José Bayona Uses AI to Empower Community Media and Transform NYC Communication
José Bayona, a Colombian immigrant who arrived in New York City three decades ago, has dedicated his career to connecting diverse communities through journalism and government work. Now, he’s applying artificial intelligence to solve a persistent issue: how ethnic and community media outlets connect efficiently with advertisers.
As the former head of New York City’s Office of Ethnic and Community Media, Bayona saw firsthand the difficulty in matching hundreds of small media outlets serving immigrant and minority audiences with advertisers. “For a human being, that’s a process that is going to take days or weeks to negotiate,” he noted. Often, the same few media outlets got the majority of attention, limiting diversity in outreach.
To address this, Bayona launched Mosaic Connect, a platform that uses AI to match advertisers with the right community outlets in minutes rather than weeks. For Bayona, this is about more than business—it’s about empowering communities.
From Journalism to City Hall
Bayona’s career started soon after arriving in New York, studying political science and journalism at Baruch College and earning a master’s degree at CUNY’s Graduate School of Journalism. He worked with local media like Hora Hispana, NY1 Noticias, and El Diario.
Seeking more stability for his family, Bayona transitioned to government communications roles, including deputy press secretary at the Department of Transportation and the Administration for Children’s Services. He describes government communications as “basically like journalism at the same pace, 24/7,” involving constant interaction with reporters and media.
Building Infrastructure for Community Media
In 2018, Bayona became director of community media at City Hall under Mayor Bill de Blasio. At that time, New York had over 350 ethnic and community media outlets. Bayona helped create a vetted directory to connect city agencies with these outlets, improving the city’s ability to share information in different languages and through diverse platforms.
Under Mayor Eric Adams, Bayona proposed and helped establish a permanent Office of Ethnic and Community Media. This office has empowered community media to report confidently and helped publishers envision sustainable business models. Bayona’s efforts have inspired other cities, including Boston, San José, and Los Angeles, to consider similar offices.
From Public Service to Entrepreneurship
After leaving City Hall, Bayona founded Grassroots Strategies, a consulting firm focused on community media. He expanded the firm and launched Grassroots Media, which led to the development of Mosaic Connect.
The idea for Mosaic Connect came from the challenge Bayona observed in city government: advertisers and city staff struggled to distribute ad dollars effectively across hundreds of outlets. Advertisers often relied on the same few outlets, leaving many underserved.
Partnering with tech companies like Airtable and Singular Innovation, Bayona built Mosaic Connect as an AI-driven marketplace for community media ads. The platform works in two parts:
- Media Outlets: Register and provide detailed information such as circulation, rates, coverage areas, languages, and distribution channels.
- Advertisers: Specify target communities, locations, and campaign goals to receive AI-generated recommendations for suitable outlets.
The AI filters options based on the advertiser’s criteria — whether print, radio, digital, or specific ethnic communities — generating a media plan in hours instead of days. Bayona explains, “The same process with a traditional advertising agency could take like a week.”
AI as a Practical Tool, Not a Creative Director
Bayona emphasizes that AI on Mosaic Connect assists with recommendations but does not create ad content or influence ad messaging. “AI will give me the first interaction,” he said. “This is the recommendation. But AI will not lead the process. [Clients] lead the process.”
The platform does not produce creative assets or political ads; it simply matches advertisers with outlets. Clients retain full responsibility for their ad content.
To keep the platform accessible, Mosaic Connect charges a modest annual fee of $249, with the first month free to encourage registration. This fee is significantly lower than typical industry rates, and the platform does not take commissions, ensuring that media outlets receive full payment.
Empowering Communities and Improving Outreach
Mosaic Connect offers smaller campaigns, nonprofits, and businesses a way to engage diverse audiences affordably. Instead of expensive TV ads, they can reach targeted communities through ethnic and community media, often with better cost efficiency and impact.
Bayona sums it up simply: “When ethnic media survives, the community survives. And that means the whole city survives.”
For PR and communications professionals, this platform offers a new, efficient way to plan media buys that genuinely reflect the diversity of a city like New York. It’s a practical tool for widening reach and supporting community media businesses.
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