I was an avid consumer of the news, growing up on the south side of Chicago in a Mexican immigrant family . . . newspaper, television—it was really important to me. But I never saw my story . . . the experience I was having, reflected anywhere. Much less was there anyone who looked like me, or had a name like me, or sounded like me doing anything in any media. So [being a broadcast journalist] was not something that I thought was actually attainable.
Maria Hinojosa is executive producer of America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa: Clarkston Georgia, the first public affairs program on PBS to be executive-produced and anchored by a Latina woman.
Hinojosa has reported hundreds of important stories—from the immigrant work camps in New Orleans after Katrina, to teen girl victims of sexual harassment on the job, to Emmy Award-winning stories of the poor in Alabama.
She is the author of two books including the memoir Raising Raul: Adventures Raising Myself and My Son.