Boston, MA (October 20, 2022) — GBH is teaming up with the largest Spanish-language newspaper in Massachusetts and one of the world's most revered medical schools to produce Spanish-language programming for new audiences.
As part of an innovative collaboration, a team of journalists at the local outlet El Planeta and its national counterpart, El Tiempo Latino, will produce “ Salud,” a podcast and 30-minute radio show focused on health issues important to the Hispanic community.
“Salud” will air on GBH 89.7 FM at 9:30 am on Saturday mornings, beginning on Oct. 22 for an initial run of eight weeks. The show will be available on demand on YouTube and all major podcast platforms the Thursday before each broadcast date.
GBH News will lend its production facilities and distribution channels to the program. The Harvard Medical School Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership will provide expertise and guidance on medical matters.
“Collaborating with El Planeta and the Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership at Harvard Medical School allows us to super-serve the local and national Hispanic communities with in-depth stories of significant importance to their health and well-being. Bringing these stories to the audience in their native language further reflects our deep commitment to engage with a broad and growing range of listeners,” said Pam Johnston, general manager for news at GBH.
“Salud” is hosted by Tibisay Zea, a public media journalist based at the daily global news program The World, produced by PRX out of GBH’s headquarters in Boston. “Salud” highlights underreported health issues affecting US Hispanics, with a special focus on Massachusetts. Each episode features people telling stories of how their lives are impacted by the condition at hand, as well as healthcare leaders and experts answering questions on prevention, treatment and the big-picture view of how these conditions affect the wider population. The goal is to connect the Latino community with the latest insights and research in medicine and biotechnology.
“Our company has a deep purpose to reach the Spanish-speaking Latino community with content that improves their life, amplifies their culture and informs their decision-making. We are thrilled to see GBH on board empowering our community to become a catalyst to prosperity for America,” said Javier Marin, CEO of El Planeta.
The first episode of “Salud” explores longevity and health through the stories of Rosenda, a woman from Guatemala who recently celebrated her 102 birthday, and Angela Alvarez, a Cuban singer nominated for a Latin Grammy at 95. Interviews with human longevity experts offer insights into what it takes to become a centenarian. Future episodes will look at Alzheimer’s disease, nutrition, long COVID, adolescent mental health and the high prevalence of diabetes within the Latino community.
“What distinguishes this effort and makes this collaboration so exciting is that Salud is one of the first healthcare podcasts to serve Latino listeners directly by addressing topics of interest to them,” said Joan Y. Reede, dean for Diversity and Community Partnership at HMS. “The public service nature of the podcast dovetails with HMS’s overarching mission to broaden understanding of health, science, and medicine across multiple communities by sharing the latest knowledge, research, and best practices in those fields.”
The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), in partnership with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and with support from Meta Journalism Project, provided mentorship and funding to develop and launch the podcast and produce the first four episodes.
“It’s been thrilling to watch Tibisay take her creative idea for informing her community and develop it into a stellar podcast,” said ICFJ Senior Program Director Jennifer Dorroh. “In the process, she has attracted new, world-class partners who will help ‘Salud’ reach a wide audience.”
The Boston Public Health Commission is also sponsoring “Salud.”
Listen and learn more at gbhnews.org/salud.
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About GBH News
GBH News is among the fastest-growing local news providers in Greater Boston and draws on the talent of a multiplatform newsroom that includes GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; television; and digital reporting. The GBH newsroom continues to invest in substantive local coverage and has established dedicated desks for higher education, politics, innovation and investigations as well as unique partnerships to expand on that commitment, including with WNYC’s The Takeaway, The World from PRX and The GroundTruth Project. GBH News partners with CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station; and New England Public Media in western Massachusetts to connect the Commonwealth with trusted journalism. GBH News maintains bureaus at the Massachusetts State House; Dorchester, Boston’s largest neighborhood; and Worcester. The Forum Network, part of GBH News, collects thousands of video and audio lectures from the world's foremost scholars, authors, artists, scientists, policymakers and community leaders and makes them available online to the public for free.
About El Planeta
El Planeta is a Boston-based Spanish-language media outlet serving the Hispanic community of New England. Its mission is to provide access for Latinos in the area to the most reliable, culturally-curated Spanish content derived from the best sources of information and thinkers in the United States. In addition, it has an award-winning team of journalists covering issues affecting the Hispanic community, using sources from local-level activists to White House Officials. El Planeta is also - MBE-certified, SDO-certified, and Clean Hands-certified - which stands as a stamp of commitment to being the most professional, minority-owned media company whose impact and approach goes beyond traditional engagement strategy. Aside from its current digital and print products, El Planeta continues to innovate on all levels developing for instance: “The Salud” podcast and other special supplements focused on education campaigns, and much more. El Planeta Boston is published by El Planeta Media, which also publishes El Tiempo Latino, the largest Hispanic-owned Spanish news provider. Together on all their platforms, El Planeta Media reaches 6MM Latinos Monthly.
About Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School has more than 11,000 faculty working in the 11 basic and social science departments comprising the Blavatnik Institute and at the 15 Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals and research institutes: Baker Center for Children and Families, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Hebrew SeniorLife, Joslin Diabetes Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and VA Boston Healthcare System. The mission of the Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership (DICP) is to advance diversity inclusion in health, biomedical, behavioral, and STEM fields that builds individual and institutional capacity to achieve excellence, foster innovation, and ensure equity in health locally, nationally, and globally.
