News

Noticiero Latino

International news service in Spanish.

About Noticiero Latino

Building on the success of Radio Bilingüe's live, bilingual broadcast of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions of 1984, a first in national radio, Noticiero Latino was launched in March 1985. It set out to cover highly needed news about day-to-day developments in the Latino communities of the United States.

At the end of the first year, the news service won a Golden Reel Award from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters for an in-depth feature report on women farm workers. Since then, it has been recognized for its journalistic excellence with four Silver Reel Awards from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, an award from the Media Institute in Washington, D.C., and others.

The newscast continues to bring newsworthy stories to Latino audiences throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico with its coverage of Latino accomplishments, civil rights issues, education, health, and many other topics relevant to Latinos. Over sixty public and commercial stations in the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico carry the news service.

Drawing from a network of talented news correspondents, Noticiero Latino currently offers three 5-minute daily news segments Monday through Friday. The morning bulletin airs at 10 AM PST, with repeats at 11:00 AM and 12:00 Noon. The afternoon bulletin runs at 1:00 PM as part of the talk show Línea Abierta and is repeated at 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM. The evening segment broadcasts at 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM PST.

In addition, Noticiero Latino offers a weekly magazine, Edición Semanaria, which reviews the top stories of the week. Edición Semanaria is a 14-minute program with in-depth features, commentary and news rundowns. It goes on the satellite every Friday at 4:00 PM.

Satélite Radio Bilingüe completes its top-of-the-hour news schedule with Edición Internacional de Noticias, four 5-minute news segments fed at 6 AM, 7 AM, 8 AM, and 9 AM by WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, in conjunction with the BBC of London and EFE Radio.

Funding sources for Noticiero Latino have included the Rosenberg Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. Mac Arthur Foundation, the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the California Endowment.

Edición Semanaria

WRTU-FM, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, produces the International News Edition, which focuses on news from Central and South America. Two of the daily segments are produced in collaboration with the Latin American Service of the BBC in London and Radio EFE from Spain.
The news bulletins air Monday through Friday at the top of the hour from 6 a.m. through 9 a.m. PST.

These newscasts are provided through Satélite Radio Bilingüe on the GE-1 and Galaxy VI satellites and are available at no cost to stations.

Línea Abierta

International call-in show in Spanish.

About Línea Abierta

Línea Abierta is the first and only talk show interconnecting Spanish-speaking audiences in public radio throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Línea Abierta is a one-hour, weekday talk show offering news, features, interviews, round-table discussions, special series and listener call-ins on topics such as health, immigration, education, the arts and culture, and current events.

Hosted by Executive Producer Samuel Orozco, and Wanda Colon Cortes and Paco Huerta; the program's producer is Sara Shakir.

Radio Bilingüe launched Línea Abierta in February 1995 on the two-satellite system Satélite Radio Bilingüe, in collaboration with Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico and Radio Educación in Mexico City.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The California Endowment, the National Endowment for the Arts and other supporters provide funding for the service.

Listeners toll-free line:

1-800-34-LINEA (U.S. and Puerto Rico)

95-800-010-2166 (Mexico)

Hosts and Commentators

Samuel Orozco
Orozco is the founding executive producer of Noticiero Latino, a groundbreaking news service spawned by the live bilingual broadcast of the national presidential conventions of 1984, and Línea Abierta, the first national call in show in Spanish (1995). He has been the news director of Radio Bilingüe since 1983 and directed the launching of the operations of Satélite Radio Bilingüe in 1993. He was awarded the 1996 Kaiser Media Fellowship in Health. He has been oral historian for the books "To the Promised Land," (1987) and "Organizing for our Lives," (1992). Prior to Radio Bilingüe, Orozco was a long-time community organizer.

Wanda Colón Cortés
Wanda is the host of the weekly Línea Abierta desde Puerto Rico from Radio Universidad in San Juan, PR. She is also the director for Proyecto Caribeño de Justicia y Paz, a non-profit organization that promotes a culture of peace. She also represents the environmental group Comunidades Opuestas a la Ruta 66. She has been a speaker on peace and the environment in international forums in the U.S. and Latin America. During the 1980s, Wanda served on women agencies for the governments of San Juan and Puerto Rico and worked as a producer and host for highly acclaimed radio news programs focusing on women issues.

Martha Elena Ramírez
Martha Elena Ramírez is managing producer of the radio program and chief editor of the weekly newspaper Voz Pública. This civic-journalism project was founded in 1978 in Mexico City by the late Paco Huerta, a pioneering journalist. Ramírez, who has journalism studies from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, has been part of the Voz Pública team for fifteen years.

Rosalba Piña
Born in Chicago of Mexican immigrants, Attorney Rosalba Piña is the founder of Law Offices of Rosalba Piña and practices exclusively immigration and nationality law. She is the co-founder of Esperanza Group Inc., publisher of Proyecto Ciudadanía, a bilingual guide to help prepare for naturalization. Ms. Piña is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the American Bar Association.

Dr. Samuel Schmidt
Political scientist and professor of social science at Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez, Schmidt is also the director of North American Studies at the Colegio de Chihuahua. He is former director for the Center for Interamerican and Border Studies at University of Texas, El Paso. He is author of over twenty books on political humor and analysis on the relation between the Mexican society and the State.