In his on-campus lecture, Benítez will address different social, political, and linguistic issues that impact the growing Latino population in New York City and the metropolitan area.
The NY1 Emmy award-winning political reporter Juan Manuel Benítez will give a lecture entitled “Political and Social Issues Impacting Latinos in New York City” on Monday, October 24, at 5:15 p.m. in the Kelley Center presentation room.
"Juan Manuel [is] one of the most important Spanish-speaking journalists in New York City," said Sergio Adrada-Rafael, PhD, associate professor of Spanish, who organized the event. "I believe he can share his different experiences as a reporter and journalist not only with students in the Modern Languages program, but with students in other programs such as Communication and Digital Journalism."
As a reporter, Benítez has interviewed political figures that have shaped New York in recent years, such as Michael Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio. His talk, conducted in English, will be followed by a Q&A and is open to the public.
"Students and patrons can benefit from learning different issues that the Latino population has to face everyday from a social, political, and economic perspective," Dr. Adrada-Rafael continued. "[It's] part of the Fairfield University, Jesuit mission — caring and learning about others."
Benítez is the host and executive producer of Pura Política, a Spanish-language political talk-show that runs weekly on NY1 Noticias. A multimedia journalist, he has been working as a reporter for the local news station NY1 since 2003, covering political, social, and cultural issues relevant to the Hispanic community.
Besides covering New York politics on both the city and state levels, Benítez has traveled around the United States on assignment and has covered stories in Cuba, Mexico, and Europe.
Benítez has also been a panelist in countless electoral debates and has interviewed newsmakers, and politicians like Sonia Sotomayor and Barack Obama. Every week, he gives wider context to his reporting as a co-host of NY1’s podcast Off Topic/On Politics. Benítez is also a professor at CUNY's Craig Newmark School of Journalism, where he designed its Bilingual Journalism program.
This event is sponsored by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures; The Humanities Institute; the Latinx, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program; Department of Communication; Department of Sociology; Department of English; Department of Politics; and the Digital Journalism program.
