As Easy As Uno, Dos, Tres

Perhaps long overdo, but right on the money, comes ENTRO Mi Diario, a new Spanish-language newspaper serving the Tampa Bay area. The weekly publication will launch late next month and comes on the heels of CENTROtampa.com, which went online Sept. 15. The two will become three when Centro Cápsulas, a media partnership with radio and TV providers, starts up later this year.

This eventual trifecta will fall under the umbrella of the Florida Communications Group, which oversees The Tampa Tribune, WFLA News Channel 8 and TBO.com. All are owned by Media General Inc., a Virginia-based firm that describes itself as “an independent, publicly owned communications company situated primarily in the Southeast with interests in newspapers, television stations and interactive media.”

That said, TBM hopes this newly minted media brand – aptly dubbed CENTRO Grupo De Comunicación – turns out to more than an excuse to mint money. Not that corporations can take risks without expecting a reward (and any new communication venture is definitely a risk) but there is a substantial opportunity here. Will this trio turn out to be the media equivalent of a fast-food place, like Taco Bell, or will it be more of a Columbia Restaurant? (You can guess TBM’s preference.)

Here’s why this is an important question: Pull out a globe. Study the strategic geographic location of Tampa Bay. Let your eyes follow the curve around the Gulf of Mexico, and amble south. Then ponder this: Tampa could one day be the “Gateway to the Americas,” an International City where trade and commerce flourish, and whose Hispanic heritage helps facilitate this transformation.

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, "Let us not underestimate the privileges of the mediocre. As one climbs higher, life becomes ever harder; the coldness increases, responsibility increases."

Media General could make a lot of money with a mediocre effort as a result of its historic Hispanic initiative. TBM hopes they climb a little higher, where the air is cold, and possibly a different kind of reward awaits. The result will be just as profitable . . . maybe more so.