On the Air

María Celeste Arrarás is an award-winning journalist and reporter, and one of the country’s most well-known television news anchors. She is the host of Telemundo’s top-rated newsmagazine “Al Rojo Vivo con María Celeste,” and also co-anchors the network’s national newscast. She has been a guest host on NBC’s Today show and has contributed to the investigative newsmagazine Dateline and NBC’s nightly newscast. María Celeste has appeared numerous times on the cover of People en Español and was selected in 2009 by Newsweek as one of the “20 Most Powerful Women of the Next Generation.”  This month, she’ll receive a special recognition from the Hispanic Association of Corporate  Responsibility (HACR). A native of Puerto Rico, she began her broadcasting career in 1986 as a reporter on the island, moving to the states to work first with Univisión and with Telemundo since 2002, based in Miami. María Celeste took time from her hectic schedule to speak with LATINO about her groundbreaking career in broadcasting.

 

How are you celebrating your thirty years in the media business?

 I myself don’t believe that I’ve been in television for 30 years.  The years have gone by real fast. It’s like I blinked and here I am 30 years later.  And I think that’s due in part to when you do what you adore, what’s you’re passionate about, it doesn’t feel like work. Time has flown by because I love what I’m doing. For the near future, I’m going to continue doing Al Rojo Vivo and Noticiero Telemundo. This is an especially busy time as I celebrate 30 years on the air.  I’m getting a lot of recognition this year, but I’m not the type to seek that out. I prefer to work in the background and prepare the shows rather than do speeches and seek the spotlight. But I know these are special occasions and many people appreciate the work I do, and it feels very special to me.

My alma mater Loyola University in New Orleans is putting me in their Hall of Fame, and for me that is very exciting and emotional because I returned to where I began and where I discovered my passion for journalism. It was there that I discovered that you can communicate not just with words but with images and where I decided to study electronic journalism. I’m also being honored by the House and Senate in Puerto Rico and getting the key to the city of Los Angeles. These are all very nice and something I will always remember as a way to look at my 30 years in media.  There really is nothing that tops receiving recognition for your hard work. It’s an incentive to keep working hard. But what I don’t do is work hard thinking that I’m going to get an award. That’s not me.

 

What does it mean to be recognized by the Hispanic Association of Corporate Responsibility (HACR) at their annual conference?

The HACR event is very important to me because it is a big gathering of companies and corporations, and they will be talking about how their message resonates in the Latino community in a respectful and fair way, and that is very important to me because that has been part of my philosophy in my career, about responsibility.  A journalist’s job is a very important one, and besides loving what you do, you have to have a great sense of responsibility and also humility. Too many journalists are too concerned about their ego and are too busy trying to look good, and when you do that you forget about that responsibility. You have to serve as a conduit of information that has to be meticulous, well-informed, balanced, and objective. Once you start giving your opinions, what often happens is you don’t give the viewers the complete picture so that they can make informed decisions. Sometimes I give my opinions on issues that don’t have to do with the facts per se, but on things like abuse cases where I get passionate about my sense of justice. But most importantly, I feel a very big sense of responsibility.

 

You were recently one of the few Hispanic journalists selected to moderate a presidential debate this campaign season. How was that for you?

Preparing for the debate was like getting ready for a final exam or a doctoral thesis. I was working on my two shows as usual and when I would get home I would spend a lot of time studying the issues and coming up with the questions that I wanted to ask. And I worked with the team here on possible answers the candidates would have and how to challenge and respond to those. I have to tell you, after it was all over, I fell over exhausted! But it was good. People want to hear thought-provoking questions that delve into the issues, and I believe I gave them that. I’m sure they want more of that type of debate in the future.

 

How are you planning on covering the election, and what kind of impact is it having on the Latino community?

We plan on being at both conventions, and we have plans to not only interview the candidates and others involved in the campaigns, but we also have plans for all kinds of interactive work with our viewers. This is a very important year for the Latino community. Not only register to vote, but also get out and actually vote. Do what you have to do to make sure that you vote on Election Day. Not voting is definitely not an option.  There is all this talk about how important the Latino vote is going to be this year, but it won’t be if people don’t go out and vote. If you add up all those who say well, one vote won’t make a difference, then you will absolutely not make a difference. We need to be proud to cast our ballot. Voting is the way to change our lives, to make things better, to correct things that bother us, so that the things that have to change actually do change.

 

How do you do it all? How do you balance your life at work and outside of work?

I try to be as organized as possible. I write everything down. To be honest, I have a stressful life, but I don’t get stressed out because I really do love what I do and I always try to keep a positive attitude.  I tell myself that I am lucky, that I have a good job, that I have three teenagers who are healthy and are good kids and they still want to hang out with me, that I have good friends and a wonderful family. When you’re in that positive state of mind, even though you may be very busy, you don’t get stressed out. If I were one of those people who are always in a negative frame of mind and with everything that is going on, I’d probably be hospitalized. I’ve always been very optimistic about everything, and I think that’s one of the keys to success. I’ve interviewed many successful people throughout the years, and the one thing they all have in common is that they have a positive attitude about things.  I really do believe that in order to be successful in life, you have to be an optimist. Negative people don’t get very far and don’t live happy lives.

 

How has that attitude helped you as a Latina journalist?

I’ve been told that as a female and a Latina that I am a “double minority,” but I don’t see myself that way at all, nor do I consider myself a victim or of the weaker sex trying to overcome barriers. I have never seen myself that way. If I go to a press conference and it’s me and ten men, I think there are 11 people. I don’t think, “Oh I’m the only woman here.” If I thought that, I wouldn’t be here talking with you. I wouldn’t have gotten very far.

By Patricia Guadalupe