Building on that success, Ibargüen engineered a complete editorial re-imagining of Nuevo Herald . In November 1998, he hired as editor and publisher the respected Carlos Castañeda, who had helped the Puerto Rican El Nuevo Dia grow from 16,000 to 230,000 circulation, and consulted to dozens of fledgling newspapers in newly democratic Latin American countries. "The only thing I require of you is a newspaper that cannot be confused with the Miami Herald ," Ibargüen recalls telling Castañeda.

Castañeda delivered. With a staff of 84, including 11 general assignment reporters (compared to 425 on the Miami Herald editorial staff), El Nuevo Herald set out to cover its community in-depth. ENH had never published editorials per se, but it did run signed opinion pieces every day' a prominent outlet for forceful community views. Located on the sixth floor of the Miami Herald building, it prided itself especially on outperforming the Miami Herald . "It was absolutely my intent that they should compete," comments Ibargüen. "Why in the world would you make them play well together? They should be competing for the story." He adds:

[ El Nuevo Herald ] had a much livelier sense of the community. The Arts & Culture Section was significantly more sophisticated than the Miami Herald . The sense of sports and entertainment as key parts of the community, as things that ought to be on the front page of a newspaper, was important.

Listen to Ibargüen on El Nuevo Herald .

Castañeda stepped down in December 2001, replaced by Humberto Castelló , who had joined the paper in 1997. The paper Castelló inherited boasted bold graphics, color pictures, and catchy headlines. The Columbia Journalism Review admiringly termed it "a hybrid, a flashy mix of Latin élan, Cuban exile political fervor, and People magazine. It's a broadsheet with a tabloid mentality." [1] On the other hand, "El Nuevo can be sensational, hyperbolic, pandering to the worst instincts," noted Jim Mullin, editor of the alternative weekly New Times . [2]

During Castañeda's tenure, El Nuevo Herald had developed an ever-stronger following. In three years, circulation had climbed to some 98,000 on Sunday (from 90,000 in 1999) and 91,000 daily (from 76,000). Its revenues grew from $20 to $30 million. [3] In May 2002, ENH continued to attract plaudits when it won the prestigious 2001 Ortega y Gasset Journalism Award, given to the best Spanish-language daily newspaper in the world. By 2006, as the ills of the newspaper world gathered force, circulation fell to some 87,000 daily. [4] But it was still an important player in the Miami community.