This Latina immigrant is betting on rural western Iowa newspapers, in Spanish and English

DENISON — Nestled in an airy loft reachable by steep, creaky wooden steps above the Donna Reed Theatre in this rural western Iowa city is a hive of journalism energy, where reporters work for La Prensa Spanish Iowa Newspaper and the newly launched Denison Free Press.

Both publications churn out stories on a region defined by a rich agricultural history and the collective optimism of thousands of immigrants, most from Mexico and Central America.

The Free Press and La Prensa are defying national trends, outrunning the Great Newspaper Armageddon by publishing once a week and getting their papers into the local Hy-Vee grocery store and the El Michoacano Tienda y Taqueria and other distribution points.

At the helm of these resilient community newspapers is their restless publisher and editor, Lorena López, a Nicaraguan immigrant intent on keeping local news alive in a wide swath of politically ruby red Iowa, serving the emerging Latino community and white residents with rooted ties to farm and livestock country.

"We can't let Facebook be the news here, because Facebook, that is the real fake news," López said. "It's a joke, what you see on social media. The misinformation clearly killed people in the pandemic, and it divides, divides, makes teenage girls hate the way they look, and too many Iowans hate people that are different. Well, our newspapers bring people together around the facts. We are not going to stop publishing."

Lorena López first launches La Prensa, a Spanish-language newspaper

López, 60, a former national television reporter in her native Central American nation, launched La Prensa in 2006, quickly turning the Denison-based statewide Spanish paper into a force in the state.

The paper is named La Prensa ("The Press") in recognition of López's hero, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, the Nicaraguan journalist shotgunned to death in 1978 for publishing pieces critical of the Somoza regime. The Free Press is so named because it is distributed at no charge.

For her part, López, who taught herself English after moving to the United States, has interviewed dozens of presidential candidates since 2007, and Pope John Paul II and Fidel Castro, too, earlier in her career with Nicaraguan television. But it is the local news in Denison, stories on challenges and successes in the demographically changing schools and the blend of cultures here, that fuels grueling hours for López, filled with the daily grind of advertising pitches and fundraising appeals that keep the presses rolling and Denison readers in the know.

Meatpacking plants have attracted waves of immigrants to Denison, a city of about 8,200 people, with a Hispanic or Latino population of about 50 percent and a foreign-born population of 27%, according to recent census figures.

"I love this community and its people. My friends and neighbors deserve to be the most informed Iowans — and we intend to give them two newspapers to allow them to be just that — super informed," López said. "The more immigrants know about the historical community, and the more generational families know about those of us who arrived more recently, the more harmony and understanding we will have — and that makes life more enjoyable and businesses more profitable — which is what this great country is all about, right?"

As the local English-language paper struggled, López steps in to start another

Earlier this year, Lee Enterprises undertook cost-cutting strategies at its local newspaper, The Denison Bulletin-Review, that effectively ended the Bulletin-Review careers of veteran reporters Gordon Wolf and Dan Mundt.

But in stepped López — who hired them, and started her own English-language newspaper July 6 — The Denison Free Press. López, Wolf and Mundt work to cover the Denison region, reporting and writing in English and Spanish.

López and Wolf, the longtime editor of the Bulletin-Review, were waiting to interview Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley at an Italian restaurant, Bella Sera, near the hospital here when Wolf told López that he'd soon be out of a job.

"Come work for me, Gordon," López said.

They interviewed Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador. Then, over lunch the next day, Wolf jumped at the opportunity to keep reporting in Denison, a city in which he and López are among the most trusted residents. "Hey, boss," Wolf often says to López when he enters the office. She hates the designation but smiles magnetically when she hears it.

“I’ve written about and photographed numerous individuals running for national and state offices, but I believe the most important people I’ve interviewed are those who go out of their way to make life better for others,” Wolf said. “Over the years, I developed a kind of philosophy, or mission statement, about the purpose for my career — to inform readers about their communities, to allow people to learn more about where they live and work and themselves, to help them realize that they are the lifeblood of their communities, and that what they believe and do matters.”

With Dan Mundt on board, too, they designed a masthead, built a website, reached out to advertisers and started raising funds from the community for The Denison Free Press — La Prensa's English-speaking sister newspaper.

Residents open wallets, credit López as the person 'saving our local news'

In a moment that seemed to be conjured by the spirits of Donna Reed and Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, residents of Denison and surrounding areas filled a basket with checks and cash during a recent Chamber of Commerce event at the Donna Reed Theatre in downtown Denison.

Reed, who won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in "From Here To Eternity" — where she co-starred with Frank Sinatra — is known more for her culturally durable and iconic film turn as the glowingly resourceful wife of Jimmy Stewart's George Bailey in "It's A Wonderful Life." The Donna Reed Theatre shows the movie during the holidays with Spanish subtitles.

As López was covering the Crawford County Fair in Denison this summer, a local farmer approached the newspaper publisher.

“You are the lady who is saving our local news,” the man said before writing a check to support The Denison Free Press.

Few days go by without letters and notes of encouragement from readers, new residents and older readers without internet access who would feel cut off from life without the printed word.

Many in Denison see López as an inspirational figure in the spirit of Reed, whose radiant, star-from-the-golden-era smile jumps from photos adorning store windows downtown. But Mundt says that as challenging as it may be, it would take a resurrected Jimmy Stewart to capture what López means to Denison.

In "It's A Wonderful Life," a guardian angel shows George Bailey how his life has touched the lives of many other people, helping his family, neighbors and community. In Denison, López is a concierge for the immigrant community, her iPhone always abuzz with questions about vaccines or workplace paperwork or how to navigate the Crawford County Courthouse. And she's also a connector, often the first person called by business and political leaders, statewide and nationally, who need the ears of Latinos.

López has her eyes intently fixed on more than her newspapers: She's on the front lines to save as many reporting jobs as possible in western Iowa.

Working with her friend, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Art Cullen in nearby Storm Lake, Iowa, López co-founded the nonprofit Western Iowa Journalism Foundation. It now has an executive director and board and has funded reporting positions in Denison, Storm Lake, Carroll, Jefferson and Cherokee — and a part-time reporter with Iowa Public Radio.

"The more people are plugged into civic affairs, the better for everyone," said Cullen, the editor and co-owner of the Storm Lake Times-Pilot. "Lorena and I work together to promote support for the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation. I’m the old white guy who’s been around forever, and she is an enthusiastic Latina who brings a whole different perspective to community journalism."

Douglas Burns is a fourth-generation Iowa journalist. He is the former co-owner of the Carroll Times Herald, a newspaper that was in his family for 93 years.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Latina immigrant Lorena López works to save rural Iowa newspapers