Celebrating 30 Years of Latino USA

(May 5, 2023) — Futuro Media announced the launch of “Celebrating 30 Years of Latino USA,” a campaign to commemorate the three decades that the Peabody Award-winning “Latino USA” has been on the air. Anchored by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa since 1993, “Latino USA” is the longest-running public radio program produced from a Latino perspective.

Today “Latino USA” is a weekly, nationally syndicated public radio program and podcast distributed by PRX. At most recent count, the partnership has helped drive listenership of the radio program by approximately 50% since spring 2020. “Latino USA” airs on 341 public media stations across the U.S. —including in each of the top 10 media markets— and the podcast is available free to audiences everywhere on-demand across all major podcast platforms.

In preparation for our momentous 30th anniversary, we will showcase special episodes that reflect the power of our past stories on the culture, politics, achievements, identity, and social contributions of Latino communities across our country.

We will open and close this anniversary celebration with two 1-hour special episodes. The first will be a media story focused on the history of “Latino USA.” The second will be an immigration special, with Hinojosa’s signature “no te vayas” nodding to the presidential election in 2024.

Maria Hinojosa was usually the first Latina journalist in the newsrooms where she worked. As such, she understood that excellence in journalism requires authenticity and representation. Three decades in, “Latino USA” flourishes as an award-winning show “with heart,” showcasing achievements and illuminating issues of concern to Latino communities.

“We understand it isn’t a matter of just speaking the same language, but sharing experiences,” said Maria Hinojosa, Anchor and Executive Producer of “Latino USA.”

“For 30 years, our rigorous reporting and authentic storytelling have focused on topics that are of concern to our communities. We have delved deep into the realities and lived experiences of Latinos and Latinas across the country, highlighting their voices. Through our work, we have offered our listeners profound audio journeys reflecting the real America.”

“‘Latino USA’ is not just an award-winning radio show and podcast. It is a cultural institution that has thrived against skeptics who questioned why have a Latino-centered show in the first place. It is a show that has chronicled the U.S. Latino experience over the last three decades and is now part of American journalism history,” said Julio Ricardo Varela, President of Futuro Media.

During this campaign, we will present segments from our rich archival tape. Framed around the 30th anniversary, these episodes will feature interviews with iconic Latinos and Latinas like Grammy Award winner Linda Ronstadt, labor rights activist Dolores Huerta, and documentary filmmaker Hector Galán.

“We’re using ‘Latino USA’’s 30th anniversary to assert our place in the history and story of Latino communities, and we’re doing that by connecting our outstanding archival coverage with today’s issues and by bringing back some of the defining voices whose work has broken boundaries and inspired us,” said Fernanda Santos, Editorial Director of Futuro Media. “There is and there has never been another show like ‘Latino USA.’”

Staying true to our mission to provide weekly insights into the lived experiences of Latino communities throughout the nation, “Latino USA” will also present the following segments and hour-long shows: “Latinos in the Military,” “The Legacy of Braceros,” “A History of AIDS in the Latino Community,” and a tribute show featuring voices from Latino notables that Maria Hinojosa interviewed over the past 30 years. These diverse themes are a testament to the cultural, political, and social contributions of the country’s fastest-growing demographic, their lasting legacy, and ways in which they are shaping the future.

In tandem with our broadcast and podcast efforts, there will be a strong and interactive social media campaign centered on messages from listeners and public radio talent.

Recent awards for “Latino USA” include the 2022 Premios Ondas for International Radio for “Limbo,” the 2022 One World Media Award for Refugee Reporting for “She Migrates,” and the 2021 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best News Documentary for “At The Mercy Of The Courts.” Our “The Moving Border” series received two prizes: the 2021 Sigma Delta Chi Award in Radio Documentary and the Overseas Press Club Award for Best Audio Documentary in International Reporting. Also in 2021, “Alzheimer’s In Color” won the Gracie Award for Radio Documentary.

To stay up to date on all 30th anniversary plans, follow “Latino USA” on all social media channels:

Twitter @LatinoUSA

Instagram @latinousa

Facebook @LatinoUSA

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About Futuro Media:

Winner of a 2022 Pulitzer Prize, Futuro Media is an independent, nonprofit organization producing multimedia journalism that explores and gives a critical voice to the diversity of the American experience. Based in Harlem and founded in 2010 by Pulitzer-award-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa, Futuro Media is committed to telling stories from points of view often overlooked by mainstream media. Futuro Media produces Peabody Award-winning Latino USA, the longest-running national Latino news and cultural public radio program; In The Thick, a politics podcast from the perspective of journalists and issue experts; Latino Rebels, a pioneering digital news outlet founded by Julio Ricardo Varela that reaches millions through its website and podcast; Futuro Studios focuses on original podcasts and programming; and Futuro Unidad Hinojosa focuses on investigative journalism and special projects.