El Tímpano

El Tímpano—Spanish for “eardrum”—informs, engages, and amplifies the voices of Latino and Mayan immigrants of Oakland and the wider Bay Area.

El Tímpano launched in 2018 after a 9-month participatory design process that involved hundreds of residents and dozens of community leaders from Oakland’s Latino and Mayan immigrant communities. This process helped shape El Tímpano’s innovative approach to local journalism and civic engagement – utilizing a two-way text messaging platform to surface community members’ stories and questions on local and national issues and provide news and information relevant to their needs. El Tímpano also has a team of reporters who investigate the concerns they hear from the community through in-depth, accountability journalism.

Want to learn more?

To sign up for El Tímpano’s Spanish-language text messaging service, text “OÍR” to (510) 800-8305. You’ll receive weekly news, information, and resource navigation. 

To watch Tumil, El Tímpano’s Mam-language videos with information, news, and resources, click here and follow El Tímpano on Facebook. 

For El Tímpano’s resource guide curated with resources for the East Bay’s Latino and Mayan immigrants, go to www.eltimpano.org/guia.

You can read the team’s in-depth reporting at www.eltimpano.org, as well as by signing up for the newsletter and following El Tímpano on Instagram and LinkedIn. 

If you or your school, church, or community organization would like to help spread the word about this vital information service utilized by thousands of Latino and Mayan immigrants, contact their team at hola@eltimpano.org.