The Asian American community held a rally in downtown Albuquerque this week in response to an increase in violent and harassing incidents across the state. That surge mirrors what is happening all over the country in the wake of charged and divisive language about the COVID-19 virus. It was just about two weeks ago that eight people were killed, six of them females of Asian descent, in a mass shooting in Atlanta, Georgia. Police officials were reticent from the start to call the shootings a hate crime. Host Gene Grant talks with members of the local Asian American/Pacific Islander community about how bad things have gotten here in New Mexico, and what can be done to turn the tide.     

Diversity has also been a huge challenge for years when it comes to local news coverage. Those concerns include not only the diversity of faces that deliver the news, but also the types of stories that are told. Gene Grant recently sat down with Albuquerque’s first African American president and general manager at a major news station, Lori Waldon of KOAT-TV. The two talk about the importance of who tells our stories and what those stories say about our communities.   

Gene Grant also sits down with three people at the center of a major development on the local public health front. The University of New Mexico Hospital was recently certified as the state’s first comprehensive stroke center. They discuss how this new designation will lead to faster and effective treatment for stroke patients, not just in Albuquerque, but across New Mexico.  

New Mexico in Focus airs on NMPBS 5.1 (KNME HD) Friday, April 2 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 4 at 7 a.m.  

NMiF Segments

Rise of Asian American/Pacific Islander Violence  
Host
Gene Grant 

Guest 

Kristelle Siarza, volunteer executive director, Asian Business Collaborative 
Sachi Watase, executive director, New Mexico Asian Family Center 

Diversity in the Local Media Landscape 

Host  
Gene Grant 

Guests
Lori Waldon, general manager and president, KOAT-TV 

UNM Hospital’s Comprehensive Stroke Center

Host
Gene Grant 

Guests
Andrew Carlson, MD, neurosurgeon 
Torsten Rohde, RN, director of UNMH Stroke and Heart Failure Programs 
Michael Torbey, MD, chair of the UNM Department of Neurology 

Host 
Gene Grant 
 
No Line opinion panel 

New Mexico in Focus is the New Mexico PBS prime-time news magazine show covering the events, issues, and people that are shaping life in New Mexico and the Southwest. NMiF takes a multi-layered look at social, political, economic health, education, and art issues, and explores them in-depth with a critical eye to give them context beyond the “news of the moment.

The producer of New Mexico in Focus is Matt Grubs, with Kathy Wimmer, associate producer.

The NM PBS Public Affairs executive producer is Kevin McDonald.

The McCune Charitable Foundation provides NMiF funding, along with viewers like you.

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