Public Forum:

• Are Latinos a key target of fake news campaigns?
• How big is the damage that disinformation causes to voters and society?
• How does it start and how does it spread in Latino communities?
• What are the difficulties in identifying and countering fake news?
• What can journalists and communities do to help combat falsehoods?

Panelists include:

Alma Martínez Executive Director, Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, Fresno, CA

Alma Martinez serves as the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative (CVJC) executive director. Prior to joining CVJC, Alma served the region’s diverse communities in the public and private sector. Alma’s professional journalism career started at nonprofit public radio network, Radio Bilingue where she focused on issues facing Latino, immigrant, and farmworker communities including healthcare access, environmental health, education, and civic participation. Born in Mexico, Ms. Martinez immigrated with her parents to California’s Central Valley at the age of three. She attended Los Banos High School and California State University, Fresno. Alma is married to Lucio Martinez, and they are proud parents to six children.

Rafael Olavarria Politics and Migration Fact-checker, Factchequeado, Atlanta, GA

Rafael began his career at CNN en Español as a writer, associate producer, and breaking news anchor, among other roles. He then worked as a multimedia journalist at Univision Atlanta,  where he led the fight against misinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2020 presidential election. Between 2021 and 2022 Rafael won 11 Southwest Emmy Awards, including Daily News Best Reporter both years. Rafael graduated with a degree in International Studies from the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas. He is also a guitarist, singer and songwriter, and although he has been away from the stage for years, he never misses an opportunity to participate in karaoke.

Alfredo Corchado Director Ejecutivo, Puente News Collaborative, El Paso, TX

Alfredo Corchado is the Executive Editor and Correspondent for Puente News Collaborative. He was the Mexico Bureau Chief for The Dallas Morning News, author of Midnight in Mexico and Homelands. Corchado is a 2009 Nieman Fellow at Harvard, winner of Maria Moors Cabot Prize from Columbia University and Colby College’s Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for Courage in Journalism. He graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso. His career includes The El Paso Herald-Post and The Wall Street Journal. Corchado was born in Durango, and lives between El Paso and Mexico City. He calls the border home.

Ricardo Sandoval-Palos Public Editor and Ombudsman, PBS, Washington, DC

Ricardo Sandoval-Palos is the PBS Public Editor. He’s the interlocutor between audiences and a global community of PBS content creators. Ricardo is an award-winning investigative reporter and editor. He’s helped shape nonprofit newsrooms and co-founded the digital magazine palabra, for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Ricardo was an editor at NPR’s Morning Edition, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and The Sacramento Bee. For 10 years, he covered Latin America for U.S. newspapers. And before that, he was an investigative reporter in California and co-author of the biography, “The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement.“

Moderador:

Samuel Orozco News and Information Director, Radio Bilingüe Network, Fresno, CA

Samuel Orozco is the founder and director of Radio Bilingüe’s national news service, which has been on the air for 40 years. During his tenure, he has led the launch of the news programs Línea Abierta in 1995 and Noticiero Latino in 1985, as well as numerous special coverages on news issues ranging from intense immigration reform debates and historic election days to landmark cases of environmental and racial justice and progressive health rights legislation. He was an oral historian for the books To the Promised Land and Organizing for Our Lives: New Voices from Rural Communities.