''Latino USA'' is a nationally syndicated public radio program and

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

produced by The Futuro Media Group and distributed nationwide by the

Public Radio Exchange The Public Radio Exchange (PRX) is a non-profit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs. The organization is the largest on-demand catalogue of public radio programs available for broadcast and internet ...

(PRX), after 27 years of being distributed by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. The program is anchored by

Maria Hinojosa Maria de Lourdes Hinojosa Ojeda (born July 2, 1961) is a Mexican-American journalist. She is the anchor and executive producer of ''Latino USA'' on National Public Radio, a public radio show devoted to Latino issues. She is also the founder, pres ...

History

According to founding Executive Producer Maria Emilia Martin, ''Latino USA'' was born following several failed attempts by NPR to create Latino-oriented programming for public radio. The program originated at

KUT Kūt ( ar, ٱلْكُوت, al-Kūt), officially Al-Kut, also spelled Kutulamare or Kut al-Imara, is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about south east of Baghdad. the estimated population is about 389,400 people. It ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. KUT approached the Center for Mexican-American Studies at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

for a partnership in the production of the series. Dr. Gil Cardenas, director of the Center for Mexican-American Studies, co-wrote a grant proposal with KUT-FM to the

Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to non-commercial, ...

(CPB) that eventually led to the creation of ''Latino USA'', which premiered in April 1993. Originally launched by University of Texas in Austin and the

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in 1992, it was a cutting-edge experiment to create an English-language Latino-centered public radio program. "The Futuro Media Group to Produce NPR's ''Latino USA''
KUT.org. . In 1992, Maria Emilia Martin left her position as editor at NPR in

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to become ''Latino USA''s founding Executive Producer. She brought Maria Hinojosa on board as the program anchor, a post she still holds. In 2000, responsibility for the administration of ''Latino USA'' was transferred from the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, to KUT-FM, based at UT's College of Communication. In 2002, Maria Emilia Martin left her position as Executive Producer and was replaced by Hinojosa. In 2006, Hinojosa had the title "Managing Editor" added. In 2010, Futuro Media Group, a production company founded by Hinojosa, assumed full developmental and production responsibilities for ''Latino USA'', including content, research and reporting. In 2012, the show transitioned from its half-hour format to its current one-hour format, overseen in turn by senior producers Carolina González, A.C. Valdez, and Daisy Rosario.

Today

Today, ''Latino USA'' is a public radio show with a dedicated focus on America's Latino community. It is the longest-running Latino-focused program on the radio and the foremost voice in public media providing insight into the experience of Latinos throughout the United States. It is ranked among the top ten in five of the top 25 national markets.

Awards

''Latino USA'' has won multiple journalism awards, most recently the 2010 Radio Impact Award from the

Third Coast International Audio Festival The Third Coast International Audio Festival (TCIAF or TCF), based in Chicago, curates audio stories from around the world and showcases them in various mediums. It is informally referred to as the "Sundance of Radio". The festival was affiliated ...

. It has also received The

Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism is a journalism award named after Robert F. Kennedy and awarded by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. The annual awards are issued in several categories and were est ...

; the

Radio-Television News Directors Association The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA, pronounced the same as " rotunda"), formerly the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), is a United States-based membership organization of radio, television, and online news dire ...

's Edward R. Murrow Award; The

Scripps Howard Foundation The Scripps Howard Fund is a public charity that supports philanthropic causes important to the E. W. Scripps Company, an American media conglomerate which owns television stations, cable television networks, and other media outlets. The goal of ...

National Journalism Award The Scripps Howard Awards, formerly the National Journalism Awards are $10,000 awards in American journalism given by the Scripps Howard Foundation. As of 2022, the categories are: * Excellence in Coverage of Breaking News * Excellence in Broad ...

;

The Gabriel Award ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

; The Gracie Allen Award; and numerous awards from the

National Federation of Community Broadcasters The National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB) is a national membership organization of community-oriented, non-commercial radio stations, media organizations and producers committed to community radio in the United States. History N ...

. In April 2015, ''Latino USA'' earned a Peabody Award for "Gangs, Murder, and Migration in Honduras," a 2014 documentary which detailed the motivation behind the migration of thousands seeking to escape the violence of Honduras for a life in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

.Entry for ''Latino USA'': "Gangs, Murder, and Migration in Honduras"
from PeabodyAwards.com (accessed 4/20/2015)

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.latinousa.org
Latino USA Scheduled Broadcasts
Hispanic and Latino American mass media 1992 radio programme debuts American news radio programs English-language radio programs