Tucson Spotlight Deputy Editor Susan Barnett explored the closure of La Estrella de Tucsón for her master’s thesis at the University of Arizona. After La Estrella, once a vibrant newsroom serving immigrant and Latino communities, shut down in 2023, Tucson became a Spanish-language news desert. Now, independent outlets like El Foco de Tucson, Conecta Arizona, and Arizona Luminaria are working to fill the gap and keep Spanish-language journalism alive in Southern Arizona.

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