Rick Sanchez
The CNN anchor talks about what it’s like to be a Latino in mainstream journalism.
By Saxon Baird
July 16, 2008
CNN anchor Rick SanchezRick Sanchez is a Cuban-born correspondent and news anchor for CNN and CNN en Español. As one of the few Latino anchors on national news television, Sanchez has established himself as a seasoned journalist who has reported from war-torn Nicaragua, on the invasion of Grenada, and on the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier’s regime in Haiti. In addition, Sanchez was a major part of CNN’s Peabody Award-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina, during which he reported for eight continuous hours during live coverage. He received the distinguished journalist award from the American Medical Association and an Emmy for an autodocumentary series called Cuando salí de Cuba (When I left Cuba) chronicling his rise from Cuban immigrant to his position a major American news correspondent. Recently, he has joined with Latino organizations SiTV and Voto Latino to promote the Crash the Parties contest, which will allow two aspiring young Latino journalists to attend the Democratic and Republican national conventions while gaining valuable job-shadowing experience from Sanchez.
Campus Progress caught up with Sanchez to chat about growing up Cuban in Miami, shattering glass ceilings, and the future of Latinos in journalism.
Campus Progress: As a Cuban immigrant, what struggles and difficulties did you encounter getting to where you are today?
Rick Sanchez: When we left Cuba we weren’t allowed to take anything. When we arrived [in Miami] we had to live in substandard housing. We lived in something we amiably called the “Cockroach House.” Five members of our family and about 12 other people lived there. The government gave us "refugee meat," which is essentially Spam. My mom worked jobs sewing, cleaning, and doing everything possible. There is one thing I always say to my kids: “You know you guys are able to have so much because my parents were able to give me so much.”
Before my parents left Cuba they essentially had a middle-class lifestyle. When they came to the States, they had to really start over again. But they were able to do it. I came up as a pretty poor kid in Miami comparatively speaking but I never knew it. Going to Burger King once a month was a big deal for me.
CP: Did you encounter difficulties because of this background when you started out as a journalist?
RS: No, not in Miami. Since the Cubans came to Miami en masse and because many of them had basic skills, they didn’t have to compete against each other. So as a result they had enough of a foundation that we, the sons of these first generation immigrants (although I was born in Cuba myself) didn’t really encounter that sense of discrimination. We were a community unto ourselves. However, that only works in that microcosm of a community that we call South Florida. Once I went outside of South Florida, that’s when I started feeling the discrimination.
CP: Would you consider your background a part of the reason why you got involved with SiTV?
RS: When I was growing up, I’d never see anybody who looked like Rick Sanchez doing to the news. I’d rarely see any women and I certainly didn’t see any blacks. So I said, “Your going to give me a scholarship to go into something where I know no one is ever going to pick me? Forget it!” I literally remember having conversations with my family and saying, “I don’t think I can do this. Suppose I get a journalism degree. What am I going to do with it? No one is going to hire a Cuban to do the news in the United States.” Fortunately for me it’s made the difference.
Part of the reason I believe it has worked is because I’ve never lost or forgotten who I am. I am still the kid who grew up in South Florida. I am still a Hispanic and still a Cuban. I still see things like an immigrant.
CP: Considering the diversity among the Latino population, do you think the opinions of Latino voters are accurately represented in major national news networks?
RS: We’ve come along way. Barack Obama recently said something after being criticized for his pastor about how, too often, African-Americans criticize the system and say that it hasn’t done enough for them. They are always looking at how they can make it better so they fail to realize how far they’ve come. Now, that’s important for us too. There was a time when a little guy named Rick Sanchez wasn’t even willing to go into journalism because he never thought anyone would give him a job. That barrier has been crossed and now we know we can get jobs. Now there are new barriers that we need to cross. And part of it is what you just mentioned: How do we get people to understand us? Not just as Hispanics but as professional journalists and professional citizens in the country too.
In the last couple years it has been difficult to hear the things that have been said both by pundits, politicians, and even some members of the media when talking about the immigration problem. It’s painful to hear. As a Hispanic, sometimes it is hard to remain as objective as we need to be and to raise the proper questions without taking it personally. Sometimes you hear things and you think, “Man, that’s my mom and dad you’re talking about when you’re criticizing a person because they don’t speak English.” And I want to say, “Well, sure, they don’t speak English, they just arrived in this country and you’re great-grandparents didn’t speak English either in the first generation. But I am their son and I speak English.” Some of these anti-sentiments in the bilingual arguments and the English-only referendums can be hurtful.
CP: What kind of advice would you offer young Latinos interested in going into journalism?
RS: Learn to write. Our business today, especially because of technology, is about storytelling. Can you tell a good story? Can you make people care? There is so much competition now for the ears and for the eyes out there with the blogs, Internet, computers, and radio. You really have to be someone who knows how to tell a good story, write, and find that edge to cut through.
The difference can really be in what your story is and how well you can tell it. If you’re Honduran, Guatemalan, Columbian, Cuban, or if you’re a woman…whoever you are, don’t undersell it. Too often diversity is lost even with people who can bring such diversity because they are too busy trying to be cookie-cutters or like the guy who came before them so they begin to stop sounding like themselves. Those things that are unique that you bring to the table, don’t let it go because it can make the difference, it can make conversation unique, and it can make you gain a perspective that perhaps hasn’t been said.
Saxon Baird is an Editorial Intern at Campus Progress. He is a recent graduate at Portland State University.
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Comments
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Great interview Saxon. My step-father is another Peabody award winning latino, and it’s good to see he’s in great company.
— Grant - Jul 16, 01:00 PM - #I would like to state that my great-grandparents did speak English in the first generation, even though they came to America not knowing any. They made the effort and it succeeded. They also had a better education ethic coming from Europe than the Hispanics do. Sanchez’s education is not at all impressive, and it shows in the nature of the questions he asks. They lack depth, analysis, and significance. If I remember from the news when he worked in SE Florida, he has an appalling driving record.
— Stuart - Jul 17, 03:14 PM - #Rick Sanchez’s final advice to young Latinos interested in going into journalism, “Learn to write,” is good advice for anyone interested in not only journalism, but business, politics, law, science, etc. You must have a story to tell and you need to develop that story in your own voice. Thanks for the interview, Saxon. I so enjoy RS on CNN when he interviews Spanish-speaking guests and can conduct the interview in Spanish and translate for the audience without an interpreter. It’s music to the ears and food for the soul. He is to be commended and admired for his committment to his roots, gratefulness to his parents, and for never forgetting from whence he came.
— C.M. Heidt - Jul 17, 10:51 PM - #This is such a great interview, the questions are very in thoughtful and concerned with the bigger picture of society. Mr. Sanchez is a great model for bringing individuality to the front of media, and shattering that glass ceiling; this is encouraging.
— Terri - Jul 23, 01:00 AM - #This is such a great interview, the questions are very in thoughtful and concerned with the bigger picture of society. Mr. Sanchez is a great model for bringing individuality to the front of media, and shattering that glass ceiling; this is encouraging.
— Terri - Jul 23, 01:01 AM - #I admire Rick Sanchez.He has made something of himself under bad circumstances.He is a marvelous journalist.I wish he would be on CNN all day.
— Anna Stout - Jul 23, 01:13 PM - #I admire Rick Sanchez.He has made something of himself under bad circumstances.He is a marvelous journalist.I wish he would be on CNN all day.
— Anna Stout - Jul 23, 01:14 PM - #Where can I find the pictures about the fight of th bear and the elk?
— JAMES JOHNSON - Aug 10, 01:27 AM - #is he any relation to Dirty ?
— john smoot - Aug 12, 12:12 AM - #I have been watching Rick Sanchez for sometime now. i am so please with his kind of journalism. He is in a class of his own. He is balanced, fluent, eloquent, appealing, presentable and admirable. Please keep up the kind of job you are doing. You are a Journalist par excellence.
— Thomas Abel - Aug 31, 10:27 PM - #I agree with Thomas-plus-I have a hearing problem,but I can clearly understand every word that Rick says.I hope he never gets tired of his work.
— Jonathan Street - Sep 30, 02:04 PM - #Thank CNN for having Rick Sanchez on. I wish he could be on more often. I never get enough seeing him.He is so handsom!!!! What a great journalist!!!!
— sandra cogshill - Sep 29, 02:12 PM - #Thank CNN for having Rick Sanchez on. I wish he could be on more often. I never get enough seeing him.He is so handsom!!!! What a great journalist!!!!
— sandra cogshill - Sep 29, 02:13 PM - #