Mi Zócalo Mobile App Launches
Dos Mundos celebrates 33 years in Kansas City with new mobile app for Latino culture, Mi Zócalo
June marked the 33rd anniversary of Dos Mundos, Kansas City’s original Spanish language Latino newspaper. To celebrate, Dos Mundos has joined forces with a local company to launch the first mobile app for Latino culture in Kansas City, Mi Zócalo, available for iPhone (install from the App Store: http://tinyurl.com/k3tc74n) and Android (install from Google Play: http://tinyurl.com/nx6sznx). Mi Zócalo is a nationwide app that features local content in both Spanish and English. Dos Mundos will use the app to publish news stories, a community calendar of Hispanic events, and information on local businesses that offer services to the Latino community.
This is not the first time Clara Reyes, founder of Dos Mundos, has been on the forefront of cultural innovation in the metro. Reyes was born and educated in Guadalajara Mexico and came to Kansas City in 1964 to further her education in her first career, dentistry. After marrying KC native Manual Reyes the two made Overland Park their home. Clara Reyes, who spoke primarily Spanish, quickly discovered that tasks most U.S. residents consider simple, like opening a checking account or paying the telephone bill, can be monumental challenges for non-native speakers. After transitioning from dentistry to real estate and learning to navigate in her new country the hard way, Reyes concluded that Kansas City’s fast-growing Spanish-speaking population needed a bilingual newspaper to educate Hispanics on handling the necessary tasks of American life. In 1981, Clara Reyes founded Dos Mundos (Two Worlds), the first Hispanic bilingual newspaper in the four-state region.
30 years later, Dos Mundos now provides local, national and international news to more than 20,000 KC area residents and employs a staff of 15. By 2010 Reyes and her family expanded the business (under the umbrella of the Reyes Media Group) to include three Spanish language radio stations, which along with the paper, continue the mission of providing a reliable voice for the Latino community.
Dos Mundos involvement with Mi Zócalo is another area first in Hispanic media for Reyes. Created by Kansas City/Lawrence area company Bluejacket Technology (www.mizocaloapp.com), the nationwide app features deep original content about Latino culture in the United States. Christina Frazier, CEO of Bluejacket, says that, “the use of mobile apps is strong in the Hispanic community, but less than 5% of US Hispanic newspapers currently have a mobile presence.” Besides Kansas City, Mi Zócalo has affiliates in Minnesota and Texas, with plans to expand nationwide later in 2014.
To celebrate the launch of Mi Zócalo in Kansas City, Dos Mundos plans a series of special offers and giveaways during the month of June to celebrate the vibrant and growing Hispanic community in the Kansas City area. Users can download the app at www.dosmundos.com or through the iTunes App store or Google Play.
About Bluejacket Technology: Founded in 2013, Bluejacket Technology (www.bluejackettech.com), publishers of the Mi Zócalo app for Hispanic culture, creates technologies that simplify the transition to new media, generate revenue, and provide platforms for independent, local content in both English and Spanish. Bluejacket tools help groups on both sides of the digital divide contribute their cultural narratives to the American story.
About Reyes Media Group: Established in October of 2006, and based in Kansas City, Reyes Media Group (http://www.reyesmediagroup.com) is a professional Hispanic business that manages a portfolio of Spanish language media outlets. With operations in radio, newspaper and internet, RMG’s culture focuses on the practice of reaching out to the Spanish speaking community with a comprehensive strategy.
