2005 Grantees

Noticias Tuyas

CONTACT INFO

Noticias Tuyas
P.O. Box 859
Hood River, OR 97031
(541) 387-6782
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Noticias Tuyas, which translated to English means “Your News,” set out to launch a weekly half-hour, prime-time, bilingual news program, broadcast on low-power FM radio station, Radio Tierra 95.1 FM KZAS, that will target the Latino residents who comprise more than 25 percent of the community. Broadcasts will feature local news, opinions written and read by community members, and educational forums with a Latino perspective on the news. Community members will be trained to research, write radio scripts, and edit audio.

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Jump to progress reports:
• November 2005
 
 
 

November 2005

The Hood River area’s first bilingual news program, Noticias Tuyas (“Your News") launched Aug. 16 on Radio Tierra, KZAS 95.1 FM in Oregon’s Columbia Gorge region. The show, which transitions between English and Spanish without translations, regularly airs every Saturday at 7 a.m. and re-runs at noon the same day.

Each half-hour show adopts a set format, said staff coordinator John Mendez. A Local Issues segment focuses on a topic that affects community members. Next comes an Opinion or Interview segment. Interviews are typically conducted in English, whereas the other segments are usually in Spanish. Then an “Open Mic” segment invites community members to express opinions live on the air, either by visiting the station or via a prerecording. Noticias Tuyas doesn’t have a call-in system yet.

Recent guests included an attorney with Oregon Legal Services speaking on labor issues, an immigration caseworker with Hood River Legalization Program, and a local art director speaking about a Day of the Dead exhibit. The program also devotes time to reporting state, national and international news.

Five core volunteers have worked to create a program that appeals to a bilingual audience. “Our community is small and the few people involved in Noticias Tuyas made sure that the design of the program reflected diversity of opinions and cultural perspectives,” Mendez said.

WHAT WE USE:

• Marantz Professional Solid-State digital recording device.
• Avid Pro Tools audio editing software.

Soon, the program plans to add a special section by Susan Hess, a writer for the local Hood River News, who will devote her show to such local issues as local elections, water fluoridization and other environmental concerns.

Volunteers from the community have been trained in using the Pro Tools editing program and in the basics of recording and using microphones. Currently, teenagers from Next Door, a drug and alcohol outreach group, are being trained to use the station’s editing equipment to help produce the news program.

“They wanted to record positive messages related to drug and alcohol abuse,” Mendez said.

While the show makes no effort to translate between the two languages, the dual use of English and Spanish is well-reflected in the youth programs, which commonly use a hybrid “Spanglish,” Mendez said.

The biggest challenge is to find till more volunteers willing to be trained to use radio-editing equipment.

Funds to support the “overall well functioning of the station” comes from underwriting efforts

Through Radio Tierra, Noticias Tuyas has helped many local health service providers, schools and libraries share their information with the community.  Columbia Gorge Community College also uses the program to broadcast information about GED and ESL classes and events.

Mendez said the volunteers are hoping to expand the signal of the news show to reach a wider audience.

“We are proud of how this group of amateurs are now trained in gathering news, writing newsworthy notes and broadcasting the product of their labor,” Mendez said.

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