Media conglomeration is a problem that knows no language barrier. Having multiple sources of news media is an especially important concept. It allows information to pass through various independent filters and interpretations. This is why the purchase for an undisclosed amount of NYC’s Spanish language newspaper Hoy by ImpreMedia, publisher of its rival paper, El Diario/La Prensa, is disturbing. The newspapers have competed for Spanish language readers for 8 years, one of which was marred by a scandal involving padding Hoy’s distribution numbers.

The purchase of Hoy brings the total NY readership of ImpreMedia to nearly half a million. Hoy, is a free daily paper with a daily circulation of 56,207. El Diario , which people need to pay for, has a daily circulation of 50,105.

This acquisition is the 7th for ImpreMedia in the Spanish language market in the last three in a half years and the company promises that there will be more to come.

According to Newsday:

Despite its circulation woes, Hoy succeeded in attracting new immigrants from South America who were turned off by El Diario’s focus on Puerto Rico.

“Hoy’s legacy will be that it reached out to non-Puerto Rican audiences,” said Kirk Whisler, president of the Latino Print Network. “They certainly did wake up El Diario.”

I actually don’t know how much of that is true, because actually both papers usually contain exactly the same news stories. Now that will be even more true. So much for independent and uncompromised media. The losers? The Spanish language community.

Via / El Diario/La Prensa and Newsday