PRINTOn the Job: Tómas Custer
Tomás custer responds to the need for news in the national Hispanic community.
Ben Dillon
Tomás Custer, who runs Hispanictips.com, sits in Peace Park in May. As the sole operator of his Web site, he’s granted a flexibility that allows him to make his office wherever he wants — as long as there’s an Internet connection.
August 7, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Tomás Custer’s job proves that when your work is online, it doesn’t matter where you live. The Columbia resident is a collector of news geared toward Hispanics. His Web site, Hispanictips.com, created in July 2005, contains daily links to Hispanic news stories from media sources all over the country. His site is beginning to gain national attention, and in August he’ll be one of two Latino bloggers to cover the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Vox spoke to Custer about how Hispanictips serves the Latino community.
Vox: What is your favorite part of running Hispanictips?
Tomás Custer: Since I’m third generation already, I didn’t learn Spanish when I was growing up even though my grandmother spoke Spanish. So, I love learning about where I come from and who I am. So many Hispanics seem to have an identity crisis in this country, (no matter what) country they are from.
Vox: Why do you think it is important to provide this service for the Hispanic community?
TC: Knowledge is power. I think it all comes down to the fact that Hispanics as a group haven’t been given much coverage in any news. I saw a huge gap in knowledge, a huge gap in service and news, and I’m seeking to fill it.
Vox: As you comb through so many stories every day, are you ever affected by the negative or depressing ones you find?
TC: I get upset, but at the same time ... my duty is to get the news out there if it’s upsetting, discouraging, uplifting or not. I just want to get it out there and then let people make their own choices.
Vox:What types of stories about the Hispanic population are missing from the mainstream media?
TC: Good stories, uplifting stories. How valuable we are to communities. That’s what I’m always looking for. I don’t want to know that X number of Latinos are dropping out in whatever state. I would rather find some cool person that is doing some cool thing for the Hispanic community or for the country.
Vox: What’s in the future for Hispanictips?
TC: I am going to continue. I am not going to give up. Either I am going to get bought out by some larger media conglomerate, or I’ll be making enough money where I am happy and I can keep on doing this. The reason I am doing this is because we need to know this information.
