http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010314/0519.html
Wednesday March 14, 2001, 4:34 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
Related audio
clip - Juan Jose Gutierrez, 6/10/00, L.A.
The One-Hour Summit to be Broadcast in Spanish Throughout
California and 
Rebroadcast by the Univision
Network at Midnight Throughout the U.S.
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2001-- Univision flagship station KMEX-TV, Channel 34 along with the Organization of Los Angeles Workers (OLAW) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) will host and broadcast the first statewide televised town hall meeting between Mexican President Vicente Fox Quesada and California Governor Gray Davis.
This event, scheduled for Thursday, March 22, 2001, will connect Californians in five major cities, as well as viewers from across the state with the two dignitaries. KMEX-TV will broadcast this historic encounter from U.C.L.A. with no commercial interruptions from 5 to 6 p.m.
The event will also be carried simultaneously by other Univision owned-and-operated stations in Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento and San Francisco, as well as by over half a dozen Univision affiliates in California. The Univision Network will rebroadcast this special event throughout the United States at midnight later that evening.
The event, titled ``Cara a Cara Con Vicente Fox: Dos Lideres, Una Nueva Era'' (Face to Face with Vicente Fox: Two Leaders, A New Era) will be hosted by KMEX-TV anchors Eduardo Quezada and Teresa Quevedo.
The encounter will allow Fox and Davis to respond to a wide range of relevant issues from Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Fresno. Spanish-speaking viewers will witness first-hand how these dynamic leaders plan to cooperate to address key issues affecting their regions including commerce, agriculture, immigration, education and the improvement of Mexico-California relations.
``In May of 1999, KMEX-TV/Univision hosted a milestone Spanish-language town hall televised throughout California between former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and Governor Davis, a first in the U.S. market regardless of language,'' stated Augustine Martinez, general manager of KMEX-TV, Channel 34.
``Today, KMEX-TV, OLAW and SEIU are excited to announce that this dialogue between the President of Mexico and the Governor will be facilitated by our respective organizations to enable our audience and the two leaders to focus on the issues which will shape our futures in the coming years, both in Mexico and California.''
As part of KMEX-TV's public affairs initiative, ``Cara a Cara Con Vicente Fox: Dos Lideres, Una Nueva Era'' exemplifies the significant commitment the station has made, and continues to make, to provide California's Latino community with the most comprehensive coverage of important and relevant political issues during the coming year.
The town hall meeting between President Fox and Governor Davis builds upon a tradition of historic political forums, events and coverage by KMEX-TV and Univision at the local, state and national levels.
Among other station and network milestones are ``Destino 2000: Encuentro con George W. Bush'' in February 2000, when then presidential hopeful George W. Bush responded to Latino concerns throughout California by means of direct dialogue via satellite.
The station has also hosted half-hour, one-on-one interviews with the four-frontrunning presidential candidates of the 2000 election on the statewide political affairs program, ``Voz y Voto,'' between July and November of 1999. Among those who appeared on the show were Governor George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, Senator Bill Bradley and Vice President Al Gore.
Other landmark station events include ``Voces del Futuro: Cara a Cara con el Presidente Clinton'' (Voices of the Future: Face to Face with President Clinton), a historic intercontinental, interactive town hall meeting held in October 1997 between President Bill Clinton and young Hispanic leaders.
All programs provided a unique opportunity to the vast Spanish-speaking audience in the United States to hear directly from important and influential leaders on issues of greatest concern to Hispanics.
KMEX-TV, Channel 34 is the flagship station of the Univision Television Group, the country's leading Spanish-language television station group. The company operates 12 full-power and seven low-power television stations and two television translator stations. KMEX-TV is accessible on the World Wide Web at www.kmex.com.
The Organization of Los Angeles Workers (OLAW), a joint project of SEIU/HERE, was created to help immigrants stand up for their rights and gain new opportunities, and to promote civic participation in their communities.
During its first year, OLAW reached out to churches, community organizations, the media and individuals on a number of important issues including: immigration legalization, citizenship, living wages, rights in the workplace, access to affordable health care, fair housing, and public education. OLAW also is working to build political strength by encouraging immigrants to get involved in the political process, registering to vote and casting their ballots on Election Day.
With 1.4 million members, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is the largest union in the AFL-CIO, and about 25% of its membership are immigrants, making SEIU the largest U.S. union representing immigrant workers.
Contact:
Spelling Communications
Daniel Spelling/Alex Hernandez, 310/277-8811
or
OLAW/SEIU
Juan Jose Gutierrez, 213/368-7417 or 213/422-5056