The Salvadorian community living on Long Island, New York, has a new alternative to keeping informed about happenings and conditions in their native country. "Contacto Salvadoreño" (Salvadorian Contact) is broadcast every Saturday at 11 a.m. on Cablevision's Channel 228.
The program is produced by Oscar Landaverde and Jilson Rodríguez, who point out that they are seeking, through this information medium, to bring the Salvadorian population, both in the United States and in El Salvador, up to date news.
The live broadcasts of Contacto Salvadoreño are produced from the premises of the Pine Aire Restaurant in Brentwood, and among its most popular segments is "Contacto Skype," live interviews with local leaders made possible through the magic of digital technology that gives them access to Skype.
There is also another segment, "Live Interviews," which introduces Salvadorian personalities and entrepreneurs of Long Island. Recent interview shows have featured Emilio Ruiz, the director of the newspaper La Tribuna Hispana, and Carlos Ayala, among other invited guests.
According to its director and host Jilson Rodriíguez, Contacto Salvadoreño makes a break from traditional immigration roadmaps and allows it to bring Salvadorians living in the United States closer to their families in El Salvador. "I believe it is finally time to give our compatriots the space they deserve and stop seeing them as simple tools or machines for making money."
According to Landaverde, the program is taped by means of Skype and is retransmitted in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and other states on Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
We should also mention that every day from eight to nine in the morning, the same channel, Cablevision 228, broadcasts the program "De Cerca" (Up Close), local interviews on opinion and politics, with Jil Rodríguez.
The program is a joint effort with Tele El Salvador, a channel that, as its slogan says, is bringing Salvadorian families together. According to its director Aarón Fagoaga, the program has had "a greater impact than we'd hoped for."
