Editor of Calif.’s oldest bilingual Spanish newspaper denies crisis

The founder of El Tecolote, California’s longest-running bilingual Spanish newspaper, says his paper is not at risk of closing amid alleged organizational troubles. 

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Seven staffers, including temporary employees, have left El Tecolote since March, representing the “majority of its staff,” according to Mission Local. The latest journalist to leave was Erika Carlos, the former editor-in-chief, who resigned in mid-August, saying in a LinkedIn post that the loss of so many staffers was too big of a hit to stay at the paper. 

Imelda Carrasco, the executive director of Accíon Latina, a nonprofit that works closely with El Tecolote, said in an email that it’s not accurate to say the staffing situation is a crisis because three of those employees were fellows on contracts that ended. “Regarding El Tecolote, we remain focused on the future and will continue our work, serving the community with as little interruption as possible,” Carrasco said.

Juan Gonzalez, the founder and now interim editor of the newspaper, told SFGATE in a phone call that the newspaper is doing fine despite this apparent employee crisis. 

“We’re OK, we’re not closing at all,” he said, adding that there is “not even a thought of closing the paper whatsoever.” He said that they are in the process of hiring a new editor. He said he could not speak about the details of the staff’s departures.

Carlos, who announced her resignation on LinkedIn, was the most recent departure. She raised alarm to the mass exodus, saying it is not just a “transition” but affects the newsroom’s “capacity, institutional knowledge and, ultimately, its ability to serve the community.” 

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Gonzalez founded the paper 56 years ago while teaching a San Francisco State University course that sought to encourage more Latino representation in journalism. Students in the course founded El Tecolote, which translates to “the owl.” It launched in August 1970. The newsroom has been in San Francisco’s Mission District ever since.

Carlos said she did not want to speak on behalf of her colleagues who left, but in a separate statement sent to SFGATE, she said that her decision to leave was after a series of issues came to a head this summer. She specifically mentioned that two positions that had approved funding for the remainder of the year were stalled and that the inability to replace them quickly enough was “preventable.” 

She added that “stable contracts, timely hiring and better working conditions could have made a meaningful difference.”

The media landscape across San Francisco and California continues to struggle. The Frisc, a nonprofit news site, announced on Wednesday it will be closing after nine years. And then Thursday, McClatchy Media laid off at least 90 employees across more than a dozen papers, including positions at the Sacramento Bee and Modesto Bee.