While ethnic orientated newspapers have continued to increase readership bases as mainstream papers suffered circulation declines, these papers serving immigrant and minority groups in the United States are now having to make similar staff cuts and closures as their larger counterparts, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

Newspapers that immigrant communities rely upon to stay informed and navigate American life have continually shown lasting readership strength as more immigrants arrive in the United States and older non-English speaking readers prefer print over the Internet.

However, the ongoing recession has caused a severe drop in advertising, especially for immigrant-owned small businesses that advertise with ethnic newspapers. The advertising downturn could have a marked affect on immigrant assimilation and participation in the United States, according to the AP.

"Ethnic newspapers are the lifeline for many immigrant communities," David Lee, a San Francisco State University professor who heads the nonprofit Chinese for Affirmative Action, told the AP. "The trend of ethnic papers closing or cutting back editorial content or circulation could have very negative effects on voter or civic participation in those communities."

AsianWeek, an English-language San Francisco weekly with a circulation of 58,000, published its last newspaper on January 2 and laid off its entire editorial staff. It continues to publish online with contributions from freelance journalists.

"It has become more and more difficult to run a hard-copy publication and make it profitable," said James Fang, whose father founded the newspaper in 1979. "The printer is very unforgiving."

Meanwhile, Hoy New York, a Spanish-language daily, stopped publishing on December 30. Its Los Angeles and Chicago counterparts are still in print, but their publisher, Tribune Co., has sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The San Francisco Bay View, which has served black readers for 30 years, has stopped publishing its weekly edition last summer. The Bay View continues to publish online as well as a monthly print edition, according to the AP.

Ethnic newspapers often exist as very low budget and low profit businesses, as they exist as a community tool to help immigrant transition and serve the unique lives of ethnic groups in the states.

Some industry professionals believe the closures of some operations could be healthy for ethnic newspapers.

"There's really a weeding out of Hispanic publications going on, which in reality is probably better for the market," said Kirk Whisler, who heads the Carlsbad, Latino Print Network. "The market is viable and growing. The growth rates will slow because of our economic crisis. But will there be advertisers wanting to reach this segment? Definitely."