way George Clooney and Brad Pitt are happy, each of them was happy to stay in their paths and appear alongside each other, al -Sa`d everywhere. The Latinians of the working class grabbed them side by side of the shelves in the groceries, shops and shopping centers.
The two started in the eighties, where they mastered the Spanish -language media outlets in the United States During the ninetiesHe survived the transformation of digital media in the 2000s and is still strong last year. But El Aviso has not been published since November; In January, her mother company announced chapter 7 bankruptcy.
When El Aviso came out, she felt the owners and wife of El Clasificado, Martha de la Tori and Joe Badam, an opportunity.
Enter VíVela, which is a free monthly, shiny in Spanish, translating literally called “Live La” in Spanish but also provides an alternative meaning: “Live It”. It is the magazine that I first made in the Mexican restaurant. She smiled a wide smile on the audacity of de no Tori and my eyes.
I met the couple at the EL Clasificado headquarters consisting of Norwalk. They sit in modest offices on both sides of the opposite of a large open news room; On the second floor there is a small hall where the company used to hold forums and concerts for society, but it is now mostly empty. The atmosphere of the office is from the 1990s, where the silhouette of random celebrities such as John Lennon and Juan Gabriel was drawn on the walls, along with assurances such as “deep diving commitment and implementation” with the aforementioned Scuba diver.
“We will stay with printing as long as there is the demand there,” Chipper de la Torre told me while we were walking around the office. At its climax, the El Clasificado 500,000 trading was, making it the largest free weekly in the Spanish language in the United States; He now stands at 265,000. Its mother company, which publishes other titles and helps small business owners to create web sites and social media campaigns, in revenues of $ 17 million last year, 25 % less than the best in 2016.
“In the nineties of the last century, there was a lot of traffic everywhere I picked up Clasvico,” said Badame, who became quieter than his wife but positive in clarity. Behind it was Vvella Manageing Editor Pablo Scripellini. “We no longer have it.”
“But we still have some,” added de la Tori.
EL Clasificado office in Norwalk. The parent company for the Spanish language has long launched a new lifestyle magazine, Velvia, this year.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
We settled in a conference hall so that the three could talk about their vision of a film and answer the most obvious question:
Why?
“This was not in our plans,” de la Tori, 68, admitted. “I always wanted to do something else, but we said that it is too late in our lives. But then [El Aviso] The bankruptcy went – “
“Why not?” Badam, 66, enters. Then smile. “I love keeping a busy.”
“It is not romantic or crazy,” he replied de la Tori. “From logical.”
She said that El Aviso advertisers asked them to do a similar post as soon as Word came out that he was continuing, so De La Torre and her husband – the Training accountants who started El Clasificado in 1988 – to the numbers. Badam said that changing the coordination of El Clasvicdo is not possible because “their readers do not want to see him change.” They assigned Scarbelini, who had been with them 15 years ago and are still writing for newspapers in his hometown of Spain, to create something quick.
“We are not a sophisticated publication, but whatever we do, we wanted to do so regarding our readers,” said Skarbelini, but the passionate, 50.
“There were weekly secrets in the Gulf of South that my relatives will not only pick up for sport.” We want to do things like that. I do not want to compete with daily news. Let’s do deeper stories. “
“We do not do this to become the owners of the huge millions,” Badram said. “I want to say loudly: We are the only type of this remaining magazine in the city looks great, but sad.”
Jose Lewis Benefids, a professor of journalism in Cal Northridge, a specialist in the Spanish language, said the launch of Vívella “a sign of hope” for the Latin nature press in the south.
“These men know where they need to be,” he said. “There is an incredible need. It is not a bad idea, and it has the possibility of success.”
BENAVIDES added that if any media organization was able to obtain a new Spanish magazine in Los Angeles, then EL Clasificado was in light of its brand.
He said: “This is not the time you think,” Let’s start some of the old news port there. “It seems impossible but it is clear that they have found a place.
The first number of VVela is like cloning El Aviso at first glance. There is a focus on entertainment stories and healthy tips, with your sign and crossword puzzles that have been delivered. But unlike its late competitor, it also includes a good mix of coverage around La and does not deny the news as a press. Scarbelini collected a list of local events, places to celebrate Valentine’s Day and Features, commissioned by the new California laws and dishwasher that turned into a Mexican restaurant. He also contributed to an interview with the opening cover girl in Vivila, Selena Gomez.
It is only 44 pages. But in an era in which most of the publications are already printed the year in which you will arrive online only, the birth of Vívella is not less than a miracle.
Inside El Clasificado office in Norwalk.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
“I don’t just want Varando [showbiz] De La Tori said. “Not only general articles. Let’s tell stories deeper about Los Angeles, who tells the stories of athletes in secondary schools, Latini from Garfield Hi [East Los Angeles]? no one.”
VíVela started a small start, with the distribution of 40,000 distributors across the San Fernando Valley and Southeast La. But it is indeed a financial success for its founders – they sold enough ads to make the magazine profitable for 2025.
“I think it has legs for the next two years,” said Badam. “Then, we will see.”
Scarpellini wants community activities to present Vívella to readers. Indeed, the employees met and celebrations at the Paramount Mubadam meeting.
“We do not know the time we will continue, but as long as we are present, we will do so with integrity,” Scarbelini added.
De La Tori looked at each of them, then I.
“If it is not logical, it will break my heart,” she answered with a touch of sadness. Then the sensitivity came.
“And we will cut it.”
