Radio Bilingue's Hugo Morales receives the Murrow

Originally published in Current, May 24, 1999. This brief was accompanied by a extensive profile of Morales reprinted from the Fresno Bee.

Hugo Morales, 50, founder of public radio's Spanish-language superstation, Radio Bilingue, received this year's Edward R. Murrow Award.

Accepting the CPB award May 15 [1999] during the Public Radio Conference, Morales drew a connection with Murrow, the CBS newsman whose landmark documentary, "Harvest of Shame," brought wide public attention to the exploitation of farmworkers — now Radio Bilingue's core audience.

Rather than detailing his own 23-year saga in building the California-based public radio group, however, Morales talked mostly about Samuel Orozco, a longtime lieutenant who is now news and public affairs director of Radio Bilingue and head of its satellite network, Satelite Radio Bilingue.

Orozco and his journalists give empowering information to farmworkers like those featured in Murrow's documentary, Morales said, and the national Spanish-language talk show Linea Abierta gives them a platform to speak for themselves. "This is public radio," Morales concluded.

"Hugo is someone who is committed to community service both at its most fundamental human level and also at a broad, national level," said CPB President Bob Coonrod, presenting the award. "He has achieved much of his success by creating and nurturing strategic alliances within local and national Hispanic and public broadcasting communities."

Radio Bilingue owed its start-up to foundation grants, according to Tom Thomas, a longtime consultant to Radio Bilingue, but despite the low income of its listeners, it has now developed some business underwriting, listener support and fundraising events.

For most pubcasters, Thomas said, it would be very difficult to imagine working and succeeding in such a different setting, with an audience that registers so differently on standard demographic scales, but interviews with listeners show that they share the same qualities of curiosity, broad world view and civic engagement that typify public radio audiences elsewhere.

 

	.	To Current's home page
	.	Earlier news: Satelite Radio Bilingue begins feed to public radio stations, 1993.
	.	Later news: Public radio decided to continue subsidy of Satelite as well as AIROS, the Native American public radio service, 1999.
	.	Outside link: Radio Bilingue.

Web page posted Feb. 12, 2001
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