Estrategias de sostenibilidad y creatividad en los márgenes Medios nativos digitales latinos en Estados Unidos en la era de las plataformas
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Published
23-06-2026
Jessica Retis
Lourdes Cueva Chacón
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0665-9837
Lourdes Cueva Chacón
Abstract
In a media ecosystem dominated by global platforms and extractive models, Latino-born digital media in the United States are developing innovative production practices through alternative sustainability strategies. This essay analyzes how these initiatives—designed to serve migrant and bicultural communities—navigate structural challenges while leveraging new opportunities. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, it examines the strategic use of platforms and innovative funding models that enable editorial autonomy. Situated at the margins of the global media landscape, these experiences function as laboratories of innovation and resistance within the contemporary platform economy.
How to Cite
Retis, J., & Cueva Chacón, L. (2026). Estrategias de sostenibilidad y creatividad en los márgenes: Medios nativos digitales latinos en Estados Unidos en la era de las plataformas. ZER - Journal of Communication Studies, 31(60). https://doi.org/10.1387/zer.27879
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geographical-boundaries-language-barriers-and-hyper-fragmentation-of-audiences/
Rojas-Torrijos, J. L., Caro-González, F. J., & González-Alba, J. A. (2020). The emergence of native podcasts in
Journalism: Editorial strategies and business opportunities in Latin America. Media and Communication, 8(2),
159-170. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i2.2699
Srnicek, N. (2017). Platform capitalism. Polity Press.
Tejedor, S., & Pla-Pablos, A. (2020). Análisis del modelo de ingresos en medios nativos digitales de carácter alternativo
de España. Revista de Comunicación, 19(1), 275-295. https://revistadecomunicacion.com/index.php/
rcom/es/article/view/1651/1500
Tejedor, S., Ventín, A., Cervi, L., Pulido, C., & Tusa, F. (2020). Native media and business models: Comparative
study of 14 successful experiences in Latin America. Media and communication, 8(2), 146-158. https://doi.
org/10.17645/mac.v8i2.2712
Tracy, S. J. (2019). Qualitative research methods: Collecting evidence, crafting analysis, communicating impact. Hoboken NJ:
John Wiley & Sons.
Van Dijck J (2021) Seeing the forest for the trees: visualizing platformization and its governance. New Media & Society,
23(9) 2801-2819. https://doi-org.libproxy.sdsu.edu/10.1177/1461444820940293
Van Dijck, J., Poell, T., & de Waal, M. (2018). The platform society. Public values in a connective world. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Vázquez-Herrero, J. Negreira-Rey, M. López-García, X. (2023). Research on digital native media: an emerging
topic in the field of digital communication. Profesional de la información, 32(2), 1-14. https://doi.
org/10.3145/epi.2023.mar.02
Becerra, M. (2015). De la concentración a la convergencia: políticas de medios en Argentina y América Latina. Paidós.
Becerra, M., & Mastrini, G. (2017). La concentración infocomunicacional en América Latina (2000-2015): Nuevos
medios y tecnologías, menos actores. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. https://www.observacom.org/
wp-content/uploads/2019/09/La-concentracio%CC%81n-infocomunicacional-en-Ame%CC%81rica-
Latina-2000-2015.pdf
Boczkowski, P., Matassi, M. & Mitchelstein, E. (2018). How Young Users Deal With Multiple Platforms: The Role of
Meaning-Making in Social Media Repertoires Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 23 (2018) 245-259,
doi:10.1093/jcmc/zmy012
Cohen, N. S. (2012). Cultural work as a site of struggle: Freelancers and exploitation. tripleC: Communication, Capitalism
& Critique, 10(2), 141-155.
Cueva Chacón, L. & Retis, J. (2023). ¿Qué pasa with American News Media? How Digital-Native Latinx News
Serves Community Information Needs Using Messaging Apps. The ANNALS of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science, 707(1), 237-255.
Cueva Chacón, L. & Retis, J. (2022). A glimpse into the future: Digital-native Latinx news media, en: Puente,
T., Retis, J., Aguilar, A, & Ayala, J. (Eds.) (2022). Reporting on Latino Communities: A Guide for Journalists,
New York: Routledge.
Cunningham, S. (2012). Hidden innovation: Policy, industry and the creative sector. University of Queensland Press.
Deuze, M. (2007). Media work. Polity Press.
Fürst, S. (2020). In the Service of Good Journalism and Audience Interests? How Audience Metrics Affect News
Quality. Media and Communication, 8(3), 270-280. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i3.3228
Hase, V., Boczek, K., & Scharkow, M. (2022). Adapting to affordances and audiences? A cross-platform, multimodal
analysis of the platformization of news on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Digital Journalism,
11(8), 1499-1520. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2128389
Hesmondhalgh, D., & Baker, S. (2011). Creative labour: Media work in three cultural industries. Routledge.
Humprecht, E., et al. (2022) Media systems in the digital age: An empirical comparison of 30 countries. Journal of
Communication, 72(2): 145-164. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqab054
Jenkins, H., Ford, S., & Green, J. (2013). Spreadable media: Creating value and meaning in a networked culture.
NYU Press.
Konieczna, M. (2020). Entrepreneurship versus philanthropy: can the market fund innovation in the news sector?
Journal of Media Bussiness Studies, 17 (2), 132-147 https://doi.org/10.1080/16522354.2020.1719458
Konieczna, M. & Robinson, S. (2014). Emerging news non-profits: A case study for rebuilding community trust?,
Journalism, 15(8) 968-986.
McChesney, R. W., & Nichols, J. (2016). People get ready: The fight against a jobless economy and a citizenless democracy.
Nation Books.
Mendieta, H. (2024). La gestión de contenidos en plataformas digitales para migrantes, Quórum Académico,
21(2)131-164. https://produccioncientificaluz.org/index.php/quorum/article/view/42938
Nieborg, D. B., & Poell, T. (2018). The platformization of cultural production: Theorizing the contingent cultural
commodity. New Media & Society, 20(11), 4275-4292. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818769694
Pertierra, A., Molina, A., & Garduño, D. (2024). The precarities of cultural and creative work through pandemic
times, International Journal of Cultural Studies, 27(4) 447-455.
Poell, T., Duffy, B., Nieborg, D., Mutsvairo, B., Tse, T., Arriagada, A. Kloet, J. & Sun, P. (2025). Global perspectives
on platforms and cultural production, International Journal of Cultural Studies, 28(1), 3-20. https://doi.
org/10.1177/13678779241292736
Poell, T., Nieborg, D. & Duffy, B. (2023). Spaces of negotiation: Analyzing platform power in the news industry,
Digital Journalism, 11(8), 1391-1409. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2103011
Poell, T., Nieborg, D., & Duffy, B. E. (2021). Platforms and cultural production. Polity Press. https://www.
politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=platforms-and-cultural-production--9781509540501
Rabarison, K. (2025, August 7). Featured at ONA25: Leading in journalism when the work is personal and the stakes are
high. ONA25. https://ona25.journalists.org/2025/08/07/featured-at-ona25-leading-in-journalism-whenthe-
work-is-personal-and-the-stakes-are-high/
Retis, J. & Cueva Chacón, L. (2022). Bilingual strategies on news media production in the post-digital age, en:
Sánchez, A. & Retis, J. (Eds.) (2022). Communicative Spaces in Bilingual Contexts: Discourses, Synergies and
Counterflows in Spanish and English, New York: Routledge.
Retis, J. & Cueva-Chacón, L. (2021). Mapping Digital-native U.S. Latinx News: Beyond Geographical Boundaries,
Language Barriers, and Hyper-fragmentation of Audiences, International Symposium on Online Journalism
Journal, Spring 2021, 35-63. Available at: https://isoj.org/research/mapping-digital-native-u-s-latinx-newsbeyond-
geographical-boundaries-language-barriers-and-hyper-fragmentation-of-audiences/
Rojas-Torrijos, J. L., Caro-González, F. J., & González-Alba, J. A. (2020). The emergence of native podcasts in
Journalism: Editorial strategies and business opportunities in Latin America. Media and Communication, 8(2),
159-170. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i2.2699
Srnicek, N. (2017). Platform capitalism. Polity Press.
Tejedor, S., & Pla-Pablos, A. (2020). Análisis del modelo de ingresos en medios nativos digitales de carácter alternativo
de España. Revista de Comunicación, 19(1), 275-295. https://revistadecomunicacion.com/index.php/
rcom/es/article/view/1651/1500
Tejedor, S., Ventín, A., Cervi, L., Pulido, C., & Tusa, F. (2020). Native media and business models: Comparative
study of 14 successful experiences in Latin America. Media and communication, 8(2), 146-158. https://doi.
org/10.17645/mac.v8i2.2712
Tracy, S. J. (2019). Qualitative research methods: Collecting evidence, crafting analysis, communicating impact. Hoboken NJ:
John Wiley & Sons.
Van Dijck J (2021) Seeing the forest for the trees: visualizing platformization and its governance. New Media & Society,
23(9) 2801-2819. https://doi-org.libproxy.sdsu.edu/10.1177/1461444820940293
Van Dijck, J., Poell, T., & de Waal, M. (2018). The platform society. Public values in a connective world. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Vázquez-Herrero, J. Negreira-Rey, M. López-García, X. (2023). Research on digital native media: an emerging
topic in the field of digital communication. Profesional de la información, 32(2), 1-14. https://doi.
org/10.3145/epi.2023.mar.02
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