Boycott EL Diario/La Prensa de Nueva York

Your Free Press is proud to publish the following e-mail written by El Diario former Managing Editor, Miguel Alvaro Sarmiento, to former and present employees of El Diario de Nueva York warning them of sale of the "influetial" daily to the Argentian newspaper the NATION. Read Mr. Sarmiento warning and boycott El Diario.
Rafael Martínez Alequín

To all:

I am Not a former disgruntled Impermedia employee. I am a currently disappointed El Diario/La Prensa ex employee. El Diario is the oldest Hispanic newspaper in the United States- it will turn 100 years old in 2013) and the second largest.

From 2008 to 2010 I was its Managing Editor. I also worked as Impermedia’s Ombudsman and El Diario’s Interim Editor. I supervised a team of employees who have dedicated the better part of their lives into making El Diario the voice, not only of the Hispanic community in the North East of the United States, but of immigrants, women, gay and lesbians, minorities and blue-collar workers through the nation.

In my stay at El Diario we got a New York Senator to change her stand on Immigration, we got a racist radio talk host suspended from the airwaves and we were the only paper in the United States increasing circulation in the midst of the so called Newspaper crisis- We also won many journalism awards. And, went through the Russian Spy crisis in which the company promised- but never delivered, a review by experts of its editorial policies in response to a WSJ Editorial. This is due to the fact that El Diario’s Publisher vehemently opposed it for personal reasons that I now understand may have lead to her dismissal.

In November of 2010 I left the company. I did so due to a combination of reasons chief among them my health. During the months leading to my resignation I had many disagreements with the company’s new management and the direction they wanted for El Diario as well as their management style.- The Publisher calling for the ‘castration’ of male employees who did not obey women supervisor’s orders and the Vice President of Content calling impatient men ‘Premature Ejaculators” while promising to bring “Truth and Transparency” to the company.

Through 2011, up until today, most of my former employees have been in contact with me and have kept me abreast on what’s going on in the company; and what’s going on at Inpermedia runs directly contrary to what its publications print in its pages each and every day and the ‘Truth and Transparency’ promised by management.

On its pages the company seems to be on the side of the worker - the American employee, but in practice it is exporting good paying jobs abroad and importing high salaried executives and non-union foreign employees in order to bust the Union. What is happening at El Diario not only runs contrary to its original mission, it is hurting its employees, the community it was created to serve and its good will.

Recently the company announced a change of ownership to foreign investor (presumably wealthy people from Argentina looking to park their money here because they are in disagreement with Argentina’s current President. Conditions of the sale transaction presumably dictate that El Diario must begin rounds laying employees off and forcing them to sign an agreement which run contrary to their interests.

I am writing this note with the hope that someone out there will be able to come to aid of this venerable publication, its dedicated employees and the community before is too late.

Imeprmedia is the largest multiplatform Hispanic media company in the country- it owns publications in the six biggest media markets in the United States. El Diario is Impermedia’s flagship and only moneymaking publication and up until last year the only one with a Union (La Opinion formed a Union after most of its staff was laid off).

Best regards,

Miguel Alvaro Sarmiento

"Time does not run out, it rushes in."