Florida’s Economic Crisis, An Issues Special
Thursday, April 22, 2010, Live 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on WPBT2

On this live one-hour special edition of Issues,
we take your calls on Florida’s economic crisis and what’s in store in the year to come.

ISSUES
Issues is WPBT2’s news and public affairs program covering state and local stories. This weekly half-hour program brings together local leaders and journalists to discuss important topics facing South Florida today.

The goal of Issues is to go “behind the headlines” and learn the full story behind what you see in print or news. To do so, we feature panel discussions with people who hold diverse perspectives. We also feature the newsmakers themselves; by inviting local leaders on to the program, viewers have a chance to hear directly from their representatives. The leaders also have the outlet to explain their positions without commercial interruptions and without the concern that their lengthy interview will be reduced to a sound bite.

The program has been on the air for over 30 years and has featured its present host, Helen Ferré, for the last 10 years.

Website: www.wpbt2.org/issues

Helen Aguirre Ferré, Host
Helen Aguirre Ferré is an award-winning, bilingual journalist in both print and broadcast media. With over two decades of reporting, she is the Opinion Page Editor of Diario Las Américas, an independent, family-owned Spanish-language newspaper founded in Miami in 1953. Her commentary also extends to a Sunday column in Diario Las Américas, covering current, national and international affairs.

In the broadcast arena, Helen is the moderator of the weekly WPBT2 public affairs series Issues, reaching audiences from the Treasure Coast to the Florida Keys. Helen also serves as host for many of WPBT2’s public affairs specials.

She co-hosts “Yo Cuento,” Radio Cadena Univision’s latest political national program with compelling political analysis. Additionally, she provides regular political analysis on WQBA 1140 AM highest-rated afternoon program “Prohibido Callarse.”

Committed to community service, particularly in education, she is the first woman to chair the Board of Trustees of Miami Dade College, the largest community college in the country, and serves on the board of directors of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) in the United States and the Council of Board Chairs of the AGB.

Helen Aguirre Ferré holds a B.A. in Political Science from Barry University and an M.A. in Inter American Studies from the University of Miami, Florida.  She is married and has three children.

To read Helen’s full bio, visit our Issues website.

Fabiola Rodriguez (right) and Nicole Borrero (left), Producers of Issues

Fabiola Rodriguez, Coordinating Producer
As the coordinating producer, Fabiola Rodriguez oversees WPBT2’s three public affairs programs, Issues, Viewpoint and Pulse. She is the main producer for Issues, WPBT2’s weekly program on news and politics, and Pulse, a new program for the Caribbean and Caribbean-American community.

In her position at WPBT2 Fabiola is also responsible for the station’s one-hour public affairs primetime specials. Recent examples include: Repairing American Healthcare, an eight-member panel discussion in response to Congressional healthcare reform initiatives, and Haiti: A Community Conversation, a rare one-hour call-in special airing soon after the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Prior to joining public affairs, Fabiola was a freelance producer on KidVision, WPBT2’s children’s programming platform. On KidVision, Fabiola received three Telly Awards and an Emmy Award for creating short interstitials teaching children diverse topics such as: taking care of the environment, eating healthy foods, and how to be polite to others.

She graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies and is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Nicole Borrero, Associate Producer
Nicole Borrero is a producer and associate producer for WPBT2's public affairs programming. She has over 8 years experience in production. Nicole joined WPBT2 as the producer for KidvisonVPK. As producer she was responsible for developing 5-10 minute educational virtual fieldtrips for teachers, parents and students involved in Florida’s Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten.

Nicole joined public affairs in January 2009. In her role as associate producer, she is responsible for topic research and contacting and securing guests for two of our public affairs programs; Issues and Pulse. In July 2009 Nicole took over the role of producer for our public affairs program on religion and ethics; Viewpoint.

Public affairs took on a new challenge with the recent earthquake that ravaged Haiti; a live call-in program titled Haiti, a Community Conversation. In less than a week’s time, the public affairs team with Nicole as associate producer put together a program where members of the South Florida community can express their feelings and views of the tragic occurrence in Haiti.

Born and raised in South Florida, after taking a photography class in high school, Nicole attended Broward Community College where she majored in Communications and Photography. Making a shift in direction, Nicole received her A.S. in Video Production in March 2002 from The Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale. While there, Nicole had the opportunity to intern at MTV Networks in New York.

Soon after graduating, Nicole got her first job in television production with WSVN Channel 7. From there, Nicole went on to work in many different aspects of production such as teaching video production at a summer camp and work as a freelance production assistant and coordinator on many local productions.

To watch Issues, tune into WPBT2 on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. or visit the website at www.wpbt2.org/issues.