The local Spanish weekly Semanario Laguna was sternly chided on social media for the front page of its August 11-17 print edition that consisted of a full-page ad for Lake Little Theatre’s Season 59. Front page news stories for that week were relegated to page three.

At first glance, the controversial editorial decision to sell page one might have rated as the proverbial “much ado about nothing.” After all, news publications struggling to survive in the era of digital communications have a need and right to adopt policies that conform to their financial needs.

But the backlash against the ad generated among Laguna’s predominantly Mexican readers was swift and harsh. Many took offense that LLT’s program of plays has no appeal to local people who don’t speak English, and that current news content of interest to local people was displaced in favor of the Gringo interests. Some miffed commentators wondered why the ad wasn’t placed inside on page three or on the back page where it would have had plenty of visibility.

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