by Marvin Ramírez
Last April 1, El Reportero marked 36 years of continuous publication. Thirty-six years of constant effort, commitment to the community, and a quiet struggle to maintain an independent newspaper in the Bay Area.
This project began in college, without resources or business structure. There was only the idea of practicing journalism and the desire to inform. In those early days, I didn’t even know how to direct other reporters. Students would come with interest in participating, but I didn’t know what instructions to give them. It was a professor, Raúl Ramírez, who taught me something fundamental: I had to clearly tell them what to do.
Since then, everything has been a learning process. Mistakes were part of the journey, but time and experience taught me how to sustain the newspaper. It was not only about writing, but also about managing, selling advertising, and protecting editorial integrity.
That has been the greatest challenge: maintaining independence.
In traditional journalism, there is a clear line between the newsroom and advertising. However, when one person assumes both roles, that line becomes a daily battle. Many times, economic pressures, offers, or attempts to influence content arise. Remaining firm in the face of those situations has been a constant decision over these 36 years.
It has not been an easy path. There have been moments without sufficient resources, moments of uncertainty, and personal difficulties. But a way to continue was always found. Like someone riding a bicycle avoiding obstacles along the road, that has been this journey.
Unlike many large newspapers whose owners have capital and investors, El Reportero has been sustained by a journalist. For years, I have taken on multiple roles: editor, administrator, salesperson, and strategist. Despite that, every week a new edition has been published.
That effort is what defines this newspaper.
There have also been attempts to expand. At one point, El Reportero TV was developed, with equipment and infrastructure available. However, the lack of resources to operate that project limited its continuity. In the past, it was more common to have students and interns supporting the work. Today, that reality has changed.
Even so, the projects continue.
With time, an inevitable question arises: who will continue this work in the future? It is a real concern, but also a motivation to keep strengthening what has been built.
El Reportero has become an institution.
Its value goes beyond information. It represents a community, its language, and its culture. A community without a newspaper is a community without a voice. On the other hand, when there is a publication that represents it, there is identity and respect.
Today, digital tools, social media, and artificial intelligence offer new opportunities to grow and compete in an increasingly demanding environment.
I want to thank all the people who have followed this newspaper over the years. Much of that support is silent, but meaningful. I also thank the companies and organizations that have contributed to sustaining this effort.
Thirty-six years later, El Reportero continues forward with the same purpose: to inform independently, serve the community, and keep a necessary voice alive.
And in closing, I remember that this calling did not begin with me. My grandfather published his magazine in 1926, called El Field, where he proposed fencing baseball fields and charging admission; that idea contributed to the development of the first professional baseball league in Nicaragua, according to records from La Prensa, where the Boer team faced the U.S. Marines who at that time were occupying Nicaragua.
My father, José Santos Ramírez, for his part, began in journalism as a child with a toy printing press. Before traveling to the United States, he was already working at La Noticia, a daily newspaper in Nicaragua. At the same time, he had also started his own biweekly newspaper, El Nuevo Demócrata.
In 1945, he emigrated to the United States. Here, he held other jobs to support himself, but continued his vocation, printing and selling his newspaper on Market Street in San Francisco for 10 cents. After several years, he returned to Nicaragua and resumed his work at La Noticia, where over time he completed 45 years at La Noticia, which was considered a third path where many people went in search of the truth.
My father passed away on June 12, 2004, in the city of San Leandro, California, a victim of kidney cancer.
From that, I inherited the spirit: to say what must be said and sustain it through work. That is the legacy that continues today in El Reportero.
