Nearly 12,000 people read his  newspaper every week, but few  outside the community he  serves even know it exists.

And yet in the Latino community in  Central Iowa, Jose Ramos’ weekly El  Latino is a vital source of information, as well as a tie to a heritage his readers  don’t want to lose touch with.

Ramos is not alone.

There are many publications in  Iowa focusing on the Latino community,  from the Quad Cities to Omaha, and each of them works to not only report on the people in its community, but also to be active in lifting that community up.

“These papers are very well known  and respected in the Latino community,”  said Rossany Brugger, program planner  with the Iowa Division of Latino Affairs. “They play an important role. “They’re excellent leaders.”

That’s why in September Brugger,  along with several publishers of Latino  newspapers around the state, helped  form the Iowa Latino Media Association,  an organization that hopes to build  cooperation among different media  focusing on the Latino community.

“By joining together, they can have a  stronger presence in the state,” she said.  “It will work to make each paper better.”  The organization’s membership currently  includes five newspapers and a  radio station, La Ley 105.5 FM in Des  Moines. But expansion is on the horizon  as the growing market for these papers  drives their profile up.

A growing community

An estimated 104,119 Latinos live  in Iowa, according to the State Data  Center of Iowa and the Iowa Division  of Latino Affairs. From 2000 to 2004,  the population increased 26.2 percent.  By 2030, it has been projected that  Latinos will make up 8.1 percent of the  state’s population, totaling around  269,830 people.

“I’ve definitely seen a growth,” Ramos said.

He began publishing his paper six  years ago from his one-bedroom apartment.  When he first started, he was  printing the 2,000 copies himself on an  inkjet printer.

“I was working full-time at Windsor  Windows and trying to put the paper together,” he said. “It would  take all week to print out all the  copies. And to save money, I would  have to refill the ink cartridges  myself. It was not a lot of fun, and  there were a lot of times in those days  where I thought about giving it up.”

Now, Ramos designs the weekly paper with the assistance of his wife. They have a staff of three freelance reporters and five people who assist with distribution and sales. The paper has grown to more than 10,000 readers and has become a full-time job for both him and his wife, Nora.

“I just decided that if I was going to  do this, I wanted to do it right,” he said. “So I quit my job and dedicated my time to putting out the best newspaper I  could. And I think it has paid off. I’m  not filthy rich or anything like that, but  the paper supports my family and I enjoy what I do, so it’s really great.”

El Latino is published as a Spanish only  newspaper. Ramos said he may add an english-language version of the newspaper some day, but money and time just isn’t available to do it now.

“In Central Iowa, you still have a lot  of first-generation, Spanish-speaking  Latinos,” Ramos said.”In places like Davenport, where the papers publish in  English and Spanish, you can see second- and third-generation Latinos. So, it makes more sense to publish in multiple languages in those areas.”

Two years ago, Ramos began publishing  a second section of the paper,  focusing on sports.

“Soccer is a big part of our community,”  he said. “Papers like mine are the  only ones around here where people  can read about the sport.”

A targeted market

For advertisers hoping to penetrate the growing Latino market, Brugger said  these papers are invaluable.

“You know exactly who you are  reaching when you advertise with these  papers,” she said.

With the formation of the ILMA, the  papers involved can negotiate with advertisers to offer them statewide  access to the Latino community.

“Hispanics feel more comfortable with someone who speaks their language,” Ramos said.”And there just isn’t any place for them to turn to in Iowa right now except to us.”

Ramos said bigger papers, like The Des Moines Register and the Iowa Press Citizen, have tried in the past to offer Spanish content, but it never lasted long and didn’t offer much indepth coverage.

“I came to Iowa in 1996, and there was only one paper and a few hours of radio on Saturday,” he said. “I had just moved from Los Angeles, and I felt empty, like I was missing something.”

The papers offer a marketing tool to small businesses as well as larger ones.

“Small businesses in the Latino community can’t afford to advertise in the Register,” he said.”It’s just too much for  them. So we can offer them a way to let  people know about their business.”

A community’s voice

When Jonathan Narcisse purchased the Iowa Bystander in the early 90s, he wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted to do with The Communicator, a paper he had published for several years that had primarily focused on the African American community.

“The Bystander had over a hundred years of history as a voice of the African American community,” he said. “So we had to figure out what The Communicator’s new focus would be.”

That’s when Narcisse focused his paper’s mission on the Latino community, changing its name to El Communicador.

Though only recently available in  Des Moines, El Communicador has been offered in smaller communities  around the state for more than a  decade, with a circulation of around  12,000, Narcisse said.

“We want to work to celebrate the accomplishments and achievements of the Latino community,” he said. “And I think the best has yet to come. We haven’t even touched on the potential of this paper.”

In the coming months, Narcisse said his company will be launching another Spanish-language paper in the Des Moines market, focusing more on the immigrant population as opposed to El Communicador, which he said works to celebrate the diversity in the community.

Tools for the people

Brugger said these publications are an invaluable part of the community they serve.

“There are charity organizations that  can count on getting free space in these  publications to spread their message,”  she said.”The bilingual papers can help  people learn to read English.There are  wonderful things they provide.”

Doing good things with his publication  makes all the early struggles worth  it, Ramos said.

“I feel like I’m doing a good thing,”  he said.”When I started El Latino, I felt  like no one was speaking for my community.   It’s a great honor to be one of the people who get to do that now.