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Univision Network Anchor MarÃa Elena Salinas is the most
recognized Hispanic female journalist in the United States. Named by The New
York Times as "the voice of Hispanic America," for three decades, Salinas has
informed millions of Hispanics in the United States, along with 18 countries in
Latin America. As co-anchor of the highly-rated Noticiero Univision (News
Univision) and the primetime news magazine Aquà y Ahora (Here
and Now), she has handled some of the most challenging assignments in
modern-day journalism.
Salinas' work has earned her several journalistic awards including
three national Emmy Awards and one regional. She was also part of the Univision
news team that received the Edward R. Murrow Award for the network's coverage
of the Atlanta Olympic Park bombings. Salinas has interviewed every U.S.
President since Jimmy Carter and has been face to face with dozens of Latin
American heads of state, rebel leaders, and dictators. In 2007, Salinas made
history by co-hosting both the first ever Democratic and Republican candidate presidential
forums in Spanish on the Univision Network.
Her influence reaches beyond television. Salinas is a radio
analyst on Latino issues and is one of few Hispanic syndicated columnists in
the United States, where her column is published in both Spanish and English,
as well as on Univision.com and her own website MariaESalinas.com. In 2006, she
published her memoir entitled I Am My
Father's Daughter: Living A Life Without Secrets, which received critical
acclaim and made the best-seller lists for Spanish-language books on several
occasions.
Salinas is also the official spokesperson for "Ya es Hora" (It's
Time), a national citizenship and civic engagement campaign, that received the
coveted Peabody Award for helping motivate Hispanics to participate in the
American political dialogue. In 2000, Salinas launched a scholarship in her
name to be awarded to a Hispanic journalism student interested in pursuing a
career in Spanish language media. She is one of the founding members of the
National Association of Hispanic Journalists and sits on the board of the
Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the International Women's Media Foundation.
Salinas began her journalistic career as a reporter for KMEX-34
television in Los Angeles in 1981. Her insightful reporting on the impact of
daily news to the increasingly growing Hispanic community in Southern
California quickly earned her the credibility that would lead to her assume the
anchor chair of Noticiero Univision
in 1987.
Since then her brand of journalism has earned her dozens of awards
and recognition from important groups such as the Mexican-American Legal
Defense and Educational Fund, the National Association of Latino Elected and
Appointed Officials, The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, and the
National Organization for Women that honored her with the coveted Intrepid
Award.
Salinas has been featured as one of the most influential Hispanics
in the United States in several publications including Hispanic Magazine, People En
Español and PODER, and was named
one of the "Top 15 Most Influential Hispanics" among Latino voters in a poll
conducted by Hispanic Voter Trends.
Salinas was born in Los Angeles to Mexican immigrant parents. She
resides in Coral Gables, Florida, with her two daughters, Julia Alexandra and
Gabriela MarÃa.
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