The leadership of El Tecolote, recognized as California's longest-running bilingual Spanish-language newspaper, is pushing back forcefully against concerns that recent organizational turmoil could lead to the historic publication's closure.
Juan Gonzalez, who founded the San Francisco-based news organization and is currently serving as its interim editor, stated in an interview that the outlet is enduring despite public worries over an apparent staff exodus. He firmly rejected any suggestions that the newspaper is on the verge of shutting its doors, emphasizing that terminating operations has never even been considered by the organization's leaders.
The controversy surrounding the publication's health follows reports that seven staff members, including temporary workers, have stepped down from their roles since March. The sudden series of departures represents the vast majority of the newsroom's workforce, according to reporting initially published by local news site Mission Local.
The staff turnover reached a critical juncture in the middle of August when Erika Carlos, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, formally submitted her resignation. Carlos explained in a post shared on LinkedIn that the rapid depletion of staff members had created an overwhelming deficit, leaving the newsroom in a state that made it impossible for her to remain in her leadership role.
In her public message, Carlos raised urgent concerns about the broader consequences of the workforce reduction. She argued that the departures should not be characterized merely as a routine organizational transition, warning that the severe loss of personnel significantly damages the outlet's reporting capacity, depletes years of institutional knowledge, and hinders its core mission of providing dedicated service to the community.
Carlos elaborated further on the internal disputes that prompted her departure in an additional statement, describing how multiple operational problems escalated during the summer months. She pointed specifically to two staff positions that had secured funding for the remainder of the year but were nevertheless stalled in bureaucratic limbo, an outcome she labeled as entirely preventable.
According to Carlos, the newsroom could have avoided much of its current distress through more proactive administrative support. She stressed that implementing stable employee contracts, executing timely hiring procedures to replace lost talent, and fostering improved working conditions would have created a meaningful difference in retaining essential personnel.
Addressing the staffing concerns, Imelda Carrasco, the executive director of Acción Latina—a community nonprofit organization that maintains a close partnership with El Tecolote—disputed the characterization of the newsroom's situation as a full-blown organizational crisis.
Carrasco clarified in an email statement that three of the seven individuals who recently departed were fellows whose formal contract periods had simply reached their natural conclusion. She maintained that leadership remains squarely focused on the newspaper's future and is dedicated to continuing its mission, promising that community journalism services will proceed with as little disruption as possible.
Gonzalez echoed those reassurances, stating that the newspaper is actively moving forward with recruitment efforts to secure a permanent replacement for the editor-in-chief position. While declining to provide specific details regarding individual personnel exits, the founder reiterated that the newsroom remains fully operational and stable.
The current transition marks another significant chapter in the storied history of El Tecolote, which was established 56 years ago. Gonzalez launched the publication in August 1970 while teaching a journalism course at San Francisco State University, aiming to directly address the lack of Latino representation across the broader news media ecosystem.
Created directly by university students enrolled in that pioneering class, the paper adopted the name El Tecolote, which translates from Spanish as "the owl." Throughout its five-and-a-half decades of continuous publication, the bilingual newsroom has remained firmly anchored in San Francisco's Mission District, documenting local community affairs and cultural history.
The newsroom's internal staffing challenges emerge against a backdrop of severe economic strain and structural contractions throughout the wider California media industry. Local and regional publications across the Bay Area and beyond are increasingly struggling to maintain financial viability and sustain independent newsrooms.
Underscoring those broader industry headwinds, The Frisc, an independent nonprofit news website covering San Francisco, announced that it will permanently cease operations after nine years of independent reporting.
Meanwhile, commercial newspaper chains are facing their own severe cutbacks, as demonstrated by McClatchy Media's recent decision to eliminate at least 90 jobs across more than a dozen publications throughout the region. The sweeping layoffs dealt a direct blow to established regional outlets, including significant staff reductions at both The Sacramento Bee and The Modesto Bee.
Despite these mounting industry-wide pressures and its own internal workforce shifts, the leadership of El Tecolote maintains that the historic bilingual outlet will navigate its current staffing rebuild and continue publishing, upholding its decades-long commitment to San Francisco's Latino community.
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