Newspapers turn to Hispanics.

The article deals with the move of U.S. newspaper publishers to turn to Hispanic American consumers in line with the declining newspaper readership among the general market. In presentations to financial analysts in December 2003, Tribune Co., Knight Ridder Co., Pulitzer and E.W. Scripps Co. all noted they have Spanish-language publications out or in development. In one of the most ambitious efforts, Tribune Co. is trying to build a national Spanish-language brand by launching dailies under the name "Hoy" (Spanish for "today") in major Hispanic cities. Los Angeles, California is expected to be next, with the West Coast's "Hoy" starting as early as this month. And Dow Jones & Co. is likely to decide this year whether to go ahead with a U.S. Spanish-language edition of "The Wall Street Journal," probably modeled after the company's "Wall Street Journal Americas," a Spanish-language insert that reaches 1.7 million readers as an insert in 18 newspapers in 16 Latin countries. Separately, Pulitzer launched its second bilingual weekly last month in northern Santa Barbara County, an area that is 60% Hispanic, said Mark Contreras, senior vice president of Pulitzer Newspapers. The paper,"El Tiempo, Semanario Latino de la Costa Central," is bilingual because research shows locals are as likely to read Spanish as English, he said. Because most of the county's Hispanic population hails from the Mexican state of Oxaca, the free weekly is a joint venture with Oxaca paper "El Imparcial."