Iowa Newspaperman, Costa Rican Immigrant Give Hispanics La Voz

HUMBOLDT – Humboldt newspaper publisher Jim Gargano sees parallels between Iowa’s burgeoning Hispanic community and his own Italian family.

Coming of age in the 1950s and 1960s in Fort Dodge, Gargano listened to his grandmother, Rosalia Maggio, speak Italian in his hard-working home.

“I learned both languages when I was growing up,” Gargano said. “Fort Dodge had a lot of Italians back then.”

He recalls hearing anti-immigrant smears about Italians from time to time.

Today, as a community leader in north-central Iowa, an area that is increasingly Latino-rich, Gargano on occasion will hear echoes of that bigotry in comments from some white native Iowans about Hispanics.

His answer is simple:”You can like or dislike the Hispanics, but they are going to be here.”

With shared immigrant experience as motivation, Gargano Communications launched the Spanish-language newspaper La Voz “The Voice” in late 2007.

“I had kind of a reason to do this,” Gargano told Iowa Independent in his offices in downtown Humboldt.

Working with La Voz editor Maria Hadar, a bilingual Costa Rica native who is now a U.S. citizen living with her family in Humboldt, Gargano is seeking to reach out to the Hispanic community with the paper and make some money while doing it.

“We’re the ones growing, that’s part of it,” Hadar said of the Hispanic population.

U.S. Census figures show significant growth of Hispanics in many Iowa communities.

It only makes sense to cover them, Gargano said.

“We’re really proud of our publication,” Gargano said. “We think it’s an important thing. The primary motive is there is a big gap. We wanted to give something back to the area.”

La Voz is published twice a month and distributed for free in the communities of Humboldt, Fort Dodge, Webster City, Eagle Grove, Clarion and Belmond. The paper continues to grow in reach, and Gargano has his eyes on other communities in north-central Iowa for distribution.

“We find in every issue someone else wants to be in it,” Gargano said. “There’s just no doubt its going to be profitable.”

La Voz has run large ads from Fort Dodge Ford, Bank Iowa and area grocery stores.

Gargano, a Creighton University journalism graduate, bought his first paper, the Belmond Independent, in 1979. He later sold it. In 1985 he purchased the Humboldt Independent.

“Dad arrives at work each day by 6 a.m. and is often the last to leave,” says son Jeff Gargano, who is also involved in the business. “His work ethic has rubbed off on many of us. He is a firm believer that a town is only as strong as its newspaper.”

Jim Gargano, who also oversees a successful shopper, views La Voz as a community newspaper in the tradition of the ones he’s been publishing for three decades.

Hadar, who worked at such places as McDonald’s, Hog Slat and a domestic abuse prevention organization before joining La Voz, said the mission of the paper is to be local, local, local.

Unlike some other Spanish-language papers that mix in international and national wire copy, what some community journalists call “filler,” Hadar packs La Voz with local journalism — stories and photos on the people and places close to home.

“Something like this is actually bringing the community together,” said Hadar, who learned to speak English in part by watching the “Cosby Show.”

Here is The Humboldt Independent on Hadar:

While working at the Rawlings plant (in Costa Rica), she met a young engineer from the United States who was sent there to set up machines and to get the plant up and running. His name…Joe Hadar.

They married in May of 1989 and moved to the United States on June 23, 1989, when Joe started working at the headquarters of Rawlings in St. Louis, MO. Maria obtained a Visa and is now a naturalized United States citizen. She was a temporary U.S. resident for two years, then applied for permanent residency.

“I wanted to be able to vote where I lived,” Maria said.

Maria’s first job in the United States was at McDonald’s. She took classes to learn English.

“It’s very important to learn the language. I wanted to learn about the culture, about what the holidays mean. I’m very impatient and independent. I don’t like to sit back and wait for people to tell me what to do. I didn’t want to be afraid to go to the store because I couldn’t speak the language,” Maria said.

With the attitude of, “I’m here and I want to learn English,” Maria watched The Cosby Show.

“Bill Cosby uses very proper English, and I thought it was funny. I taped the show and if there was a word I didn’t understand, I’d play the tape for Joe when he got home from work and ask him to explain it to me. I watched soap operas, cartoons with the kids and read a lot of books,” Maria said. Joe is fluent in Spanish and English.

Stories in La Voz can be as simple and vital as printing the places where Hispanics can learn English. La Voz has a popular sports “deportes” section that features soccer.

Hadar and Gargano note that many Anglo-owned businesses are advertising in the paper and that the fledgling publication already is making a difference with some long-held biases about the Hispanic community.

“Don’t judge me by the color of my skin or the tone of my voice,” Hadar said.