By: E&P Staff A talk radio host in Houston is stirring up a controversy over the syndicated "Ask a Mexican" column run locally by the alternative weekly Houston Press.
Radio talker Tony Diaz, who hosts the Nuestra Palabra show on KPFT, said he is upset that the column by Gustavo Arellano has been moved from the print edition to the Press' Web site.
Diaz said that is like putting it "in the back of the bus," and suggested a lack of understanding about the Hispanic community by the newspaper, according to a report on a Press blog by staff writer Richard Connelly.
In a statement, Editor Margaret Downing noted the extensive coverage the paper gives to Hispanic events and personalities, and said the move of the syndicated feature online was made to free up limited print space.
"Like most newspapers, the Houston Press has been moving more items to online-only publication," Downing said. "Many of our listings are there. To be online is not a relegation to 'the back of the bus' since we regularly add new coverage to our online effort with its unlimited space.
"In print, space is limited and has become increasingly so," Downing continued. "In the last year, we have dropped the comics that we carried for far longer than 'Ask a Mexican.' By moving 'Ask a Mexican' we freed up half a page that could be used for other writing and we still retained it in our online publication -- which we did not do with the comics."
"Ask a Mexican" columnist Arellano is a staff writer at the OC Weekly in Orange County, Calif., who self-syndicates his feature.
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