A small group of TV broadcasters in this country have two careers to think about: one in English and one in Spanish. But the decision isn't just about language preference. It's about pay, fame and impact--juicy temptations that bilingual newscasters must choose between.
Right now, a contract dispute at KFTV, the Fresno affiliate of a Spanish-language television network, has underscored the pros and cons of working in each language. At issue is the disparity between pay for English-language versus Spanish-language TV newsroom staffs in a market where the Spanish-language TV station, Channel 21, dominates.
Indeed, the two key assets English-language television offers newscasters are money and mainstream visibility. The mainstream market is a more competitive one, where Latino names are the exceptions, not the rule. And while Spanish-language television is a smaller industry, it offers young broadcasters a faster track for advancement and more impact on the community.
The trade-off comes in salaries that are traditionally much lower than English-language--where the differential depending on the market can be more than 30%.
Teresa Rodriguez succeeded in both newsrooms. Eight Emmy Awards later she anchors a national newsmagazine on Univision, the largest Spanish-language network in the country and the fifth-largest network overall. Univision is also the network that the Fresno station is at odds with.
In 1982 the Cuban-born Rodriguez became the first woman to anchor a Spanish-language national broadcast. Several years later she switched to English to anchor the noon and 5 p.m. newscasts at NBC's Miami affiliate, WTVJ. But when the network offered her Connie Chung's anchor chair on the New York set of "NBC News at Sunrise," she and her husband opted not to consider a New York-Miami marital commute.
That's when Univision started looking good again.
She now hosts "Aqui y Ahora con Teresa Rodriguez" ("Here and Now With Teresa Rodriguez"), a prime-time newsmagazine. Over the past few years, Rodriguez has nailed some memorable interviews, including Spanish-language television's only sit-down with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton (it was in the Map Room of the White House).
"Perhaps, if there are any regrets, it was not having stayed with Spanish-language all the way through," Rodriguez said. "It's really where I feel that I can shine. I can do stories that affect our people."
