The number of ethnic newspapers and magazines published in New York City is growing at a steady clip, with 270 publications currently targeting the city's diverse population. Nearly half of the publications in the survey use a language other than English and 14 percent use more than one language.

"Many Voices, One City", published by the Independent Press Association, found dailies serving communities including blacks, Greeks, Israelis, Italians, Russians and Serbs. More than 60 ethnic groups publish newspapers or magazines in 42 languages, according to the study. Six dailies are published for people of Chinese descent, five for Koreans and four for Latinos.

Last year's survey found 198 ethnic publications in the city, a figure that has tripled since a decade ago.

The growth reflects the intricate diversity within the city's ethnic groups shown in last year's census figures. In both the Asian and Hispanic categories, for example, immigrants are coming from more countries, rather than in mass numbers from a few places.
New York has always had an ethnic press but it has ebbed and flowed in size and composition, said Abby Scher, director of IPA-NY.

In 1920, 140 ethnic newspapers were published in the city, some with circulation in the hundreds of thousands. By 1990, a New York University report found only 65 ethnic publications in the city, though Scher thought the actual number may have been higher.
Scher said that the circulation of current ethnic publications was generally around 15,000 to 20,000. Some, like a Bosnian newspaper, survive on circulation as small as 5,000, and others, like the Spanish daily Hoy, can reach circulation well over 60,000.

Scher said a significant portion of the publications began in the 1990s, and that many of those now included in the survey have been in operation for more than a year. Among the new papers included in this year's survey is the Bukharian Times, which serves Jewish immigrants from Uzbekistan, written in a combination of Russian and Farsi.