inside kjzz By Evan Wyloge
All Perspectives Considered The reporters of KJZZ’s Latino Affairs Desk bring cultural nuance to news.
efore Marcos Nájera describes how he approaches his reporting, he pauses and fidgets a bit. His careful choice of words shows he takes the issue seriously. “If only the audience would say, ‘Wow, those Latino Affairs reporters do such boring stories,’” he says with a smile. “Most Latino stories you hear, read or watch tend to be about Latinos doing stereotypical, over-the-top activities: drug-dealing, crime, border-crossing, fighting, gun smuggling. So I think it’s really important to hear the everyday,
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10 Wavelength
average voices of Latinos in the community—the Latino walking down the street, window-shopping, sipping an iced tea, who’s concerned about President Obama’s plan to reform healthcare, as well as immigration.” Marcos Nájera and Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez make up the Latino Affairs Desk at KJZZ. There, they report on the same sorts of stories most general news desks do, but with the added perspective each of their backgrounds affords. “We are the Latino Affairs
Desk, so we have a slightly different focus,” Rodriguez says. “But we produce our pieces for everyone. We’re reporters more than anything else.” * * * Rodriguez was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Chicago. Nájera was born in San Bernardino, and grew up in downtown Phoenix. Their distinct Latino heritages inform the way they consider a story, and the viewpoints their stories convey. Rodriguez’s career in