For years I have told public relations students in my media relations and other classes that they need to pay attention to what has been called minority media. There are two reasons for this: 1) such media can serve as important outlets and a way to reach these specific populations with appropriate news, and 2) they are great sources for research and environmental scanning of populations we can’t assume are all the same. With the prevalence of corporate attention to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), this second reason may be paramount now.
These are the publications and broadcast outlets that focus on news about and for Black, Hispanic and other populations. Typically these media are at the local level and serve specific populations by geography as well as race or ethnicity. But in the past month I have noticed more national scale minority media outlets that should be on the radar of public relations professionals for the same two reasons I mention to my students.
Here are three such outlets:
- Tribal Business News–At first I thought this would be another West Michigan media outlet focused on Native American news. We have a number of tribal groups in West Michigan, and the October 1 launch of this publication was made by MiBiz, a regional business publication. But on reading the launch announcement I realized this would be national in scope. This makes sense because as the launch announcements notes, the tribal economy is a $130 billion economy and worth attention. The online publication will offer a print version soon as well.
- Latinex Files–In a similar fashion, the Los Angeles Times has launched this niche newsletter focused on a sizable segment of the US population. Nearly a fifth of the US is Latino, the Times notes in its launch of this new content vehicle last month.
- Axios from Tel Aviv–Axios is an alternative online news source that emerged several years ago, offering a variety of email newsletters, a web site, and an app. It’s value is short briefs of news by category with “what is means” application summaries for busy news consumers. It recently launched this newsletter all about Israel, an important nation for economic as well as geo-political reasons. Axios also offers a newsletter all about China.
There may be other examples of national niche media outlets out there. Share in the comments if you want. It is an interesting and what seems to be a necessary trend in media that help PR professionals and others stay informed about and find opportunity with large, significant and sometimes overlooked segments of society.
