I remember vividly sitting in my introduction to Journalism class back in the fall of 2015 learning the Code of Ethics for the Society of Professional Journalists. At this point I hadn’t even had my first byline, or story published, but the four principles indicated back then the importance of communication and the role of journalists everywhere: seek truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently, and be accountable and transparent.

When I first arrived at the Post Independent back in November 2020, I translated a few briefs and articles here and there for the newsroom. However, we did not have an in-house editor at the time so these stories ran unedited and usually riddled with grammatical errors. Our intentions were good, and I was eager to start trying to build connections with the Spanish-speaking community, but I garnered more feedback from Anglo community members, excited to see Spanish in the paper although they couldn’t tell if it was correct or not.

We put translations on hold until we could find a freelance Spanish proofreader and give my translations the same attention to detail every English story we ran had. I also reached out to several Latino community leaders and learned that our actions appeared hasty and as if the translations were done just to check a box, not actually considering the experience Spanish readers would have with this content.

The past translations that remain on our website will receive the necessary edits, and going forward we are excited to work with Edgar Barrantes as our new freelance proofreader.

About Edgar Barrantes:

Barrantes comes from a small town in the center of an agricultural and livestock valley in the southern part of Costa Rica. As a first-generation university student, after completing his studies in Spanish philology, he emigrated to the United States, where he completed specializations in technical communication and rhetoric. Dr. Barrantes has produced a wide variety of technical documentation and translations into Spanish for various academic institutions and for U.S. governments. and Mexico. For the past five years, Barrantes has lived with his family in Glenwood Springs.

I want to be transparent about our previous work, recognize the mistakes we made and move forward with a clear cut plan to release articles on a regular basis that will be translated into Spanish. I am thankful for the Latino leaders who continue to work with us and be guides during this process. There’s still so much I don’t know about this community, but it’s time the Post Independent stepped up to add to the existing Spanish news sources here.

At the Post Independent, we want everyone who lives here to feel welcome and invited to conversations involving news coverage and local happenings. Non-English speakers are not secondary citizens, and they are not all exactly the same. As a community, we need to internalize this truth. These Monday Spanish sections don’t need to be discarded by people who only speak or read English, I think the integration of the two languages in one paper will hopefully send a message of unity.

This is a new project for us and we appreciate any and all feedback the Latino community has on how we’re doing and stories we may have missed. I am super excited to be a part of this new beginning for the Post and I look forward to the future and continuing to celebrate our community’s diversity. All of our different backgrounds help make Garfield County and the Roaring Fork Valley a more fruitful and abundant place to live.

jpeterson@postindependent.com