Faced with declining advertising revenues, El Sentinel, a free Spanish-language newspaper that has operated for two decades in South Florida and Orlando, is closing.
The paper, published by the South Florida Sun Sentinel and Orlando Sentinel, will print its last weekly edition on Nov. 30 in South Florida and Dec. 3 in Orlando. It’s distributed to 130,000 households in South Florida and 146,000 in Orlando.
“Over the last few years, the major national retail pre-print advertisers that supported El Sentinel have shifted weekly sale advertising away from pre-prints to other mediums due to changing consumer habits, rising printing costs and supply chain issues,” said Dave Karabag, vice president of advertising for both publications. “This transition accelerated during the COVID pandemic and continues to have significant impact on this free newspaper.”
Julie Anderson, editor-in-chief of the Sun Sentinel and Orlando Sentinel, said both newspapers “remain committed to covering our diverse communities seven days a week with our daily newspaper and website.”
El Sentinel, and its companion website elsentinel.com, were launched in 2001 in Orlando to provide local news and information on issues relevant to Hispanics. The South Florida edition debuted in 2002.
In 2019, Tribune Publishing, the papers’ parent company, shut down Hoy, a Spanish-language paper that served Chicago’s Hispanic population for 16 years.
