by Daniel Nardini

Maria Elena Salinas is one of the major anchors for the Latino network Noticiero Univision in California. Salinas was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1954, the daughter of Mexican immigrants. She graduated from the University of California in Los Angeles, and began working for the radio station KMEX-34. Her insightful and in-depth reporting on the lives of ordinary Latinos catapulted her to fame when she became the anchor chair of Noticiero Univision in 1987. Since then Salinas has covered many news stories from the streets of Baghdad during the Iraq War to the tropical forests of Chiapas state interviewing the Zapatista Army of National Liberation Subcommandante Marcos. Salinas has interviewed American presidents such as James Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Salinas is one of the founders of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and was inducted into the association’s hall of fame in 2006. Among many of her philanthropic efforts is her sponsorship of the Maria Elena Salinas Scholarship for college students interested in getting into Spanish news broadcasting, and sits on the boards of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the International Women’s Media Foundation. In 2015, Salinas received the Peabody Award for news and investigative reporting.