HispanicTips owner says his blog 'fills a void'

December 8, 2005 by

In the almost non-existent world of Hispanic blogs, blogger Tomás Custer is paving the way with his news blog HispanicTips.

Created last July, HispanicTips covers Hispanic news and commentary in both Spanish and English. The blog posts an average of 30 Hispanic-themed news items a day on topics ranging from immigration to entertainment. The rapid growth of HispanicTips surprises Custer, who said that the blog was approaching 6,000 posts toward the end of 2005. Now they boast over 9,000.

“I never really imagined there would be that much material out there,” Custer said. “I feel this site has filled a void.”

The Web site has already caught the attention of the mainstream press. Two months after the blog’s debut, HispanicTips was offered a partnership with the online version of Hoy, one of the nation’s leading Spanish-language newspapers. The blog’s immigration feed and business feed are now featured on Hoy’s Web site.

HispanicTips is also the only Hispanic-themed blog to be featured on Feedster’s Top 500 Blogs, Custer said.

HispanicTips is just one of several sites run by the prolific Custer. In September, Custer launched CreativeInteligencia, an online network that includes his Spanish music blogs LatinMusicNews.com and Ticias.com.

Custer said he started CreativeInteligencia in order to unite his three active sites and provide a resource for the Hispanic community. CreativeInteligencia will eventually include two online directories — Hispanicbloggers.com and Hispanicfinds.com — and a calendar of Hispanic-themed events.

Custer, an artist and Web designer, started blogging a year ago with the creation of Ticias.com. A fan of Latin music, Custer said he would spend hours looking for music news. Figuring that others might be facing the same problem, Custer created Ticias.com so that Latin music lovers could get all their information on one Web site.

“Every time I come across a problem I tend to create a website,” Custer said.

Right now the problem Custer said he sees is the lack of Hispanic-Latino blogs on the Internet. According to Custer, there are no more than 12 full-time Hispanic bloggers operating on the net. Custer believes that blogs are the citizen’s voice about what is happening in the world. He said he worries the under-representation of Hispanics online will silence their voices. At the same time, Custer said he believes in the positive impact the Internet could have on the Hispanic community.

“If there is a place that Hispanics can be heard, as diverse and as scattered as we are, online would be that place,” Custer said.

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HappyNews.com an alternative for consumers looking to get a lift out of news

November 6, 2005 by

If every cloud has a silver lining, then HappyNews.com might be the silver lining of online news.

The brainchild of web-entrepreneur Byron Reese, HappyNews.com provides a daily dose of positive news stories overlooked by mainstream media.

The website, launched in July, offers inspirational stories as well as positive health, sports, business and technology news. Managing Senior Editor Patricia Meyer said part of the site’s appeal is that it offers a balance to the many unhappy stories in the mainstream media.

“Our idea is not that we think people shouldn’t be told negative news,” Meyer said. “People need a place to go to be reminded that people are good and there are not only negative things happening in the world.”

Most of HappyNews’ stories come from the major news wires. Since automatic uploads cannot be programmed for happy stories, the news staff must manually pore through hundreds of articles for stories, Meyer said.

HappyNews also receives many of its stories from non-professional citizen journalists. In exchange for bylines, experience and a little cash deposited into a Paypal account, citizen journalists provide local news stories that are unique to the Web site.

HappyNews’ citizen journalists come from all walks of life, from grandmothers to graduate students, Meyer said. They also come from all over the globe, including countries such as Scotland, India, Croatia, Thailand, South Africa and Iraq.

To encourage writers, HappyNews holds a monthly contest in which the site honors the best of citizen journalist submissions.

The use of citizen journalism is only the start of HappyNews’ community involvement, Meyers said. This month the site unveiled a $1,000 essay contest with the topic “Why I am optimistic about the future.”

HappyNews’ unique news slant has already gained coverage in several major news sources including NPR and The Washington Post. But Meyer said the best endorsement comes from teachers who distribute HappyNews’ stories to their students. Meyer has also received letters from a warden who passes out HappyNews to his inmates.

Meyer said she believes there is a journalistic value to providing happy news stories.

“It’s the responsibility of journalism to provide an accurate picture of the world,” Meyer said. “Positive news keeps things in perspective.”

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