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.
