Luis Patiño with Marco Flores
By Eduardo Quezada Escandón
Mexican-American journalist Ruben Salazar now has a television studio named in his honor at KMEX-TV Channel 34, the same station where he was a news Director when he died covering the 1970 National Chicano Moratorium antiwar protests.
Phillip Rodriguez, Eduardo Quezada and Eduardo Kachscovsky
On August 29, 2016 I was invited to participate in this special dedication by KMEX-TV executives, and was delighted to revisit former colleagues, and meet new executives and employees at the station where I worked for 28 years.
KMEX-TV News Director Marco Flores and Station Senior Vice President and General Manager Luis Patiño unveiled the special plaque.
L to R: Phillip Rodriguez, Director-Producer Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle – Felix Gutierrez, Retired USC Professor- Director of the Ruben Salazar Project at USC – Eduardo Quezada former KMEX-TV News Anchor – Marco Flores, Vice President of News – Eduardo Kachscovsky, Vice President of Production – Leon Krauze, KMEX Anchor – Glenda E. Martinez, Senior Vice President/Associate General Counsel – Christopher G. Wood, VP/Associate General Counsel-Gov and Reg Affairs – Luis Patino, Senior Vice President, General Manager, Los Angeles – Ivelisse Estrada, SVP, Corporate Relations & Community Empowerment = Chris Pena, Senior Vice President of News, Local Media
In this intimate event by KMEX we all had a chance to preview a short version of a documentary presented by Phillip Rodriguez Director-Producer of “Ruben Salazar: Man in The Middle” a film that examines his life and death and how Salazar’s career has motivated others to keep pushing to right injustices in the Mexican American community.
After the screening of the documentary I also had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion along with Phillip Rodriguez and Retired USC Professor Felix Gutierrez, who was Director of Ruben Salazar Project at USC. The panel discussion was moderated by KMEX news Anchor Leon Krauze.
Ruben Salazar
Univision’s KMEX-TV General Manager Luis Patiño mentioned at the presentation that “Ruben Salazar is a pioneering journalist whose legacy is that of a champion and a voice of the Hispanic community in Los Angeles, It is an honor to rename our news studio to commemorate his life and his work, and to inspire generations of Univision journalists and community members for years to come.”
Univision’s Press Release:
LOS ANGELES – AUGUST 31, 2016 – Univision Los Angeles, part of Univision Communications Inc. (UCI), the leading media company serving Hispanic America, dedicated its KMEX 34 studio to Ruben Salazar, a trailblazing Mexican-American journalist and former KMEX news director. Senior Vice President of News, Local Media, Chris Peña; Chief Local Media Officer, John Eck; Senior Vice President & General Manager, Univision Los Angeles, Luis Patiño; and Vice President of News, Univision Los Angeles, Marco Flores unveiled a commemorative plaque during an event held in honor of Salazar on Tuesday, August 29, 2016. The event included a screening of a documentary based on Salazar’s work and life as well as a panel discussion with the director Phillip Rodriguez.
“Ruben Salazar is a pioneering journalist whose legacy is that of a champion and a voice of the Hispanic community in Los Angeles,” said Patiño. “It is an honor to rename our news studio to commemorate his life and his work, and to inspire generations of Univision journalists and community members for years to come.”
Born in Mexico and raised in El Paso, Salazar began his career as a local reporter at The Los Angeles Times in 1959. He left Los Angeles to fill posts in Vietnam, the Dominican Republic and Mexico City, but was called back in 1968 to cover the increasingly vocal Chicano power movement that was growing in Los Angeles at the time.
LOS ÁNGELES – 31 DE AGOSTO DE 2016 – Univision Los Ángeles, parte de Univision Communications Inc. (UCI), la principal empresa de medios de comunicación al servicio de la comunidad hispana en los Estados Unidos, dedicó el estudio de KMEX 34 a Rubén Salazar, periodista pionero méxico-estadounidense y ex director de noticias de KMEX. Chris Peña, vicepresidente principal de Noticias y Medios Locales; John Eck, director de Medios Locales; Luis Patiño, vicepresidente principal y gerente general de Univision Los Ángeles, y Marco Flores, vicepresidente de Noticias de Univision Los Ángeles, develaron una placa conmemorativa durante el evento realizado en honor a Salazar el martes, 29 de agosto de 2016. El evento incluyó la presentación de un documental basado en el trabajo y la vida de Salazar, como también un panel con el director Phillip Rodríguez.
“Rubén Salazar fue un periodista pionero cuyo legado es haber defendido y sido la voz de la comunidad hispana de Los Ángeles”, dijo Patiño. “Es un honor dedicar nuestro estudio de noticias para conmemorar su vida y labor, y para inspirar a generaciones de periodistas de Univision y miembros de la comunidad durante muchos años”.
Salazar, nacido en México y criado en El Paso, inició su carrera como reportero local en The Los Angeles Times en 1959. Dejó Los Ángeles para ocupar cargos en Vietnam, la República Dominicana y Ciudad de México, pero se le pidió que regresara en 1968 para cubrir el cada vez más enérgico movimiento a favor del poder de los chicanos que cobraba fuerza en Los Ángeles en ese momento.