The Latino Newsletter's 2024 Year in Review

This is the last Friday of 2024, and as The Latino Newsletter disconnects a bit until the new year, I wanted to share some final thoughts.

It was one of my toughest professional times ever. I had no steady work. I cobbled enough to just get by, and there were moments when I thought I wouldn’t make it. I journaled a lot, cried even more, but never stopped trying.

The year before in 2023, I was president of an award-winning nonprofit journalism organization and doing everything I could to close cash gaps to keep the company operating as it was. It was challenging time for media across all formats. It still is.

I eventually failed.

We had to eliminate many positions (including mine). I stepped down from a job I loved very much. Nine years of joy turned into months of sadness and self-doubt. That was the end of 2023 for me as well as the start of 2024. I don’t think I will ever shake the awful feeling of letting people down—talented journalists and producers who gave their best to serve our communities.

That gnawing feeling of failure sucked. I lost professional friends and contacts, individuals I adored having in my life. I don’t think those lost relationships will ever be restored, but I have learned that I can’t worry about what I no longer have, and instead cherish what is right in front of me.

Like my circle of friends: the “ride or die” ones from high school, college and my town, the journalism ones who made sure to check in and the new ones who became part of my job search adventures and dreams. They all uplifted me. So did my family, who are my biggest supporters and fans. To my real crew, I can’t thank you enough for not giving up on me.

While I kept job searching for what now will be 18 months (stay tuned for good news about that in early 2025!), I created The Latino Newsletter in May. I still believed in nonprofit journalism, so I decided to begin from scratch again and launch another digital startup. I was excited and terrified. I had no idea that The Latino Newsletter would be something.

Several months later, it is something, already an impactful player in the Latino digital media space.

The Latino Newsletter in 2024

Here is a list of what we have accomplished, and why I can say with 100% certainty that The Latino Newsletter’s best days are coming:

• Foundational support from The Latino Community Foundation and Hispanic Federation.

• A fiscal sponsor in Tiny News Collective.

• Becoming a founding member of the Latino Media Consortium.

• An incredibly successful Latino Election Project with New England Public Media.

• The top Google page ranking for “latino newsletter,” “hispanic newsletter,” “latina newsletter,” and “latine newsletter.” We are number 2 for “latinx newsletter.”

• Sixty-seven donors who have given a total of $5,812. We are just 42% from hitting our year-end goal.

• With no money spent on advertising, we now have 953 newsletter subscribers with a 65.67% open rate. You can subscribe for free here. (Sidenote: We also have 724 subscribers on the LinkedIn version of the newsletter.)

• Our total social audience across eight platforms is at 9,000. That is all organic growth. In eight months.

• We have published 150 stories on our site, generating more than 100,000 views across the newsletter and web. Guest authors have included former members of Congress and some of our community’s top leaders.

• We have produced 21 podcast episodes with more than 5,000 listens. Our videos across our social platforms have gotten hundreds of thousands of views.

• Our work has been featured on the BBC, CBS News, GBH, NEPM, MSNBC, WAMU, and WBUR, among others.

The new year will bring new professional chapters for me. I can see my next paths, and I am really excited for them. (I promise to share that professional news when I can.) It is a cool job that gets me back to fight the good fight. The Latino Newsletter won’t go away either. We are just getting started.

In the meantime, I need to thank The Latino Newsletter (and you) for giving me a new future. Last year around this time, I felt hopeless. Now I feel recharged and ready for the next act.

Have a great new year!

And if you want to support us as one of your year-end donations, you can click here. It’s tax-deductible and I really don’t want people to pay for subscriptions. Get us to 100% and we will have enough to keep the podcast and daily posts going.

About the Author

Julio Ricardo Varela is the founder and publisher of The Latino Newsletter.

Do you believe in creating new journalism lanes for Latinos and Latinas? Do you believe that U.S. mainstream outlets will never understand our community? Consider donating to The Latino Newsletter. Any little bit helps to keep this newsletter free and accessible to all. ¡Gracias mil!