R A D I O     B I L I N G U E

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                              CONTACT:

May 13, 2008                                                                            Alma Martinez

                                                                                                  (559) 455-5753

                                                                                              almam@radiobilingue.org

Mt. Vernon’s KSVR to host “Línea Abierta on the Road” in Washington

Two “Hacia el Voto 2008” shows to explore issues forgotten by the presidential campaigns

(May 13, 2008)- Radio Bilingüe’s nationwide “Línea Abierta on the Road” series moves into Washington in partnership with Mt Vernon–based KSVR, 91.7 FM featuring two groundbreaking shows that will expand in scope beyond the national Presidential primaries and shed a harsh light on pressing issues facing Latinos in the northwestern United States.

The two shows, part of the year-long Hacia el Voto 2008 series, will air on Thursday, May 22, and Friday, May 23, live at noon (PDT) from the agricultural Skagit valley in western Washington. 

The bilingual program, which began airing in January in Chicago, is year-long election coverage programming -- including special coverage at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions -- that will air through January on Radio Bilingüe’s award-winning daily talk show, Línea Abierta. 

Both live broadcasts will be from Restaurant La Casita in downtown Mt Vernon.  They will be operated by the team of KSVR, located on the campus of the Skagit Valley College, which has been serving communities in the valley for more than 80 years.

Roundtable discussions will feature local community leaders and experts joining the national election dialogue in this state where the Latino population has more than doubled since 1990 and is now about 620,000 residents strong - the largest minority group in the state.

Samuel Orozco, Línea Abierta executive producer and host, said the acclaimed program chose to report on these developments up close in Washington state after learning that social, health and education services have failed to keep the pace with this population’s growth.

“The promise and challenges for Latinos in this state are hardly on the radar screen of national studies or national media coverage because they typically focus on states with the largest Latino demographics,” Orozco said.

The first roundtable will focus on the state of public education for Latinos, appropriately hosted by a college-based station on a community college campus.  

“More than any other group, Latino families feel the pain of college tuition fee increases,” Orozco said. “Colleges and the state are failing to provide adequate financial aid to help Latino students get into higher education.”

Línea Abierta’s roundtable will address that problem by examining today’s status of programs for at-risk students, literacy programs for low-income families, bilingual education, migrant Head Start and the debate on the DREAM Act.

The second roundtable will focus on issues facing the growing Latino community in the state -- including the abysmal lack of access to health services by farm workers; as well as immigration reform, mass deportation raids at workplaces and rising hate crimes against Latinos. 

Línea Abierta on the Road” is a special itinerant series originating from the home site of partnering stations such as KSVR. It is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as well as the California Endowment, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Mitchell Kapor Foundation and the Lumina Foundation for Education.

KSVR-FM -- a non-commercial radio station licensed to the Skagit Valley College Board of Trustees – has been an affiliate of the Satelite Radio Bilingüe network since March 1997, delivering news and information to its Spanish-speaking communities in Western Washington.  The station switched from an all-English language, college-community-oriented format into a fully bilingual (English-Spanish) format, becoming the premiere station serving Latinos in this valley with community-service oriented programming.

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About Línea Abierta and Radio Bilingüe

The Spanish-language program Línea Abierta is heard on the community-based radio network’s satellite system that reaches 100 affiliates throughout the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico as well as its own six stations in California. It is also available via webcast on Radio Bilingüe Internet: www.radiobilingue.org. Radio Bilingüe’s online service also features an election spotlight webpage with links to program audio archives, podcasting multimedia files, timely news transcripts, an election interactive blog, hyperlinks to relevant organizations and more.