Walter Cronkite once said, “Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy.” Before his death in July 2009, 15 years ago this summer, the revered broadcaster also took the country to task, noting, “We are not educated well enough to perform the necessary act of intelligently selecting our leaders.”
Perhaps both musings are something to ruminate on in here in 2024 as media and politics continue to shape-shift. For Inland Empire Community News (IECN), adapting to the changing media landscapes is one part of a rich and vivid history anchored by a deep commitment to reporting news.
Several publications lie under the IECN umbrella— El Chicano, Colton Courier, and Rialto Record, serving the cities of San Bernardino, Colton, Rialto, Loma Linda, Redlands, and Highland.
The publications initially got started in the late 1960s, thanks to the determination of Gloria Macias Harrison, who co-founded IECN and El Chicano Weekly. The latter is now considered one of the longest-running minority-owned independent newspapers in the nation.
Harrison stepped down over the past year, but still maintains a vital role as an advisor. The publication is currently owned by Manny Sandoval and Denise Verber, who have been with the organization for 27 years.
Recently, IECN received a CIELO Fund grant through Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF). Sandoval says the grant will help the organization elevate its digital footprint. In addition to its digital newsletter, the IECN also creates PDF versions of the paper. But there’s an even broader goal.
“The fund will help us elevate our capability to cater towards the younger audience,” says Sandoval, IECN’s co-owner and publisher. “Historically, our print readers are older, over the age of 55 or so. But on social media, the bulk of our followers are between the ages of 24 and 54 years old. It’s a different demographic. That’s who we’re really targeting.”
Beyond the digital expansion, Sandoval has his sights set on multifunctional content. The publication recently shot and produced its first podcast, which includes both audio and video. Audiences can experience that on YouTube and IECN’s social media channels.
Sandoval got his start in PR in radio. He’d also been a freelance writer for IECN since the age of 19. He started becoming more involved in the inner workings of IECN several years ago, eventually coming on board as IECN’s editor, a move that eventually found him also becoming co-owner.
The new podcast is significant on several levels.
“I graduated from San Bernardino Valley College, which has a state-of-the-art podcast in the studio called the Institute of Media Arts,” Sandoval says. “What’s really cool about what we’re doing now is that it’s really a full circle moment. The film department there shares a wall with KVCR Public Media, and this is a nice collaboration between us and the college’s film department.”
Looking ahead, Sandoval is quick to point out the ever-changing state of media and publishing but stresses the importance of collaboration between media companies.
“There’s power in collaboration,” he says. “I know a lot of times there’s certain media, and organizations that kind of refrain from spotlighting other media entities. But my message is we have to continue to kind of spotlight each other and collaborate when we move so much further quicker.
“When we do so, we amplify each other’s voices,” he adds.
Ultimately, it’s about unity.
“We’re really not ‘competition,’” Sandoval says. “As long as everybody is able to stay afloat, that’s important for the region, because without us, a lot of the news in our communities would go unheard of.”
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This story originally appeared in The Sun, June 2024.
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