Each day subscribers to The Miami Herald get two newspapers bundled together.  Responding to the bilingual character of the Miami cultural and political scene, The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald are delivered together: two newspapers produced from the same Knight-Ridder resources for the same geographic area, yet clearly targeted at two culturally different audiences; one English speaking, the other Spanish speaking. (There is no French Creole edition for the less organized and less powerful Haitian community.)   An examination of the layout and editorial decisions of the Sunday, September 17, 2000, front pages of the two papers highlights the different cultural contexts of  Spanish and English language readers and suggests an editorial strategy designed to appeal to the respective cultural perspectives and interests of each group -- with the likely effect of reinforcing those perspectives and interests.  The Spanish language paper has a greater focus on family issues and other traditional values, while the English language paper seems more in tune with general US cultural tendencies, such as a sensitivity to issues of inclusion (i.e., women and gays).  The line between the language groups, however, should not be drawn too sharply. Many English readers are of Hispanic origin and there are clear cultural differences between Cuban-American, Mexican-American and various other Hispanic readers.  Still, the front pages of the two newspapers reflect clear differences between their readers.
     The most visually prominent above-the-fold element of the English language edition is a picture featuring the US women's gold medal Olympic swim team. The four women are embracing, obviously celebrating their win.  Under the picture of the women is a smaller picture of the male Australian gold medal-winning swimmer Ian Thorpe.  The Spanish language paper also features an Olympics story at the top of the front page, but the picture and text are only about Thorpe.  The US women's swim team is not included on the front page at all.  Whether the omission reflects a perception by editors that Spanish language readers have less fervor about US athletes, less interest in women's sports, or both, is unclear.  It is hard to imagine, however, the same editorial decision being made for (or tolerated by) English language readers.
     Also above the fold in the English language paper is a story about Hurricane Gordon approaching the Florida gulf coast.  El Nuevo Herald gives the story front-page exposure too, but at the bottom of the page.  At press time, the hurricane was of little threat to the Miami metro area, but still menacing Florida farther north.  Perhaps the more prominent placement of the story in the English language paper reflects a perceived deeper sense of connection to the rest of Florida among English readers than among the more geographically concentrated Spanish speaking community in the Miami area.
     At the top of El Nuevo Herald's front page, along with the Ian Thorpe story, is a picture and text featuring the plight of neglected elderly persons.  The article, not included in The Miami Herald, has the largest headline on the page.  Although stories about older persons might also be expected to appeal to the many English speaking retirees in the area, El Nuevo Herald's prominent above-the-fold, front-page placement seems culturally significant.  In the Hispanic community, which prides itself on maintaining respect for older persons as an important cultural value, a story about the abuse of the elderly might be expected to have particularly strong impact.  The text of the article centers on the neglect of Hispanic elderly by their own family members, further conflicting with the community's sense of its own values, in this case, the cultural importance of strong family relationships. The Hispanic community might see its own concern about decaying cultural values reflected in the high profile coverage in El Nuevo Herald, linking the paper in readers’ minds with the values of their community.
     A story given significant space on The Miami Herald's front page, but not covered at all in the September 17, 2000, issue of El Nuevo Herald, follows the growing movement by local schools and governmental agencies to deny the use of their facilities to Boy Scouts because of the Scouts' ban on gay people.   The article contrasts the Boy Scouts with a wide variety of other youth agencies, such as Girl Scouts, 4-H and the YMCA, that do not discriminate against gays.  A strong and visible South Florida gay community gives the controversial story a high enough profile to reach the front page of the English language paper, but it is left out of the Spanish language coverage.  Again, this is consistent with cultural perspective of the Hispanic community, which, rooted in Roman Catholicism and influenced by machismo, tends to ignore homosexuality.
     Although the presence or placement of a particular story in a newspaper does not necessarily directly correspond to a particular cultural perspective, the series of editorial and layout decisions that went into the front pages of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald on September 17, 2000, combine to suggest a strong link between the publications and the cultural perspectives of their readers.  Knight-Ridder's responsiveness to its readers is in many ways good, but English and Spanish speaking people in Miami must live together in the same community.  If their respective newspapers only reinforce their current cultural perspectives, the two groups seem less likely to better understand their differences and find new ways to work together.  Publishing newspapers for both the English and Spanish speaking people of Miami puts Knight-Ridder in a position to help the cultural diversity represented by the two language groups serve as an opportunity for enrichment.  Unfortunately the September 17, 2000, editions of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald suggest this may not be happening.