A Slovak World

Kathryn Tant
Sep 1, 2018 · 3 min read

Growing up, my grandma would read a Slovak newspaper that her father would send her every week in the mail. At this time, my grandma did not have a computer in her home, so there were no online publications that she could read. I remember being a little girl and very intrigued about what was being said in the Slovak newspapers. I remember I could not read them, but my grandma would read them to me and try to explain to me that different things happened in different parts of the world, which I found fascinating. After installing a computer in her home after her father passed away, she would read The Slovak Spectator, which is a Slovak newspaper published in English. Before my grandma passed away, she would ask me to read the online publication to her, going into detail about the stories whose headline caught her attention. Although there is a huge Slovak community in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where my grandma is from, there are no ethnic media outlets for the Slovaks living there. Ethnic media would be a Slovak publication that is published in the United States that serves the community living here. I have not had any real introduction to ethnic media before taking this class. I have been introduced to publications produced in other countries for that country, but failed to read outlets here in the United States that served a specific community. Ethnic media is learning about different cultures in our own backyard. Many people do not know that there is a ginormous Slovak community in Pennsylvania. I believe if Slovaks did have some type of ethnic media outlet in the United States it would bring more awareness to that culture.

“The job of the ethnic media has been to decode a new world, encouraging new arrivals, and represent a new shade on the American palette,” reports David Montgomery ofThe Washington Post.

I did not realize how many other ethnic media outlets there were, and I look forward to gaining more knowledge about these many different outlets. Because of this fascination as a little girl of different news happening in different parts of the world, I can thank my grandma for opening my eyes just a little bit into the wonderful world of journalism. This experience I have had with Slovak newspapers will help my career immensely. It has taught me to keep an open mind and explore the diverse ways that problems are presented in the news and how to possibly change them.

The three media outlets I am particularly interested in investigating are The Los Angeles Sentinel, The Carib Press, and L’italo Americano. I chose The Los Angeles Sentinel because I was interested in learning about African American newspapers, and why not start in my hometown of Los Angeles. I chose the Carib Press because I have always wanted to travel to the Caribbean, and am curious to see how their news differs from the United States. I chose the L’italo Americano because I wanted to learn more about a culture that I am slowly being introduced to in my personal life. When comparing The Los Angeles Sentinel to The Los Angeles Daily News this morning, I found it interesting how the two communities described the issue of education. The Los Angeles Sentinel had a beautifully written article about how Beyoncé and Jay Z are awarding $1 million to high school students. The Los Angeles Daily News, however, had an equally as beautiful article, but on the LAUSD teacher strike and how it is going to effect the school district. I believe that mainstream media (The Los Angeles Daily News) would have a short little blurb about Beyoncé and Jay Z donating $1 million to students rather than a well, thought out article that The Los Angeles Sentinel had. The Los Angeles Sentinel had many different articles relating to the topic, where The Los Angeles Daily News had none to be found on their website.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade