Features of US Hispanic media functioning at the regional level

A growing number of Hispanic US population has already changed the media landscape of the country: the vast majority of Spanish-language media appeared in a relatively short period of time in cities and towns within the country and every year the circulation of these media grows, sometimes it surpasses the circulation of English-speaking counterparts. This article focuses on the features of US Hispanic media functioning at the regional level (based on the material of US weekly «Al Dia»). The thing is Al Día is the largest weekly Spanish-language newspaper in Texas, with an average weekly distribution of 220,000 copies. It is published every Wednesday and Saturday and distributed through home delivery and retail rack locations. Al Día was voted one of the top three outstanding Spanish-language weekly newspapers within U.S. by NAHP (National Association of Hispanic Publishers) and also a newspaper of the year by Texas APME (Texas Associated Press Managing Editors). It provides news with emphasis on practical and useful information for Spanish-speaking readers. Al Día is a general news publication offering General News, Entertainment and Lifestyles information. It should be mentioned that all Al Día content is updated daily on its news website - http://www.aldiadallas.com. This article consists of five parts: the first part presents the history of the weekly «Al Dia», the second part is devoted to the content’s analysis of the weekly, the third one presents the awards received by «Al Dia», the forth part is an analysis of an innovative weekly policy and its influence on the readership growth and circulation, and final part discusses the results and conclusions. After having considered all aspects of functioning «Al Dia», we can conclude that a major factor of its sustainable development is the weekly’s policy taking into account all specifics of its readership. In addition, it is the only US Spanish-language weekly with a delivery service to the house that certainly distinguishes it from other media of this kind.