Giving Voice to Milwaukee’s Latino Community

The room was filled with the boom of Victor Huyke’s passionate voice Monday, as he shared the ins and outs of El Conquistador Latino Newspaper with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students interested in media professions.

Huyke strolled into the classroom, at noon Monday, with a stack of newspapers under his arm and a smile on his face. That’s nothing out of the ordinary for Huyke, which the students realized quickly when listening to the tales of this 17-year-old bilingual newspaper, which he is often known to hand deliver.

“My [delivery] guys get mad when I tell them I’m riding along because they know a two-hour route is going to turn into a six-hour route,” said Huyke.

It was obvious that Huyke truly cares for his readers and the Latino community as he shared his passion for tradition. The paper’s original purpose was to inform “newcomers” [in the Latino community] of what was happening in their area locally and nationally around the country. The paper continues with that mission to this day.

El Conquistador remains a tangible object, while most other publications are switching to solely an online presence.

“We still want to give people the feel of a real newspaper,” said Huyke.

Huyke said the newspaper tries to focus on many things that other media outlets miss.   For example, the Latino presence in sports and events seems under covered by other media in town, he said. Recently the Conquistador covered a story on the Latino Family Expo, which Huyke also organized. “We were the only ones to cover this,” said Huyke.

Huyke is the founder of the paper and laughed with pride when telling the class of the times he has been recognized in the community not as Victor but as El Conquistador. The paper was founded on July 4, 1998, which Huyke said was not a coincidence. He commented with pride that each year that the country celebrates its birthday so does El Conquistador. The paper not only covers national and city wide news, but it also has ads for the classified section and job openings.

The audience today for El Conquistador has changed throughout the years, however; the paper has changed with them. The paper is still meant to inform those who are Spanish or Latino by heritage, but as so many speak English now, they don’t rely as heavily on the Spanish written stories as they used to. That hasn’t stopped the El Conquistador from catering to those who require the Spanish translations.

Huyke’s drive to stay relatable and relevant in the community stems from his own history, as he came to America at the age of 8-years-old. Huyke came with his family to Wisconsin, right to Milwaukee, from Puerto Rico. The men in his family have had a connection to newspapers and the media for generations, and Huyke never imagined himself doing anything other than what he does today.

He has been prevalent in Milwaukee media, and he laughed about the fact that “[He] has worked at every paper in Milwaukee besides the Onion.” Huyke has seen all sides of the media as well. His abilities include publication, design, editorial, sales and distribution.

Today, Huyke’s official title is publisher and editor-in-chief of the El Conquistador Latino Newspaper.

The students who sat with Huyke for an hour are part of the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies’ Department’s LLC, of Living Learning Community. “The JAMS LLC is designed to give UWM freshman students exposure to media careers,” said Jessica McBride, LLC instructor and senior lecturer in JAMS.  The students live together in the dorms, organized around common interest.

Student Bianca Camiro’s comment ended the day. “Being half Hispanic, it’s nice to know that there is something out there that embraces the Hispanic community,” she said.