The Spanish-language newspaper that you may have spotted in news racks the past couple of weeks isn’t exactly new. But thanks to the publisher of the Asheville Daily Planet, the paper catering to Asheville’s vibrant Latino population—El Eco de Las Montanas (“The echo of the mountains”)—does have a new life.
El Eco, which began as a supplement in the pages of the Asheville Global Report before becoming its own stand-alone publication, ceased publication four years ago. Now John North, “presidente” of El Eco and local Star Fleet Publications, publisher of the Daily Planet, has resurrected the publication, with Argentina native Monica V. Murillo on the masthead as associate editor and publisher of the free weekly newspaper. Murillo is also a researcher at Asheville’s Puckett Institute and serves as chairwoman of International Link, a local organization that serves as a liaison for foreign nationals, according to North.
“Some members of the Hispanic community here have expressed the feeling that they are underserved by the local news media, and I think we can meet that need,” North said in announcing the acquisition.
The paper can be found throughout the city, using racks North purchased from the Global Report, which has ceased its print publication but lives on via the Internet and its TV-news program.
El Eco and the Daily Planet will maintain separate editorial operations, though some areas such as advertising sales will be combined.
North says El Eco will be a general-interest newspaper concentrating on Mexican and other Latin American issues, as well as local and national issues of interest to Latinos, and that it will include other newspaper staples such as puzzles and entertainment and sports coverage.
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