Estelle Walgreen,
Founder, Hispanically Speaking News

Ten years ago, Estelle Walgreen had an idea to create an outlet that provided original content for the growing Hispanic demographic in Chicago. Ten weeks ago, Hispancially Speaking News was born.

Walgreen says creating a hyper-local site for Chicago Hispanics means localizing national and international issues for greater community engagement. “The original idea was to write [about issues] but the idea mushroomed to a 102-page online newspaper,” said Walgreen.

Walgreen says she found a dearth of content available from larger media outlets that spoke to the needs of 1.5 million Chicagoland Hispanics. By creating original content, which ranges from localized immigration issues to original book reviews on Spanish authors to sports coverage of Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling), she’s filling a niche.

Hispanically Speaking News receives 20,000 page views daily, according to Walgreen. For nonprofits seeking to tap Walgreen’s audience, she says ask yourself this: How many Latinos in Illinois or Chicago are you reaching out to in your organization? “If you’re serving the market that’s reading [our] material, we will welcome pitches,” says Walgreen.

Pitches about general subjects such as education and health are always welcomed. Hispanically Speaking takes pitches via their website email form and Walgreen says they are open to hosting more writers who write to Hispanic audiences. Once your pitch is submitted (in English or Spanish), editors screen and decide if they want to use it.

Op-ed pieces should be limited to 500 words and cover issues from immigration to current events, which affect the Hispanic demographic. The site also welcomes photos and video of events connected to the issue you’re reporting on.

To contact Hispanically Speaking News:

Hispanically Speaking News
6344 S. Austin
Chicago, IL 60638

Tip hotline: (224) 280-2080
Phone: (224) 544-5115
Twitter: @HSNChicago
Submit pitches via website at www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com