'No Borders' For Jorge Ramos
Jorge Ramos, anchor for America's top-rated Spanish-language newscast, has published a memoir, "No Borders: A Journalist's Search for Home."
After 20 years of living in the United States, he tells The Early Show's Russ Mitchell, sometimes he still feels like an immigrant.
"I am very grateful to the United States, because this country has given me the opportunities that my country of origin couldn't. But sometimes I still miss my country. I still miss Mexico," says Ramos. "But when I go back to visit, I realize that the country that I'm missing is no longer there. That, sometimes I do not even fit in Mexico. And that's why I'm saying that I might have no home, neither here nor in Mexico."
Ramos was born and raised in Mexico City, has lived in California and Florida for most of his adult life, and has traveled the globe in his 20 years as a journalist. Mitchell asked, "What is the main difference between English Speaking Jorge and Spanish speaking Jorge?
"Sometimes in one sentence, I could go from English to Spanish," he said. "It's fantastic to be able to root for Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, to listen to Madonna, Britney Spears and then Shakira at the same time and read Shakespeare in English and Miguel de Cervantes in Spanish. But what's more important is to jump from one set of values.
In Latin American tradition, you have family and friends and religion are more important than your job. Here in the United States, you get the feeling many times that your work is the most important thing, and that your work determines everything else," he explained.
The book also encompasses a spiritual inquiry into the nature of nationality, the quest for "truth", and what it means to be a citizen of the world. Ramos has turned to print because, he says, he is "frustrated with television," admitting that his job as nightly anchor for Noticiero Univision is not conducive to reflection or introspection.
"This is the typical story of the American dream. This is the story of a little kid who was afraid of hell and the devil. A young reporter who was sent to Mexico, that's why I decided to come to the United States. But when I arrived in Los Angeles, I realized instead of a great reporter I was going to become a waiter making $15 a day," said Ramos noting he was a terrible waiter. "It was the most difficult job I've ever had. Then eventually I became television anchorman. This could only have happened in the United States. No other country would give you this, such great opportunity as the United States gave me."
About his job, Ramos says journalism is a kind of "slavery." And yet, according to Ramos, it's the best job in the world. A story that he covered was the Elian Gonzalez case and said he believes that story was a turning point in American politics.
"What happened is that George W. Bush, the governor, then the presidential candidate, supported the Cuban-American community with the Elian story. And not only that, George W. Bush actually tried to speak Spanish. And that possibly, that effort to communicate in Spanish truly changed the Cuban-American vote. At the end, I had an interview with George W. Bush after he was elected. He told me that he truly believed that the Cuban-American vote probably helped him win Florida, and therefore the White House," explained Ramos. "So what we are saying here is that the Latino vote actually was fundamental, was instrumental in the victory of George W. Bush over Al Gore in the last election."
So how does Ramos rate the way the English-speaking news media covers Hispanic America? .
"Not very well. Not very well," said Ramos. "Sometimes they do not realize
that in this country there are at least 30 million people who speak Spanish.
Sometimes the most listened-to radio program or the most watched newscast is in Spanish in cities like New York, Chicago or Los Angeles, Miami, San Antonio. And many people do not realize that we are going to a truly demographic revolution. In less than 50 years there will be 100 million people who speak Spanish in this country. So this is truly a multicultural multi-ethnic country, and many times English language networks simply do not get it."
As for his coverage of wars, Ramos said Univision refused to send him to Afghanistan, so he paid his own way and went on his vacation. It was there that he came the closest to death. In Kosovo, he writes, "I touched the sky. " In El Salvador, he was shot at from helicopters. And on his return to the U.S. from Kuwait, he finally felt like at home. When Ramos saw Berlin wall come down, though, it all made sense. He said in "No Borders," "This is why I am what I am!"
"Oriana Fallaci, an Italian journalist used to say this is an extraordinary and terrible profession. No other occupation allows you to live history at the same time it's happening. It's fantastic to be a journalist," he said.