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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, May 15, 2005

The new ethnic magazines

By Laura Wides
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Publisher Jaime Gamboa proudly flips the pages of his new magazine, pausing on articles that detail a new wave of Mexican-American surfers, chronicle Hispanic soldiers back from Iraq and tell readers where to get the best sushi.

Tu Ciudad publisher Jaime Gamboa, left, associate publisher Gabriel Grimalt and editor Oscar Garza put out a magazine for English-speaking Hispanics who are as comfortable in Anglo culture as in their own.

Ric Francis • Associated Press

When it debuts next week, the sleek English-language publication Tu Ciudad (Your City) will dish up Los Angeles culture, entertainment and politics with a Latino twist.

It's a new take on Gamboa's city, and the latest in a wave of magazines geared to Latino and Asian readers who are as comfortable with sashimi as they are with salsa and who want magazines that reflect their experience both as Americans and ethnic minorities.

For example, KoreAm Journal, a news and culture magazine aimed at Korean-Americans, began as a black-and-white tabloid 15 years ago in Los Angeles. It's now a heavy glossy with articles about Korean-American hip-hop artists and politicians.

"You had nothing designated for the second generation, the English-speaking generation," said Jimmy Lee, the magazine's managing editor. "You have the same thing with a lot of immigrants. There was this divide between the first generation and the second-generation kids."

The past year alone has witnessed an uptick in ethnic titles, which account for 27 of the nation's 1,006 new publications. While the number remains small, it marks the first time that the ethnic grouping was one of the top 10 categories of new launches, according to Samir Husni, a professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi who tracks the magazine industry.

These new magazines are finding readers through subscriptions and at newsstands in many cities and towns throughout the United States:

• Massachusetts-based Shaadi Style, one of several wedding and fashion magazines for South Asian women, is available in Little Rock, Ark.

• Giant Robot, a Los Angeles magazine that focuses on Asian-American pop culture, can be found in Fairborn, Ohio.

• Latina, launched in 1996 in New York City, targets a female audience and is sold nationwide.

Each publication sells for around $4, less than the price of most new magazines but about average for other popular publications.

"Some are focused on current events, some are music, some are culture," said Jaime Carey, vice president of newsstands for bookseller Barnes & Noble. "It's definitely growing."

And this growth is reflected in advertising. Ad revenue for Hispanic glossies was $295 million last year, according to the Latino Print Network, up 20 percent over the previous year. Hispanic buying power was estimated at $686 billion last year, with Asian-American buying power at $363 billion, according the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth.

The ethnic publishing boom is fueled by desktop publishing technology that cuts production costs — the number of magazine launched in 2004 was nearly double that of the early 1990s — as well as a growing awareness of an untapped market, according to Husni.

Existing markets also are growing. Urban Jews, for example, have the anti-establishment Heeb, while black magazines also are increasing.

The new publications aren't likely to hurt long-running ethnic magazines like Ebony, Husni said, as long as the older publications can adapt.

"The newbies will force the grandaddies to renew and refresh. It's a positive thing," Gamboa said.

• • •

Just a sampling

Some of the latest English-language or bilingual ethnic magazines. Each title is followed by a brief description of the content and where the magazine is based.

• Audrey: a lifestyle magazine for Asian-American women; Garden, Calif.

• Giant Robot: pop culture magazine with Asian-American twist; Los Angeles-based, with two stores of same name.

• Heeb: culture and politics for urban, anti-establishment Jews; New York City.

• KoreAm Journal: political lifestyle magazine for Korean-Americans; Los Angeles.

• Latina: fashion and lifestyle magazine; New York City.

• Loft: lifestyle magazine for Hispanic men, versions for Latin America and United States; Miami.

• Poder: Hispanic business magazine, also in Spanish; Miami.

• Nha: lifestyle magazine for Vietnamese-Americans; San Jose, Calif.

• Nirvana: lifestyle magazine for Indian-American women; San Francisco.

• Savoy: lifestyle magazine for black men and women; Chicago.

• Shaadi Style: wedding and fashion magazine for South Asian women; Winchester, Mass.

• Tu Ciudad: Los Angeles-focused magazine for Hispanics; Los Angeles.

— Associated Press