FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2010
Recession, Census count take Radio Bilingüe’s year-long
national multimedia series on the economy to D.C., North Carolina
The recession and the Census count will be the topics in North Carolina and Washington D.C. when Radio Bilingüe’s year-long national multi-media series on the economy, “Frente a la Crisis/Facing the Crisis” makes its next three stops next week.
On Saturday, March 20, in Washington, The Línea Abierta on the Road series will broadcast from La Clínica del Pueblo in the heart of the barrio in the nation’s capital from 6 to 8 p.m. EDT.
In North Carolina on March 23 and 24 from 3 to 5 p.m. EDT, the program will broadcast live from MAIN-FM in Asheville on Tuesday and WCOM in Carrboro on Wednesday.
Samuel Orozco, executive producer, and Graciela "Chelis" Lopez, the host of Línea Abierta from San Francisco, will host the fifth, sixth and seventh stops of the economy series tour. Since it began in September, the tour has broadcast from southern California, Arizona and Iowa as well as Washington DC in January.
Radio Bilingüe is partnering with two community-based affiliate stations in North Carolina for a set of live broadcasts from the state that is the home of the fastest growing and the hardest-to-count Latino population in the country.
“We are visiting these locations to explore on national public media forums two issues critical for Latinos: the recession and the census undercount -- and to discuss the factors and forces that conspire against the recovery and the full count of Latinos,” he added.
For the series on the economy, “Facing the Crisis,” the show will examine what is driving Latinos to come and settle in such numbers in this Southern state as well as feature stories about how newcomer entrepreneurs are defying the odds with their successful coops.
For the Census series, “Cuentas Justas,” the discussion will look at those factors that are making Latino populations in this state among the hardest to count.
“We know that in North Carolina, entire communities live in fear of law enforcement checkpoints and White supremacist hate groups,” Orozco said. “This uncertainty affects not only the once thriving stores and businesses in these towns, but also the Census count, which in turn will impact the share of congressional seats and federal dollars that come to these communities.”
The Línea Abierta team also will show how workers and small businesses struggle often without success to buy or keep their health insurance, while health insurance companies continue raising medical costs and government agencies keep cutting essential programs.
Additionally, the programs will present remarkable grassroots efforts under way for health care reform, civic leaders offering community credit unions as an alternative to big banks, and community activists who struggle to persuade reluctant Latinos to prevent their chronic undercount.
The series is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The California Endowment, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, and the James Irvine Foundation.
Contact: María de Jesús Gómez, 559-455-5782, chuyag@radiobilingue.org
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PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS
"Facing the Crisis" (The Economy Series):
Tuesday, March 23 -- 4 p.m. EDT (Asheville). North Carolina has become a leading destination point for Latino immigrants with the fastest growing Latino population in the U.S. The new arrivals have transformed many towns into what some call the Nuevo South. Many newcomers began to invest and prosper as business owners, revitalizing local economies. But their future is now uncertain as loss of jobs and the threat of deportation have forced immigrant workers to spend less or hide deeper into the shadows. How would immigration reform impact these small businesses? This will be a topic to discuss at MAIN-FM 103.5 LP FM in Asheville, NC.
Wednesday, March 24 -- 3 p.m. EDT (Carrboro). Listeners will hear the story of La Cooperativa Comunitaria Latina de Crédito (Latino Community Credit Union) in Raleigh-Durham, described as the first Latino-oriented financial center in North Carolina and a model for similar institutions in other areas of the country. After the collapse of Wall Street and the bank bailout, more consumers are moving their money from large banks to community-based credit unions. This program will air from WCOM-FM 103.5 LP in Carrboro, NC.
Saturday, March 20 -- 4 p.m. PDT. – Health Insurance Reform (Washington, DC). President Obama is calling for what is described as the biggest changes to the medical system since Medicare was created in 1965. Leaders in Congress plan to use a simple majority under the budget-reconciliation process to pass this bill. What is at stake for community clinics in low-income barrios and for the millions of uninsured Latinos? This is a roundtable discussion from La Clínica del Pueblo, a bilingual health center that provides free care to Latinos in D.C.
"Cuentas Justas"/"Fair Count”
Program I. MAIN-FM, Asheville, NC, 3 PM EDT
Program II. WCOM-FM, Carrboro, NC, 4 PM EDT
North Carolina is considered a “hard-to-count” Census area where grassroots organizers are reaching out to Spanish-speaking immigrants to prevent the gross undercount of ten years ago, when a large number of Latinos were missed by the Census. This time, the organizers face an uphill battle as farm workers and migrant families fear federal deportation raids, local police checkpoints and White supremacist groups. The call by vocal Protestant Latino pastors to boycott the Census is compounding the problems for those campaigning for an accurate count.
The special radio programs will look into the efforts of immigrant-rights advocates to encourage Latinos to overcome their fears and participate in the census count and get the federal government to suspend immigration raid operations.
SATURDAY, MARCH 20 -- 3 p.m. PDT. -- 2010 Census to Change Political Map (Washington, DC). The Latino population is exploding and in a number of states the new constituents will have a significant impact on the political landscape. After the 2010 Census, some states will get extra seats in the U.S. Congress and other states will not lose seats because Latinos have moved into those areas in record numbers. Línea Abierta on the Road goes to the nation's capital to explore the impact that a full count of Latinos would have on the reapportionment of Congressional seats after the Census 2010. This is a roundtable from La Clínica del Pueblo, in the heart of the barrio of the nation's capital.
Línea Abierta on the Road series background
Since The Línea Abierta on the Road series began in September as part of Radio Bilingüe, Inc.’s new national series “Frente a la Crisis/Facing the Crisis,” Línea Abierta has assembled news and reporting teams to go into the heartlands of the nation and unveil compelling stories about the impact on and role of Latinos in the recession and economic recovery. They are chronicling the effects of the economic crisis in the Latino community, particularly unemployment.
The series also is examining other elements of the crisis’s fallout such as access to food, shelter and healthcare and mental health issues associated with job loss, home loss and deepened poverty.
The comprehensive, special multimedia series airs on Satélite Radio Bilingüe’s nationally-distributed news and talk services, Línea Abierta and Edición Semanaria de Noticiero Latino. Línea Abierta broadcasts daily at noon and Edición Semanaria airs weekly on Fridays at 4 p.m. -- each featuring weekly episodes of the “Frente a la Crisis/Facing the Crisis” series over a twelve month period.
This national coverage foray into the communities hardest hit by unemployment and foreclosures portrays on the national airwaves outstanding efforts at the local level, including community-organizing initiatives, citizen ideas and government programs to help workers and homeowners get out of the economic crisis.
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About Radio Bilingüe
Radio Bilingüe is a community-based radio network with a satellite system that reaches 125 affiliates throughout the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico as well as its own six stations in California. Radio Bilingüe provides audiences with news, information and cultural programming from its award-winning programs Noticiero Latino and Línea Abierta. Programming is also available via webcast on Radio Bilingüe Internet: www.radiobilingue.org. The network’s online service features links to program audio archives, podcasting multimedia files, timely news transcripts, several interactive blogs, hyperlinks to relevant organizations and more.
Funds for Radio Bilingüe's news services are provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The Ford Foundation, The California Endowment, the James Irvine Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, The California Wellness Foundation, the ZeroDivide Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Our partners:
WCOM, 103.5 LP FM in Carrboro, NC.
WCOM is a non-profit station serving diverse and under-represented audiences in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and nearby communities with cultural and educational programming.
MAIN-FM, 103.5 LP FM in Asheville, NC.
MAIN-FM is a non-commercial station broadcasting in Asheville, NC and globally via Internet. The station is a project of the Mountain Area Information Network, a non-profit Internet Service Provider and community network dedicated to increasing citizen access to the media and the public sphere.