Austin PBS Shorts

I think I've said it before.

La Prensa newspape was never supposed to be my baby I always worked here, you know, kind of on and off.

But even my dad knew that ultima I didn't want to own the paper.

When I stepped in in 2016, you k dad was already been fighting Al for two years now.

At that point, there was really nobody else that wanted it.

So I kind of had no choice but t So come 2017, I would say the six month leading up to Daddy's death, of not knowing that he was going to in June of 2017 were crazy for me on both a busi and a personal level.

And it's crazy.

It's crazy.

What a lot of people don't unde is with my daddy, towards the en I had a very intimate relationsh with him.

I remember spending the nigh with my dad in the hospital and - things that not only a daught but I feel like there are certai that maybe a chil shouldn't have to experience wit that I did experience with my da like to literally put gloves on, help my father not only urin you know, whateve it was that he needed to do, I w I wiped my dad's but several times before he passed.

And a lot of what kept me, I guess doing that was hoping that if I make it to that age, hopefully karma is like an actua and someone will, you know, whip when I'm older.

Daddy died on a Sunday that Mond Not onl was that our meeting with Porter but I had to go into the office to go run payroll.

And so I remember all of this happening just complete and utter chaos.

I was a mess.

The day was kind of in shambles.

I remember going to sleep, waking up, literally throwing on throwing on a shirt.

My face just completely unrecogn And I remember Elijah, my oldes son, asked me like, Where are yo I'm like, I have to go to work.

He's like, You don't have to go I'm like, No, you don't understa Like, I have to go over on payro There is nobody else at La Prensa to go run payroll.

My name is Ron Nirenberg I'm the mayor of San Antonio.

Tino was a man whose presence was profoun I met him at a jazz even and we just struck up a conversa which blossomed into a friendshi And he helped me.

My early career as I was thinkin entering the public service, he encouraged me.

He opened doors for me, counsele And so, you know it's a great loss to our communi But his legacy remains certainly remains for San Anton but also for me in particular.

And I'm eternally grateful for t One of the most important eleme of making sure that all people have a seat at the table is to that all languages are represent and respected and understood.

And so La Prensa during its entire history of pub provided that role for our comm to make sure that people were in but that also everyone had a vo in the larger context of our com So we're here at Mama's house.

I come her at least once a day to check on Ever since.

Ever since Dadd died, life has been hard to say And my mama she is my favorite person in the And she has given me the best 36 years of my life.

She has done everything I've eve and so I figured the least I could d is be here for her when she need We have this typewriter that we the blue one that's at the offic That typewrite has been with us since day one, would put the typewriter on the and give me paper.

And I would just write stories.

As a little girl, I think I wa I was I always say I was born a I started writing at a really y because when I came into their l my dad was working a lot and she was sick a lot.

She was- had battled cancer, had I mean, it was just one thing af So for a long time, in order to go to the park or go to Disneyland I would have to I'd write about And so I would just start writin and I would on my typewriter.

And then she would read my stori And I remember being ther from the beginning on the floor and then slowly, slowly moving u from the floor.

My grandfather, his cousin, Mr.

Cisneros and Mr.

Lozano, they were all three cou that came in from the revolution from Mexico, and they decided to a newspaper and the newspape that they opened up was La Prens I remember my father telling me he went by a day before he died, and he says, Honey he says, I love you so much. And I remember him saying, Some there loves you a lot, and he always keeps an eye on y I said, Who's that? Your gran because he loves the fact that y La Prensa. I think that's a huge component as to why we were abl to even keep our doors open for has nothing to do with what I d or with what anybody else did.

It had to dea with having an amazing team of p that not only believed in La Pre but that just were loyal, to us.

Oh wow, This used to say La Prensa like right up here.

My name is Alyssa Buntin and I was the last employee of La Prensa de San Antonio.

As I guess a millennial or someo you know, who gets their news every which It forces you to think lik there are people who have no ide how to operate the Internet or their phones or like don't have cable news channels to get that information.

And La Prensa was the only thin they could pick up to learn some And knowing that this was vital information to you know people' you know, whether it be about he whether it be about politics or anything like that.

I had this area right here, La Prensa started off as the fir if anything, you know, amongst p you know, amongst San Antonio and, you know, keeping that ali for so long and it's still, you affecting and influencing people you know, it was an institution of San Antonio, apart from being a newspaper.

So we're here at Nina's.

Because the wi fi is out for th building so gotta work from here It's kind of funn because we're closing La Prensa so we still have things that need to be done.

Thank God for the internet and digital world.

So this is our meeting place to and we'll see where our meeting is at tomorrow.

It's kind of taking it day by d for the first week, two weeks.

It was crazines because there was no escape for I felt like I was equally surro by my father's life as I was his And there was no separation of know no one else had to go to th and no one else had to go do wh do was like I was the only one.

All the while I also had to be there at 10 a.m to meet with Porter Loring to g over my father's funeral plan.

I released a video pretty much about why I chose to close La Pr I was still dealing and still am with the death of my father and now the death of our family I have tried everything.

I have given everything.

I have... I didnt want people t Oh, I just did it to do it.

Like, no there was a very strategic reaso It was a lot of there was a lot that went into closing.

And it wasn't just a decision I made overnight, like, I don't want to fucking do this lets close the paper and then i it was a very hard decision.

It was months of coming to terms with the realization.

It was like losing Daddy all over again, it was f--- terrible having to decide to close.

*machine noises* All right, cool, cool, cool.

That was good.

Well, San Antonio is one of the in the world that can grow at th but also retain the character that makes it one of the most recognizable and unique cities i La Prensa is very much a part o Antonio's history, and so we als that that was representative of Antonio's future as well.

And we need to, you know, really understand and critically about what that means I think that's kind of the beaut about the newspaper is we needed our reader just as much as they needed us.

Now, that's the only reason it w We had this beautiful paper that was for the community, about the community, by the comm and it and it worked.

I've always said that I'm a blo where you were planted kind of g You know, a lot of people grow San Antonio and then they want t To me, San Antonio is home and if I had to describe our cit I guess it's not one word, but to me, San Antonio is a pay it f kind of city, and that's not som that you see in other places.

I had an amazing father.

I had a father that gave me spac when I needed space, that gave me encouragement, when I needed encouragement, that would slap my hand, when it needed to be slapped.

And ultimately, I wouldn't have the childhood that I had or I don't even thin I'd be the person who I am today if it wasn't for my father and for, you know, La Prensa.

I think optimism is almost revol Social media is not a replacemen for good journalism.

I am optimistic that while the f and the manifestations of journalism may change, good quality journalism and the will remain an and perhaps even thrive as this new generation comes up.