Inside PBS Blog

Hola Maria,

¿Cómo es usted? I hope you are doing well. I try to catch your show whenever I can and look forward to your excellent reporting.

You are the best!! Keep up the great work.

I have a few of questions:

As a college student studying communications, and with aspirations to be a career broadcast/print journalist, I've found that overwhelmingly that PBS, BBC News, and a few good print and broadcast journalists take their work seriously, and still turn out an exemplary product. What do you think are some challenges journalism faces, and do you think that journalism quality has declined because of the state of the industry or that some journalists aren't as good as the ones the replaced?

As an African-American, I am troubled by the lack of women and minorities in executive positions at newspapers, TV, and radio stations. Do you have any insights into why minorities and women don't advance quickly, or don't advance to administrative positions in news agencies?

How did you start as a journalist, and who do you look to as a mentor, inside or outside of the journalism community?

I was highly impressed with your report on the corruption in Alaska's politics.

Are you planning to do one on the situation in Illinois where both the governor and presidential candidate are on the edge of the recent scandal?

It appears to me that this one is the same sort of magnitude.

Jim Dooley

Involving Latinos in decision-making within their communities has been and continues to be a struggle. In your work covering the stories of communities with many Latino residents, are there any particular strategies you've seen work to mobilize involvement of Hispanics in civic life? As a Latina, one of the reasons I was hired by my employer, Everyday Democracy, was to further their efforts to recruit Hispanic involvement in civic life. The organization works with communities throughout the country to help a community's residents think, talk and work together to address challenges and strengthen their communities. We have had some, but small successes. I am not speaking about the bottom-up approach of rallies and confrontations, but the deliberative dialogue model Everyday Democracy works with communities to use -- people sitting together and talking, getting to know each other better and coming to a consensus on effective ways to move forward that will benefit the most people. Have you witnessed anything(s) during your career as a journalist that lights the fire of civic involvement among Latinos?

Why is it that there is no fairness doctrine for PBS when it comes to the vilification of Americans who are appalled by the open border assumptions, the callous disrespect for the rule of law and national sovereignty, and the slander( racist name calling) from the Spanish press for anyone that is opposed to their agenda?

Why are you so gorgeous?

Back in 2004 you went as far as implying that the use of the phrase "illegal aliens" could lead to a Holocaust (vdare.com/guzzardi/041112_hinojosa.htm). Do you realize that the U.S. Code uses that term and that it's the legally correct term? Or, do you believe that those Americans who support our laws - rather than opposing our laws due to ethnic nationalism - are akin to Nazis?

Maria - I was deeply moved by the report of s-chip and the lost benefits to low and middle income families. In your story there was a girl, I think named Ashley, in need of insulin to live and her benefits were going to be cut. Can you provide an update on her health? Is she somehow still receiving her insulin?

Keep up the great work!
Carlos

A question near and dear to my heart.

What are your sources for relevant US Hispanic-Latino news?
In English and en Espanol?
How important is it to have relevant US Hispanic-Latino news especially in an election year?

I ask

1. as a provider of what I believe to be the most relevant service HispanicTips.com with many Hispanic journalists subscribers
2. as one who is always looking for better sources because I feel that is vital for us to be informed
3. and because I genuinely am interested in how a leading respected Latina journalist such as yourself stays informed.

Many Thanks,
Tomas

I am a female, working in higher education (Computer Science) and am interested in working with middle and high school girls on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers. Minorities are particularly underrepresented in this area and I think this is a real loss.

There is money available to support this effort, but not much expertise. I would appreciate any insights or suggestions you might have for attracting and working successfully with these groups.

Thanks, Lauran

I hope that you see this and have time to check in with him. Jon has not called in the last two weeks. That's never a good sign.

It appears once again the Army is retaining him for another 2 or 3 months without explanation. He has moved through the discharge process, has signed for his PTSD disability, and should have been discharged in July. I'm not sure how long he can hold on.

I will always believe your piece on PBS NOW saved him then. You gave him hope, respect, and an opportunity to be heard. Thank you for that. He deserved every bit of it.

Obviously as a member of the Latin community you want to report on issues of interest to that community, as well as bring that community's issues and interests to a broader audience. But I think this natural desire also carries a risk of marginalization for minority journalists. I can think of one woman in particular who, given her voice and presence, should (in my opinion) be the main personality for the radio program on which she appears, yet the only airtime she seems to get is for the obligatory reports on Cinco de Mayo festivals and LA gang wars. Could you comment on the struggle between achieving mainstream success, while remaining true to one's community?

Maria, It is so nice that you've found a home at NPR, especially given that their leftist, pro illegal alien point of view is in line with your own philosophy.I can only assume that your far left point of view was intolerable for even Cnn. I can't say that I look foward to tour future propagandzing, however I'm sure that your audience At NPR will love it.

Ms. Hinohosa:

Brava on your program on the growing role of women in leadership. I share Bella Abzug's vision that a growing women's participation in government would mean that we would become a more compassionate, more representative, more democratic society. I want women in leadership to force this country to address the issues of health care, worker's rights, ending our condition of perpetual war, and leveling the playing field. However, there seems to be something about the culture of our country where women have been no better than men. Instead of Bella Abzug, we now get Sarah Palin and Nancy Pelosi.

I know this is not the point of your program. Women should be as free to be part of the problem as men are, but then why bother.

I would love to see a follow up program which addresses the question of why Ruanda and Chile can elect more enlightened women than we can.

Thank you again for a thought provoking, well-done program.

Dear Maria, I just wanted to Thank you for the hard work and dedication you have endured for many many years to bring us the Best Interviews, programs, Best reporting, and literature. You energize me everytime i watch your shows. I share my energy with my daughter Angie, and it makes me a better person. Dont worry, i'm not a stalker, just a grateful fan here in the South. Union City, Tennesse. I moved here from California in 1994, and the first question these lovely southerners asked was "Are you related to the cnn reporter?" My sister Ana, gave me your book on "Raising Raul" as a birthday gift in 2002. I thought it was a cute, until one day, i decided to read it, and by the time i finished it i had laughed, cried, laughed, cried, and ended up connecting to alot of what you shared. Wow. Gracias Maria. Te Adoro mucho!

Maria,

As a young immigrant Latin woman, I was particularly offended by your recent NOW interview with Joe Arpaio. You were biased, emotional and, quite frankly, totally unprofessional as you engaged in your "gotcha" barrage of questions. While I could not care less about Mr. Arpaio, he made you look foolish by the way he responded to your onslaught. Your obession with "protecting" illegal immigrants, particularly those of Mexican decent, is beyond bizarre. When will you wake up and realize that this country is the most welcoming country on earth for LEGAL immigrants? Your divisive, race-focused (Latino-obsessed) reporting runs totally anathema to what this wonderful nation is about. Shame on you.

Que algún día lo veas más claro.

P.U.