In February, KCTV Channel 5 and My KSMO-TV will launch ¿Que Pasa, KC?, a local show aimed at Kansas City's Hispanic community.
The show's hosts will be Sandra Olivas and Iris Hermosillo. Olivas has spent nearly a decade at KCTV 5 as a general assignment reporter, and she tells The Pitch that she's excited to be apart of a show with a positive slant.
"I'm excited about doing positive news," Olivas says of covering feel good stories about people and events. "Kansas City really needs that and we're
really ready for that."
With recent shakeups at the stations, ¿Que Pasa, KC? may indicate a softer side of the station known as "Live. Late breaking. Investigative."
"I think one of the first things I said
when we were staring the show was, 'Please, no bullets. I don't want to
see anything negative about a crime on our show. There's plenty of that
out there already,'" Olivas adds.
So what will ¿Que Pasa, KC? cover? Olivas says the first show will feature stories on Zumba (the aerobic workout program set to Latin rhythms), healthy foods, entertainment in KC as well as an issue segment on this year's U.S. Census.
"We will have people with the U.S. Census come on and talk about why
it's important to fill it out and to ease some concerns," Olivas says.
"In the Hispanic community, people are concerned about who's going to
look at those papers and what does it mean and can they be deported ...
break[ing] up the family. We'll ease those concerns and answer all of
those questions because no one else can look at those documents except
for what they're for."
The show won't be like a traditional newscast, Olivas says.
"We don't want it to feel like a news program, like we're reading from
the prompter and just tossing them packages and stuff," Olivas says.
"We want it to have a faster pace to it and music and just a lighter
feel to it than a newscast."
Olivas will continue reporting during the week, and the show show will taped on Thursdays and air the next night.
A photojournalist named Brett Hacker pitched the idea of doing a
show focused on the Hispanic community at a monthly staff meeting,
Olivas says. KCTV 5 general manager Bobby Totsch was already on board.
Olivas says there was talk about whether to do the show in all English
or all Spanish or a mix. But they ultimately decided they'd reach more
people if they do it in English.
"We wanted to do it in both languages but when we had to choose, it
felt that we'd do it in English and reach a whole lot more viewers,"
Olivas says. "We want the whole community to learn about the culture
and the foods and the entertainment. So we wanted to open it up to
everybody."
¿Que Pasa, KC? starts airing Fridays at 9:30 p.m. on My KSMO-TV
in February. And if the show is a success, Olivas says the show might
be replayed on Saturdays on KCTV 5.
"I grew up in Kansas City," Olivas says. "I've been here my
whole life and seen the changes that have occurred here, and I think
the Hispanic community has just exploded here."
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