El Pregonero
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''El Pregonero'' is the official Spanish-language newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., published by the
Carroll Publishing Company Carroll Publishing Company is a 501(c)(3) corporation owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. and tasked with publishing the two official weekly newspapers of the archdiocese, the '' Catholic Standard'' and, in Spanish, '' El Pregone ...
. It was first published in 1977 by the Spanish Catholic Center, making it the oldest Spanish-language newspaper published in the capital city of the United States. ''El Pregonero'' provides a Catholic perspective on the issues and trends affecting the Hispanic immigrant community residing in the
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, metropolitan area. It is printed monthly and distributed to the Hispanic population within the geographical boundaries of the Archdiocese of Washington, which includes D.C., and Montgomery, Prince George's, Calvert, St. Mary's and Charles counties in
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
. In September 2005, Rafael Roncal, who had been with the paper since 1988, became Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper. In 1977, the Spanish Catholic Center, a social services agency of the Archdiocese of Washington created the newspaper. The newspaper was founded by Father Sean O'Malley, OFMCap, who was executive director of the Spanish Catholic Center at the time of the newspaper's inception, and later served as the Cardinal
Archbishop of Boston The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. The archd ...
from 2003 to 2024. Silverio Coy, a Colombian national, served as its first Editor-in-Chief until he left the post in 1982 to pursue his legal career, and is currently a lawyer. ''El Pregonero'' is a charter member of the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP). In the last 22 years the professional staff has won more than 241 awards for editorial content, design, and general excellence, from the NAHP and the
Catholic Press Association
'' of the U.S. and Canada. The newspaper is owned by the Carroll Publishing Company, a corporation owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, which also publishes its sister publication, the '' Catholic Standard''. The publisher of both newspapers is always the current Archbishop of Washington, whose regular column appears in both papers and on both websites.


History


Founding and Early Period

Founded in 1977 by the Spanish Catholic Center, ''El Pregonero'' is the oldest, continuously published Spanish-language newspaper in the capital city of the United States. The first Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper was Silverio Coy, a Colombian national who left the post in 1982 to pursue his legal career, and is currently a lawyer. He was replaced by Enrique Eduardo, a renowned Bolivian journalist, until the end of 1985. In its early years, ''El Pregonero'' appeared as a
mimeographed A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator or stencil machine) is a low-cost duplicating machines, duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called ...
newsletter, distributed primarily in the
Adams Morgan Adams Morgan (abbreviated as AdMo) is a Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in the city’s Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest quadrant. Adams Morgan is noted as a historic hub for Counterculture of ...
and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods around the Spanish Catholic Center's office near 16th and Monroe Streets, NW, in Washington, D.C. As the Hispanic population settled in other neighborhoods in D.C. and the nearby Maryland and
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
suburbs, the newspaper adopted a more traditional tabloid format and circulated more copies in street boxes and at other bulk-drop locations.


Carroll Publishing Period

Under the direction of the late Cardinal James A. Hickey, Archbishop of Washington, the newspaper was taken over by Carroll Publishing in January 1985. In January 1986, Oscar Reyes, a native of Honduras, who previously served as editor of the Nicaraguan newspaper ''
La Prensa La Prensa may refer to: Argentina * ''La Prensa'' (Buenos Aires) Bolivia * ''La Prensa'' (La Paz), a newspaper in Bolivia Chile * ''La Prensa'' (Curicó) Cuba * ''Prensa Latina'', the official state news agency of Cuba Ecuador * ''La Pren ...
'', became the Editor-in-Chief until June 2005, when he retired after nearly 20 years with the paper. In September 2005, Rafael Roncal, who had been with the paper since 1988, was named Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper. Roncal previously worked as the Washington correspondent for ''El Nacional'' in Lima, Peru, and worked for '' El Comercio'' and ''La Prensa'' newspapers, also located in Lima. Roncal earned a master's degree from
The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily ...
in 2000. He has received more than 60 awards for editorial excellence from the Catholic Press Association and the NAHP. ''El Pregonero'' circulation grew to as many as 50,000 copies weekly until the company eliminated its Virginia distribution to focus on service to the Hispanic population within the geographical boundaries of the Archdiocese of Washington, which includes D.C., and Montgomery, Prince George's, Calvert, St. Mary's and Charles counties in Maryland. 38,000 free copies circulated weekly until September 2011. On September 22, 2011, under the leadership of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, ''El Pregonero'' launched its new redesign and adopted a biweekly schedule, alternating weeks with the ''Catholic Standard''. Its “new look’ features more dynamic covers, bolder headlines, bigger photos, more graphics and in-depth stories. Larger than most Spanish diocesan papers, ''El Pregonero'' currently has a circulation of about 25,000 copies in the Washington metropolitan area and is published biweekly with a Thursday dateline. Its on-line edition is updated daily. Like several Spanish-language Catholic publications, ''El Pregonero'' is dropped not only at parishes that have Masses in Spanish and Catholic agencies that serve the Spanish-speaking population, but also at grocery and convenience stores, Metro stations and bus stops, sidewalk kiosks and other venues. Its newest design earned the ‘Best Redesign’ award,http://www.catholicpress.org/resource/resmgr/2012_cmc/2012_press_award_winners_spa.pdf among all newspapers-members at the 2012 convention of the ''Catholic Press Association'': “This publication is beautifully designed throughout — from a cover that demands attention, to inside pages that are accented with creative extras,” commented the judges of the annual competition.


References


External links


''El Pregonero''

''Catholic Standard''

National Association of Hispanic Publications

Catholic Press Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pregonero, El Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington Catholic newspapers published in the United States Newspapers established in 1977 Spanish-language mass media in Washington, D.C.