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MAY 2007

Careers:
Radio Host William Camacaro

By Alberto Cepeda

The decision to go to college and pursue a career is almost always monetarily influenced. The goal is to increase our earning potential with each degree we earn, be it an Associate’s, Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. There are careers where the rewards lie in the people we impact rather than financial compensation.

William Camacaro, 38, a freelance journalist and radio host chose this type of career. His decision to choose journalism as a career wasn’t a financial one. It was influenced by the writings of Aristides Bastidas and his desire to be a part of the news process.

His career began in the Central University of Caracas in Venezuela where he studied journalism. Like many young journalists, William’s first foray into broadcast journalism was working for a small radio station in Venezuela called Fe Y Alegria. He describes Fe Y Alegria as “ a beautiful radio station because we were able to do whatever we want. We didn’t have pressure from anyone.” From there he moved on to Radio Libertador, one of the bigger radio stations in Venezuela where he worked as a producer for different shows.

William got his start in radio after arriving in New York when his friend Josephina Baez offered him to take over her Sunday afternoon jazz show on WHCR 90.3FM after she decided to leave the station in 1998. William accepted the offer and initially left the jazz format of the show intact. But after realizing that jazz pieces could be very long, William had to make a change in the programming. He explains “an hour for a jazz program is not enough so I decided to change the name of the program and to change the format of the show and play folk music. That’s when Roots was born.” Aside from playing folk music, William wanted to jazz up the show by including on air interviews into the programming. So he decided to enroll in Queens College to minor in journalism and learn the journalistic spectrum here in the United States. It was a difficult process for him initially because of the language barrier he had to surmount but he managed to graduate from Queens College in 2002 with a degree in Journalism as well as with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts.

Despite a bone condition that forces him to walk in crutches, William has mustered the strength on a weekly basis to host both of his radio shows Roots and La Voz Latina, a talk show he has hosted for the past three years on WBAI 99.5FM, dedicated to political and social issues in Latin America and the United States. In his time at WHCR and WBAI William has interviewed prominent social-political figures such as Mari Bras, Heba de Bonafini and Mumia Abu Jamal and more importantly dignifying the figure of the Latino in America while connecting them to their roots.

Aside from radio, William has also written articles for such publications as Diario La Prensa, the Amsterdam News and Proud Magazine. Albeit he doesn’t get paid for doing either show, William’s motivation comes from wanting to be a part of the news process and to get to know individuals with amazing stories and sharing them with his listeners. It’s the opportunity to interview a person like Adolfo Perez Esquivel, recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace prize that drives him to do these shows.

Although he has had many memorable moments at WHCR and WBAI, William is looking to get involved in commercial radio. He explains “This radio (alternative) is good because you learn a lot but the bad thing is you don’t get paid for this.” He continues”  the idea is to get paid for what you are doing.” “His advice for journalism students is “You have to be well informed. You have to read, you have to be behind the news all the time. You have to respond to what is going on, what is happening.”#

Alberto Cepeda is an intern at Education Update.

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