• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, July 21, 2002

Advertisers, with their sights on a very specific ethnic market, may find this sharpshooter approach valuable in New York City and, presumably, in other heavily populated urban areas as well.

A new survey, published by the Independent Press Association-New York, finds that the number of newspapers and magazines published in New York City is continuing to grow, hitting 270 publications that target the diverse population of the biggest U.S. city. Last year's survey found 198 ethnic publications in the city, a number roughly triple that of a decade ago.

The study found that over 60 ethnic groups publish newspapers or magazines in 42 languages, and nearly half of the publications in the survey use a language other than English, while 14 percent use more than one language. The survey found dailies serving communities including blacks, Greeks, Israelis, Italians, Russians and Serbs. Six dailies are published for people of Chinese descent, five for Koreans, four for Hispanics and three for Poles.

In 1920, 140 ethnic newspapers were published in the city, some with circulation in the hundreds of thousands. By 1990, a New York University report found only 65 ethnic publications in the city, though Abby Scher, director of IPA-NY, thought the actual number may have been higher. Scher said that the circulation of current ethnic publications was generally around 15,000 to 20,000. Some, like a Bosnian newspaper, survive on circulation as small as 5,000, and others, like the Spanish daily Hoy, can reach circulation well over 60,000.

Among the new papers included in this year's survey is the Bukharian Times, which serves Jewish immigrants from Uzbekistan, written in a combination of Russian and Farsi

You can find out more here.