Ejecutiva del Miami Herald pinta el cochino con pintura de labio

On Sunday, Random Pixels posted an internal email from Miami Herald publisher David Landsberg in which he announced the upcoming launch of a new Spanish-language tabloid called Caliente.

Reaction to Landsberg's email, and the new publication, was quick, and pretty much the same.

Pander-ama: the Miami Herald goes after Hispanics in the most stereotypical way possible. http://t.co/2nkVXPpyMB
— Damien Cave (@damiencave) September 8, 2013

Miami New Times summed up the new tabloid this way:

New Miami Herald Gossip Rag Panders to Racial Stereotypes

Gossip! Bikinis! ¡Futbol! Next Wednesday, Hispanic readers will finally get what they've been waiting for...or at least that's what Miami Herald publisher David Landsberg seems to think.

On a Facebook page for current and former Miami Herald staffers, one former Herald reporter - perhaps half-jokingly - posted this comment: "If I still worked there, I would chain myself to the presses to prevent its distribution."

But the most vocal criticism of Caliente and Landsberg's email came from inside the Herald's Doral headquarters.

In an email to Random Pixels, a Herald staffer reacted angrily to Landsberg's memo: "It is unreal. Also so revealing. There are so many great people left at the paper doing good work. For this f**kface to taint us all with an email is so painful. Plus HOW COULD HE NOT KNOW HOW THAT EMAIL READ???"

However, not everyone thinks the new venture is such a bad idea.

One South Florida-based Cuban-American journalist told me: "The email doesn't offend me. It sounds like they are trying to do a print version of what you see on Spanish-language morning TV news and gossip/entertainment shows."

And the reaction yesterday from Miami Herald executives regarding my leaking the news of their new baby? Pretty much as you might expect: Crickets.

But today, a writer at the Maynard Institute's Journal-isms blog managed to get a comment from Lourdes Alvarez, the Herald's Marketing manager, who comes off sounding a bit like she's trying to put lipstick on a pig:

Asked if he wanted to elaborate or clarify, [David] Landsberg referred Journal-isms to Lourdes M. Alvarez, marketing manager of Miami Herald Media Co.

"The comments on the site that you reference are unfortunately not correct. While we do not respond to sites of this nature, we appreciate that you reached out to us to get the correct information," Alvarez said by email.

"We constantly use research to help us broaden our array of publications to reach the greatest number of readers in South Florida.

"Our new Caliente weekly tabloid is an exciting product that mirrors tabloid publications that are commonly produced by mainstream newspapers in Latin America and the Caribbean to capture a different audience.

"Caliente is hyper-local, light and very interactive. Features will include headlines from Latin America, celebrity gossip, movie reviews, dining trends, health and recipes, advice columns, horoscopes, sports and telenovelas (Spanish soap operas). It will also profile our Chica Caliente, a bikini model who will heat up the pages of Caliente with fashionable swimwear. This product is exciting for us. It is new and unlike any other currently in the market, and will serve a segment of our diverse South Florida community. . . ."