Pedro Rojas

Executive Editor, La Opinión

Los Angeles, CA

[CA-E 0101]


It was May 2006. (The May Day March for Immigration Rights, downtown Los Angeles, May 1, 2006)

And we assigned two reporters and one photographer because one of them –- so many marches that we have. I decided to come to the march just as a citizen – just to see what was going on.

And, it was so big – it was enormous. And I called the publisher. Usually we – at that moment we have four pages of editorial section that we pre-print. And I called her and told her that this is huge. We [need to] do something extra. And I said, I think we should throw away that section and use those four pages plus Section A to make a huge statement with this.

On paper, we had three journalists. The next day, Sunday – and I have the edition in my office – we have six bylines, four [were] photographers because each one of them knew about the event – what was going on – each one of them [is] a journalist. And they came to cover without being assigned.

And for me, this is what it is. You do it because you love it or not. You don’t go there – We didn’t pay them extra because they came. Later we had parties and things like that – but it was a testimony about what we do.