>>Funding for New Mexico in Focus provided by the McCune  Charitable Foundation and  viewers like you.

>>Gene Grant: This week on New  Mexico in Focus… confronting the rising threat of violence  against New Mexico’s Asian American-Pacific Islander  communities.

>>Siarza: The feeling of  sorrow, the feeling of grief, the feeling of pain was just   overwhelming.

>>Grant: Plus, the importance  of representation in local media, with Albuquerque’s  first African American General Manager.

New Mexico in Focus starts now.

Thanks for joining us this week.

I’m your host, Gene Grant.

Health care has definitely been the story of the last year.

But amidst all the COVID-19 pandemic and public health  response, many may have missed the news that the University  of New Mexico Hospital is opening the state’s first  ever comprehensive Stroke Center.

Ahead this week, we  find out more about what this means for patients across  New Mexico.

And, a little later, we’ll introduce you to  Lori Waldon, the General Manager and President of  KOAT-TV, as she and I discuss why now is the time to pay  more than lip service to diversity in the media.

But,  up first is a story we’ve been covering for a while  now here on New Mexico in Focus.

And the threat became  all the more real with news of the recent deaths of 6  people in an apparent hate crime in Atlanta.

It’s just  one in a series of escalating assaults directed  at Asian American and Pacific Islanders, including right  here in New Mexico.

To gain more perspective on how bad  it has gotten and what we can do to turn the tide, I   recently reached out to some members of the local  Asian American community.

>>Gene Grant: There's a lot  of things we need to get to, a lot of issues that have  been out there in the public consciousness about Asian  Americans, people from the Pacific Islands that has just  got to stop.

This violence against women, 70 percent of  the folks reported to be assaulted lately, Asian  Americans, are women.

70 percent.

I mean, this is just  getting wildly out of control and we need to talk about this  as a people.

So, I want to thank you Kristelle for joining  me.

I know this is obviously not a great, fun time to be  talking about these things, but let me ask you this straight  away.

How did you feel, right from the top, when it wasn't  immediately said by the authorities, the police,  everybody else in Atlanta, in Fulton County, no one just  went there and said it was a hate crime.

People sort of tap  their feet for a little while.

How did that… I'm curious your  reaction to that.

>>Kristelle Siarza: I was  livid.

I definitely dropped an f-bomb or several.

So,  looking… it was funny… So, I got the breaking news update  that Tuesday night when it had happened.

And, at first,  they didn't actually report that the mass shooting had  involved Asian Americans.

And, at first, I was like,  wow, that's really sad, you know, that there's… the  subject of mass shootings is back in the news,  considering the pandemic, right?

So, if you think  about it, it's the first mass shooting that we've  had since lockdown, right?

And then, Wednesday morning  the Asian Business Collaborative, which I'm  the volunteer Executive Director for, one of our  team members was like, “Guys, this isn't good.” And, it  was heartbreaking to hear and all of a sudden I got  messages of support and saying, “How do you feel?

Are you all right?

I'm thinking of you.” And, I'm  sure that, you know, immediately I went straight  to my team I was like, “How are you guys doing?

Are you  guys okay?” And the feeling of sorrow, the feeling of  grief, the feeling of pain was just overwhelming.

And  then, I read the article that the… and I saw the  interview from the police chief that said that this  individual, this individual just had a bad day and it  wasn't categorized as a hate crime and I started  screaming, you know, saying that this is absolutely a  hate crime.

Because, how many, how… I know that our  Asian culture has dealt with so much grief and so much  trauma when it came to the exploitation and  sexualization of our women.

In fact, you know, I used to  joke and say that I was a mail-order bride, just to  kind of get a kick out of it and there was that one time  that my mom heard that joke and she was like, “I worked  way too damn hard to overtake that stereotype.” And that was  a, that was my mistake of falling into that whitewashed  culture of being okay with saying things like that.

And  there's definitely that conversation of how, what is  the responsibility of our community to know that  sexualization of Asian women is not okay.

I think the part  for me that did it, that like, that gets me still to this day  is, like, I always think about the aspect of the business  owner, right?

And there was two businesses that were  affected by this, the Gold Spa and young, the young Asian  massage in Georgia.

And, I was speaking to a group that was,  are speaking with a grief group that we all got together,  thanks to the National Asian, Pan-National Asian and Pan-  American women's forum, that deals with this exact topic of  sexualization and exploitation of Asian women in the Asian  American Association.

I was speaking in that grief group  and in the, and what I said to them is what I'm sharing with  you now.

The part that hurts the most is the screaming of  the employees.

Like, how they went to work one day, because  they had… what do we do best as Asian Americans?

We provide  for our families.

And they were just simply providing for their  family that day and they were killed.

I couldn't… I even told,  you know, so many of the different people that I work  with and the different organizations I support, I said,  “I wouldn't be able to live with myself if my team was killed  under my watch.” And I can't, I can't imagine what that would be  like for the Asian business owners and just to hear the  women just being killed and they're so helpless at that time.

It's not fair, it's not fair about what happened with them  just simply because a guy had a bad day.

And so, I thought that  was total BS, what the, what the chief said.

And I don't think we,  as an Asian community, will ever forgive him for what he said.

And  not even drawing the conclusion that this could definitely be a  part of the reason this is part of the national sentiment of what  we feel about the Asian community and how we've all had to defend  the fact that it's the Chinese Virus and how that was a terrible  term and how the root of the problem is not… is the person…  Well, it's also the community that believes in it too.

And so,  it's been, it's been frustrating.

And, I think if there was a silver  lining, you know, about the situation it's the fact that the  Asian community has been the most vocal that they ever have been  in the last two to three weeks.

And, I'm really proud that.

You  know, our ancestors have told us to be quiet and say it is what  it is, but I think that now our community has just redefined that.

It's definitely time to speak up and actually advocate for agents  because it's not okay.

>>Grant: Your sense of what you're  seeing?

We'll talk local here in a minute, but let's talk the  broader issue of why this is happening in the first place, but  then also awareness.

Why is… I'm annoyed that there just doesn't  seem to be enough awareness of this issue, even given the numbers  I just sort of laid out.

You would think this would be front-page  news across the country.

Why isn't it, I mean…  >>Sachi Watase: I think we're deeply, I mean watching these,  watching what we're seeing is… it's deeply saddening, but it's also  not at all surprising because this kind of like white supremacy has  always benefited from xenophobia and this kind of behavior.

And, I  think that we've seen this kind of violence committed towards our  communities for a long time, even before the coronavirus.

And, I  think there's also the model minority myth, which is a myth  that, you know, talks about Asians being like the best minority and  not actually targeted by a lot of this kind of violence.

But, because  of that myth, I think that that is, that is a huge reason why  this isn't widespread knowledge and this isn't seen as something  that is important to talk about or see or notice and it isn't top  of the news regularly, until now.

>>Siarza: We're just tired of  seeing the disrespect towards our grandparents, towards our parents,  towards our elders.

And, we are sometimes even going against the  norm of what we're used to as an Asian culture, which is actually  speaking up.

The amount of respect that is ingrained in a lot of our  different cultures is so deep that we are just, I think our  generation of Asians now, the second and third generation, we're  just tired of it.

And also, you know, we have to give credit to  the communities of color that started to stand up for themselves,  because it started to open up those pathways, you know.

Even  though I'm glad that those communities of color have opened  those avenues for us, I'm also surprised that they haven't  banded closer together with us, too.

And, I don't know if that's  us, as an Asian community in New Mexico, that needs to not be as  divided, or if whether or not, you know, our legislators, our  communities, our loud leaders, our key influencers in our market  need to stop thinking that it's only two major minority groups in  New Mexico.

In fact, it's actually three and that's Asian, Hispanic  and Black… or four, I'm sorry… Native, Asian, Hispanic and Black.

Like, we're here too.

>>Grant: That's a good point.

That's a good point and let's, you know, Miss Watase, you know,  this goes… this problem goes back to the 19th and 20th centuries.

It's not as if this is like a 2020 problem, that, you know, suddenly  we're all sort of like, we don't know how this has been happening.

So, you've got something going on for so long, I would have  expected that when you've got this level of violence, this  level of stress, this level of things happening in a community,  that to Kristelle’s point, other communities would rally  at this point.

Would you like to see something like that  happen as well?

>>Watase: Yeah, I think so.

I mean, I think it's really important for our communities  to come together and support each other when this kind  of violence occurs.

And, I think violence against any  racial group is violence against all of these racial  groups.

And, I think it's incredibly important that  we are there in solidarity with one another.

I mean,  we've seen, of course, so much anti-black racism in  this country and it's also our responsibility as Asian  Americans and Asians to be working in solidarity with  that movement.

I think it is, you know, violence against  any group based on their race or ethnicity or language  ability or color of their skin is incredibly,  incredibly damaging to our communities.

So, yeah, I  think it would be great if, you know, we all rally  together and fight all of these kinds of forms of  violence.

>>Grant: Are you getting  reports of any local situations here at the  organization?

Are you getting complaints?

>>Watase: Yeah, I mean, we always have, like our agency  is a direct service agency, so we work closely with the  community on, you know, victims of crime, victims  of domestic violence or sexual violence, you know,  providing basic access to basic needs, resource  navigation, etc.

And so, we do have a lot of clients  who come to us and share with us instances of  violence towards them and we've seen this, not just  recently, but for years, including racism towards  with Muslim women on the public transportation,  harassment, where people do not step in and do not  intervene.

We've seen, you know, recently a client who  works at a massage parlor, who's… and, one of the  clients refused to put on a mask and then physically  assaulted our client and, you know, we've seen a lot  of these kinds of forms of harassment.

The harass,  the vandals, vandalism on the Taste of India  restaurant in Albuquerque, around like four times  last year, I think.

You know, there's so many  instances of this and we've seen it come up  time and time again.

>>Siarza: You know…  >>Grant: Sorry… >>Siarza: And to comment  on the Asian business community perspective,  the Taste of India's situation was an  example of how local leaders started to  recognize that they needed to be changed.

In  fact, APD reached out to the Asian Business  Collaborative, asking, to say, “How can we  support these Asian businesses?” Especially  with the crimes that are written and so we reached  out, ABC reached out to the Taste of India and  they said, you know, “We're just frustrated  that we have to take matters into our own  hands.” And, you know, security and protocol  has just been so difficult, especially  for a small business, but what people don't  understand is that some of these small business  owners, this is their paycheck.

This is their  livelihood.

They're not, you know, the highly  educated, or they may be the highly educated, you  know, Asians that we hear about in demographics and  statistics, but they're still making a living off  of their businesses.

And then, the ad, the racial  discrimination on top of that just makes a really  unhealthy situation.

>>Grant: Exactly right.

You know, I keep thinking about Kristelle’s, this  idea of Asian Americans being perceived as the,  you know, perpetual, you know, foreigners like,  you know what I mean, like not quite Americans.

You hear this kind of foolishness from, you  know, ignorant people all the time.

I don't  understand how this has continued to last in our  country.

I honestly, it just really, you know, the  level of ignorance on display here, when you've  got 90-year-olds being assaulted, because of a  pandemic.

I mean, how do you punch through to someone  like that, that's willing to assault an elder, for  gosh sake.

I mean, does it, jail time, is it, you know,  education?

What's the way?

>>Siarza: I think about the  actual founder of the New Mexico Asian Family Center  and she's, she was my aunt, she was my mentor, which is  Dr. Adelamar, or Auntie Dely, as many of us in the  Asian community know.

And, I think she answered this  best when she won the “Si, Se, Puede” award during the  Cesar Chavez celebration, before she passed away.

And,  she says, “Our generation, meaning the second and third  generation, has to fight.

We have to fight back.

We have  to say something.

We have to make that institutional  change against racism, because those elders that  are consistently being threatened, if they were not  grown, they were not influenced to speak up the  way that we are,” especially in our communities and so  I think about that speech so much, because it's just  resonated with me and it became a big part of the  Asian Family Center when she started it, because she  was just tired of seeing how so many people were  discriminated, just because the domestic violence issues  and the sexual assault issues.

And, the persecutions that  they would, they would constantly receive and also,  too, I think it's awareness, you know, education and  awareness is a big thing.

And, myself and, along with  Khalil, one of the Mexico PBS contributors, he had asked me  the same question, of like, what do you do whenever you  have communities that are trying to learn about  diversity?

But, they don't know how to address it and  they don't know what to do to make that change.

I say  educate yourself, educate yourself on a situation  where you know that you're willing to make a change and  you're willing to spend the time to learn more about the  culture, rather than just saying I have a cousin or  I'm married to a Japanese person or I'm married to a  Filipina.

So, I know about the culture, right?

That's  not the case.

It's, take the time to actually better  educate yourself.

>>Grant: Let me go back to  something that we can't breeze over and Kristelle  mentioned this and that is the rhetoric that started  this whole thing, from our previous president, those  incendiary comments.

I, it can't be let go for this  conversation, because that is really where a lot of  this started.

And I mentioned the stop AAPI hate  site and there's a Professor of Asian American Studies  at San Francisco State University, he gives this  quote but the you know why the Chinese virus and  subsequent hate speech has been a problem, quote, it  gives people license to attack us.

The current spate  of attacks on our elderly is part of how that rhetoric  has impacted the broader population.

I mean, I find  that very frightening, that you know, that elders are  being attacked over a president's rhetoric.

There's  something about that that is so unseemly, so wrong on  so many levels.

And, I have to say again, late summer,  last fall, I really didn't hear a lot of MSNBC, CNN,  you know, whatever… people really grinding on this  issue, to find some solutions.

Is the fourth,  Kristelle, in your mind is the fourth estate somewhat  of a problem on this issue as well?

>>Siarza: I think it's, it goes back to, I know that  the media, especially being a person in the media, I  understand that the visibility… you don't know  if a story is a story unless somebody speaks up about it,  right?

And so, I think our communities are also  responsible for not speaking enough about it, especially  since, you know, I was reading a couple articles on  what's been happening is that, it's the younger  generation that has been actually standing up and  filming some of these terrorist acts, or these  horrible acts of violence, because they were willing  to pull out their cell phones.

And, the generational  gaps that we have, especially with our seniors and it does,  it genuinely breaks my heart that our seniors don't feel  like they should speak up until it's absolutely at the  end, or it might be, it might be too late.

They might be  gone and so, you know, and also too this whole rhetoric  of the Chinese virus always just pisses me off beyond  belief, because it created an opportunity where it's  not just Chinese.

It's everybody in the Asian  community, that it opened the door for that type of negative  racism and rhetoric where, you know, Asian restaurants in Rio  Rancho were getting phone calls from the public because  they said, you know, “Close down your doors, because you  guys are causing the virus.” Even Filipinos, you know,  we're not really very close to China, or even, you know, that  we are in relationship to the continent but it was just  really frustrating that even Filipinos felt threatened to  be Asian.

And, I think what's the most important, the most  unfortunate part for me, is that we are always very proud  to be different, you know.

We are very proud to be  Filipino.

We're very proud to be Japanese or whatever our  culture might be and that wording, a Chinese virus,  gives us doubt to be proud of who we are.

I hate that  and I want to change that, that mindset tomorrow,  now even.

>>Grant: Sachi Watase and  Kristelle Siarza, thank you both so much for spending  some time on this.

This is going to be a continuing  discussion this is not a one-time deal obviously  this is not going to go away after this segment  so we need to stay on top of this here at New Mexico  PBS as well.

So, thank you both, though, for spending  some time and educating us on this issue.

>>Siarza: Thanks, Gene.

>>Grant: Absolutely  >>Grant: Embracing diversity is also important in local  news coverage.

And, it’s not just about the voices  and faces you see and hear on your tv screens, or read  on your favorite website or in your local paper.

I  recently had the chance to sit down, over zoom, with  Albuquerque’s first African American President and General  Manager at a major news station.

Lori Waldon of  KOAT-TV discuss the importance of who tells our  stories and what that says about our communities.

>>Gene Grant: As an African- American woman coming up in  the business, you were a Poli-Sci major in college.

Talk about the challenges you faced early as a black  woman in this business.

>>Lori Waldon: Oh, that's a  great.

That's a, yeah… it's funny as it's far… That was  a long time ago when I started and yet there are  things that I still think about.

You know, Eugene,  I would say that it's hard, because you walk into a  place and you want to know that you're always being  given the benefit of the doubt.

I found myself always  having to feel like I had to be three times as good  to get half as much.

You walk into rooms, you walk  into situations, wearing armor because you feel like  you have to always be the strongest in the room and  the best.

And I also think that I ran into different  kinds of issues, because, in a newsroom, you will see  African-American reporters or reporters of color.

What you don't always see are African-Americans in  management positions.

And so, I found myself by myself  and when you sit at that table, I was often the only  African-American at the table, not at that point  the head of the table, just the only one at the table.

And so, I would hear something, challenge it  maybe and I would get challenged.

And it's hard  being the only one at the table, when you feel like  your voice is alone.

But little by little, I was  lucky because I had bosses who, I had some bad bosses,  I won't lie… but I also had some good bosses who  heard my voice and wanted to elevate me, but it  wasn't just making sure that voices are heard, but  how are we telling those stories?

Who's being hired  to tell those stories?

And that's how I knew that I  wanted to go into management because we didn't, while  we may get to the table, we didn't have people of color  who were at the heads of the table.

And I thought that was  important.

>>Grant: That's a big  distinction isn't it?

It's one thing to be able to speak  up in a situation.

It's another thing to put things in action,  put things in motion.

And that's a whole other thing,  I couldn't agree with that more.

You know, interestingly, when  I think about the markets you've been in as well, I have  to say this… I have to think you're, as a black woman,  you're coming into this pretty battle-hardened.

I mean  Sacramento and you know (laughter), you know what I  mean?

You have to be tall and bulletproof at this  point, you know, so (laughter).

>>Waldon: Well…  >>Grant: Does that help, you know?

>>Waldon: Yeah, it does.

that's a great... Yeah, it  does.

Having the experience does help.

Having lived in  different places, not only as a News Director, but I've  lived all over the country.

So as a reporter, I started  out in Peoria and then I moved to Mobile and to  Charlotte and to the Bay area and to Sacramento and to  Milwaukee and to here, so I've been in different,  different markets, pretty much all over the country.

And so, that's given me, yeah, that's given me some  experience.

I would also say that I'm not as young anymore,  so I understand you know some of the lessons, but if I  could talk to my 20-year-old self or 25-year-old self,  there are things that I've learned along the way that  I think could have helped me.

And I would also say this,  too, it's why I also know that I can stand in a room and be  the only and feel confident, because I've been there and  I know, you know, you can challenge me, but I know what  I'm talking about.

I've been to these newsrooms.

I've, we've  won awards.

We've won ratings.

I know what I'm, I know what  we're talking about.

So, there's credibility there which I think  helps me as well.

>>Grant: That's right and  people pick up on that kind of thing, you know what I mean?

When someone's really been around in this… people pick up  on that kind of thing, you know?

What's the biggest challenge  you see for Black reporters that, either have worked under  you, or it doesn't necessarily have to be under you, you know…  There's always that early, it's almost like teachers, you know,  the big problem for teachers is dropping out in the first  year.

That's where they, a lot of teachers… and I have  to think journalists of color, it's so jolting to be in a  newsroom and be the only one and I, you know, people  dropping out of the business after a short period of time  is a difficulty.

What are you seeing out there for  difficulties for young reporters?

>>Waldon: I think a lot of times, kind of, what I  mentioned before, about first of all just, when you're  the only in a room, people look at you differently.

And,  unfortunately sometimes there's a level of, can you do this?

It's finding yourself in positions where you want to  pitch stories and you know that they're important stories  but you don't always get buy-in from the people who are above  you.

Or, sometimes it could be relegated to certain  stories.

“But, I want to cover that.” “I want you to  cover this.” When reporters are starting out, often times  they start out in very small markets.

That's very typical.

And, a lot of times these really tiny markets, there  aren't a lot of people of color in those communities  and so there's a feeling of isolation.

Let alone the  stories that you think you should be doing, so I think  that's different.

I think also, just keeping young  reporters in the business, you know, it's not… you don't  go into journalism, a lot of times, for the paycheck.

Or  even into broadcasting.

You go because it's a calling.

So, it's keeping the people who are doing well in the  business.

I think that's, that's a challenge too.

And also just, I would just  say overall, especially reporters of color, just  reminding them that their voices are important and  that they may run up against obstacles when it comes to  wanting to do the kinds of stories or voicing concerns  and not to be discouraged if you aren't getting the kind  of attention that you should be, I think is a challenge  as well.

>>Grant: Right, you know  you've been a news director as you mentioned in your  career.

A huge bit, I want to talk about here in a  second, because that's an enormous power position in  a newsroom.

You really get, you get to say yes or no,  basically.

There are not many positions where a  black person gets to say yes or no on and that's  the final word, by the way, that yes or no.

That's a  very rare thing, right?

Is there a certain skill set,  it seems to you and you've witnessed in your journey,  to be able to take that step up into management?

What does one have to have to be able to be a news  director of any color and be successful at it?

>>Waldon: You know, one of the things that I was very  proud of that, when bosses promoted me they said that  I had two things that helped me to succeed and  why I was promoted.

And there are two passions that  I have.

First of all, I was I was told and I love, I'm  just a good news woman.

I just love news, I love news.

I love the craft of news.

I love marrying wonderful words  and pictures.

I love great storytelling.

I love drilling  down.

I like asking questions.

I like being a critical  thinker, which I think is important.

I see myself as the  viewer, I am the viewer, I am the advocate for the viewer.

I heard a wonderful saying, we don't produce for the newsroom  we produce for the living room.

So, it's remembering that.

So,  I just loved news, local, national, global… I didn't care.

I saw that as my calling and that was my passion and that's  how I built my teams in the newsroom.

And then, the second  thing, I laugh because it's something I just dearly love,  but it's odd, I know, but I love managing people.

I love  leading people.

I love building teams.

I see myself as the coach.

I see myself as the head coach and so when I look at how do  you cover breaking news wonderfully?

How do you cover  investigative?

It starts with the people that you hire and  you're good to them and I find that when you're good to your  people, they are good to you.

And, when you get out of their  way and you give them the tools that they need and you recognize  where they are strong, they do great work and when they do great  work, they're energized.

And when they're energized, the work  reflects that.

So, I would try to bring that spirit into the  leadership positions that I've been in.

And it's been successful,  but again, it's also something that I love.

So, being a good  news person and, I think, being good with building teams is  important.

>>Grant: That's a, that  foundational thing, right?

You know, everything has to have a  foundation to build on that's for sure.

You know, one of the  problems when you're a minority in a newsroom is having someone  who has your back, basically?

And, let me kind of put it this  way… in a lot of endeavors out there, there's a lot of bosses  who are willing to let you fail, so you can grow from it.

But,  in a lot of cases when you're the minority, you don't get  that feeling.

If you fail, you just fail.

It's viewed  differently, do you know what I mean?

It’s a difficulty.

So  how important… I'm back in the idea of management and  the idea of being that voice in the room to say, “Okay,  this reporter may have missed it on this one just by a little  bit, but I think there's something we can work with  here.

Let's all not panic.

Let's just do a little training over  the next six months, whatever the case may be.” How important  is that for someone to have someone at their back  like that?

>>Waldon: It's very important.

It's very important.

Failure is a great teacher.

Failure is a  teacher.

We all learn from failure, but when, I think when  you're a person of color you don't feel like you have that  luxury.

I don't have the luxury to fail, because everyone's  looking at me.

I'm automatically in a spotlight and so I had to  walk into a room and be the biggest, you know, forgive my  language, badass in the room.

I don't have a luxury to fail  because there are people who will, if I do, may assume, “Nah,  she wouldn't make it anyway.” And so, I never felt that way  and so as a news director I always wanted to have the best  ratings or award-winning or you just feel like you have  to, but I have also had bosses who, when I have fallen short,  because that's how you learn, they were good enough to say,  “But that's okay.

What did you learn from it?

What did you  learn?” And I that's how I also try to manage as well, but I  have, you know, I have to say, I understand that in theory and  I get it.

But, I do think when you're a person of color that's  something that's always in the back of your mind, “I don't want  to fail.

I don't want to fail”, because people may think I'm  going to or they may expect it and it's not fair but, it's  often the way it is.

>>Grant: Right, exactly right.

My frustration since the 90s or 1995, specifically, how we're  tracking hiring for Black people in newsrooms, has been sort of  an up and down thing, but not a whole lot of progress.

Do you  have a crystal ball, personally, that… are you optimistic about  the more, black representation?

Do you see positive signs in  the news business?

>>Waldon: I do.

Here's where  I think the good news and then,  I would say, where I'm a little bit, I won't say concerned.

But  I might, you know, I'm watching very carefully.

Even before  George Floyd, even before all of the things that happened  last year and you know I mentioned this in the article,  stations know that it is important for their personnel  on camera and off camera to reflect the communities that  they serve.

So, it is good business and smart business to  have a diverse workforce in stations, newsrooms and  otherwise.

I think that after George Floyd it became, you  know, there was a big, a light… we shined a light on that.

And, it's all so… it was even more important… but it's always  been important.

That's the good news.

So, I think, that's the  good news.

What I can, what I am concerned about is the… it's  important right now but it's always been important.

But,  there's a lot of attention to it.

What I'm concerned about  is what is, what are things going to look like in a year  and is there still going to be this level of engagement?

Is  there still going to be this level of aggressiveness in  hiring?

I don't… we don't want this to beat the flavor of the  month.

It's got to be on-going and it's not just because,  you know, there's a light  shining on us and people are going to notice that we don't,  we aren't, we don't have a diverse workforce at stations.

It's the right thing to do.

It is the right thing to do.

When you have a diverse workplace, you are richer.

You  are smarter.

You are better thinkers and so it benefits  all of us.

So, I know it's very top of mind for most  media companies, as it should.

As it always should be, but  I'm just hoping that it doesn't die down in a year when other  things capture our attention.

>>Grant: It's not just black  representation in the newsroom, Native American,  Asian American representation, so…  >>Waldon: We have, we have to.

And it's… recruiting has been  interesting, because a lot of people don't know about  New Mexico and so, we educate them, you know, because they,  you know, people haven't always been out this way.

But, it's so important that we are diverse and you know  I'll be honest when I got here, I didn't see as much  diversity as I thought that I would.

And we… that was one  of the things that I knew, “You know, we’ve got to rethink  this,” because that's not who we are as a state or as a  country.

>>Grant: I’ve got another  question about black-owned media and small black-owned  media and I've always had this thought that maybe, you know,  here in Albuquerque, we're not a huge part of the population,  meaning African-Americans, but there is the opportunity as  well, meaning we've had Ronnie Wallace has been here for years,  running a publication, black publication for over like 25  years now, but it might be time for perhaps some younger  bucks to get in the game and really get that juice pointing  in the neighborhood.

Do you see some of that happening  around the country?

Are you supportive of that idea  as well?

>>Waldon: Oh, very supportive.

You know, it's a challenge, because I think the desire to  do it, I think the stories and content are absolutely there.

A lot of times, it's a matter of economics and that's, I  think, that has to do, that influences whoever wants to  start a publication.

But, I do think that their time is right  and I do think that their desire is there and I do think  that the journalists are there and I think the people who  can put these together are there.

So, there's a lot of  entrepreneurial, a big spirit that's going on with  entrepreneurs, especially when they're seeing that mainstream  media doesn't satisfy what they're interested in and what  they think others are interested in and so they're going out and  forging their own way to create these new ways, new platforms  and new streams of content which I think is really exciting.

>>Grant: You know, it's… You've been here a while now and I'm  sure it's no surprise that the complicated nature of our  history, of our… I mean, there's a lot of different  tensions and backgrounds and historical things that inform  a lot of New Mexico culture here and it can be, it takes  a little while to parse out sometimes, when you're from  the outside.

I'm from the outside.

I've been here 30-plus  years and I'm still trying to parse a lot of things out, you  know.

A lot of difficulties.

How challenging has that been  for you, to kind of, get a sense in your arms around New  Mexico and the complexities here?

>>Waldon: It has been challenging, but in a good  way.

But, you're absolutely right, I mean I've learned  that, you know, that there is a complicated history to  this state and especially when the statue was toppled,  so that brought up a lot.

And so, I learned about that and  I've been trying to learn the history, contentious  history, and trying to understand, well why, when  we do a story, we get this kind of response.

Some of my  biggest educators I have to say and sometimes it's  difficult, are some of our viewers.

When we do a story,  they will respond and it could be positive or negative and  if it's negative, I try to understand where are they  coming from?

And some are just, let me, let me explain why  some of us didn't like this and it's very educational.

There are others who are just kind of angry and nasty and  I have to take that in stride and understand, “Okay here's  why it's going the way it's going.” Some of it has been  about culture, but quite frankly some of it has been political,  because we are coming through some contentious times,  especially last year, but it's  a complicated history, but I also find that there's a lot  of beauty in this state, which I have enjoyed learning about  and the people, it's… I've enjoyed it, I've enjoyed it.

>>Grant: When you start getting into digging into it, it takes  your breath away.

I just have to say that personally.

It  really, you know… there was a point, I think I was about 10  years in and I was like, “Wow, this is an amazingly complicated  place.” >>Waldon: It is complicated.

>>Grant: A decade later, you know… (laughter).

But that's part of  our, part of our charm and our strength of course as you've  realized as well here, that is like a mesh screen that's all  tied together.

I can't thank you enough Lori, for spending  some time with us here, >>Waldon: I love this.

I forget  that we’re live, you know.

I feel like I'm just having a  good conversation over lunch.

This is great.

>>Grant: I love it.

I love it.

>>Grant: Some good news to wrap  up this week’s show.

The UNM hospital was recently certified  as a comprehensive stroke center.

It’s the first in the  state, and can make a big difference in providing quick  and effective treatment for one of our biggest killers.

Research shows strokes are responsible for one in every  six deaths in the United States.

I recently reached  out to some of the folks behind this new certification at UNM  Hospital, to find out more about what it all means for  patients, not just in Albuquerque, but across New  Mexico.

>>Gene Grant: Guys, thank you  all for joining us.

I really appreciate it, Andrew, let  me start with you, if I might?

I'm not going by order  of importance, just by who's on my screen as I look down  and see, but talk about the accreditation if you would.

What it involved?

Why this was a years-long program and  what it means for the state to finally receive it?

>>Andrew Carlson: Alphabetical helps sometimes, I guess,  right?

So, I'm a neurosurgeon.

I treat mostly blood vessel  problems and I do treatments of blood vessel kind of things,  both inside the blood vessels, what we call endovascular  therapy and when surgery is needed.

And so, I'm the  surgical director of the Stroke Program and Michel is the  Medical Director of the Stroke Program.

And this really is a  collaborative effort, where a number of different disciplines  need to work together to treat this complex problem of stroke.

Why this is exciting for the state is because it recognizes  the high level of care that we can provide to patients with  the most complex and the most debilitating kinds of strokes.

It recognizes our ability to work very quickly to get the  right treatments to patients, whether that's giving patients  medication or whether that's very quickly getting them into  our angiography suite to be able to remove clots from the  brain.

And, we know, based on a lot of studies that have  come out recently, that stroke has, stroke treatment has  really changed over the last few years.

We now can really  improve the chances that somebody will have a good  outcome after stroke and so that's where this effort is  incredibly important for New Mexico, because we have to be  fast about it and so trying to streamline all those  processes, trying to streamline the groups that are working  together to take care of these patients and then, of course,  extending that outreach across the rest of the state, which  I think we'll talk about a little bit more later, but in  order to get patients all over the state to be able to  have access to that high level care is really what the  core of the comprehensive stroke designation is for us.

>>Grant: Got you.

Torsten Rohde, as I read it, you've  been on this trail literally for a long time in your career.

And, why is it important for New Mexico, for everyday New  Mexicans to have this stroke center.

Obviously, Andrew  touched on this a little bit, but you know when they're,  when time is an issue when it comes to strokes, why this  center?

Why the importance?

>>Torsten Rohde: Well the big  deal there is that we are the only, at this time, but  the first comprehensive stroke center which means  as Dr. Carlson already pointed out, we can do some  of the things that no other center and the state can do.

We can do, of course, the thrombectomies, he talked  about the mechanical removing of clots and, but then,  also any kind of falloff problems.

If the patient has  bleeds in the head, the neurosurgery part of it.

So,  the big issue there is that, these patients that Dr.  Carlson described, the really debilitating strokes, should,  if at all possible, come to us directly.

That's really  the big difference, so they might even have to bypass a  hospital that's a little closer but doesn't have the  capabilities.

So, that's something that the state  has to understand and that we'll be talking with EMS  and that these patients then come to us and we can  take care of them from the moment they arrive to all  the way till they're discharged.

So, that includes  our neurosurgery, ICU unit, so that's also unique in the  state.

So, the nursing care, the level of nursing care  they receive, the constant availability of 24-7 of  doctors of neurosurgeons, of neurologists, everybody's  here, basically around the clock.

And that's something  that's quite unique in the state.

>>Grant: Yeah, yeah.

I'm going to guess you've seen sort  of both sides of this, meaning how we've done it to  this point and what you anticipate being able to do  better under this, under this designation.

Am I  following that correctly?

>>Rohde: Yeah, yes of course,  I mean with Dr. Carlson coming back we, our level  of care just jumped up years and years ago already.

And  now, we just got, finally… The title, that shows that  we have this level of capabilities that we've  actually already had for a few years now.

I did see it  before.

I’ve see my own family, my grandma had  strokes and that was debilitating, right?

Months  and months and months of rehab to get speech back.

And, when you see some of these patients come in with  these devastating diagnosis and then sometimes walk out  in a few days later, after we treated them, that's just  something that is very special, that you don't see in many  other disciplines.

>>Grant: That is interesting.

I'm glad you got that in.

That is actually fascinating.

Dr.  Torby, Michel Torbey, you're a stroke specialist and Chair  of the Department of Neurology.

Let's get into access to  critical cerebral emergency support services, or access  telemedicine program.

Tell us about access and what it does.

>>Michel Torbey: Thank you, Gene.

the UNM Access program  is our teleneurology platform or emergency teleneurology  platform and it's currently present in more than 20  hospitals in rural New Mexico.

When you think of New Mexico  and you think of how the hospitals are dispersed,  and as you mentioned earlier, time is brain, it makes it  very challenging to bring all these patients to the  main hospitals and the big cities so they could receive  the care.

Certainly, it makes it challenging to  bring them all to one comprehensive stroke center  and be able to then triage and try to figure out the  best treatment.

And then, if you realize that, well  maybe this is not a stroke, now these patients are two  hours away from home.

No transportation and it  becomes a big challenge and financial issues.

So, what  Access allows us to do is, we are able to beam in,  literally, to these emergency rooms and examine  these patients live and assess their symptoms and  look at their imaging and decide whether, indeed  they're having a stroke and then what type of  stroke they are having.

Are they having an ischemic  stroke, where you have blood vessels that's occluded,  or you're having a hemorrhagic stroke where you have a  blood vessel that burst?

And then, if not, then they  could stay in their local hospitals and don't need to  come all the way.

So, this really allows us to also  provide the right treatment, right at the bedside.

So, for  those patients who are having an acute stroke, we are able  to give them the clot-busting medication at the bedside in  the facility within the same speed that we would give  them if they came immediately to our hospital.

So, you're  elevating that level of care to almost a stroke center  level of care, but then they need the next follow-up  which is now potentially taking the clot out or they  may need to come to the ICU, so you're really bringing  the right patient to the right place in the right  time.

I think this combination is what makes  it very successful as we treat the acute stroke patients.

And, if it's a hemorrhage patient then, you know, we  already know that this patient is coming the andro suite  may be ready for the aneurysm coiling or the ICU is ready  for this patient, so you're really expediting the care  across the board.

And, the Access center is currently  covered for all stroke patients by, you know, our stroke team.

Neurosurgery is also, you know, covering for the neurosurgical  emergency.

And, this is the way we connect the state and  avoid unnecessary expensive transport, as you know.

>>Grant: Dr. Carlson, you touched on this just a little  bit in ago and Dr. Torby just did a second ago, as well, the  new technologies that are out there.

I have to say, as a  lay person, I'm rather blown away watching video of going  through a vein in the leg coming all the way up into  your brain to be able to reach another thing inside that tube,  to yank a smaller clot out.

It's astounding, actually.

Talk about  the leaps that have been made over the past years and how  this is, how this is accomplished.

>>Carlson: Yeah it really is  exciting, I agree.

I've only been out of training for eight years  doing this and even in that time, the field has just remarkably  changed, in terms of what we're able to do through very minimally  invasive and very safe approaches.

And I think that,  as Dr. Torby mentioned, there… it's important to remember that  there are two general categories of stroke.

We have bleeding types  of stroke, hemorrhagic stroke and we have ischemic stroke,  which means a blood vessel gets blocked off.

And, our ability  to treat both of those things has just skyrocketed.

So, our  ability to treat blood vessel ruptures, where something like  an aneurysm bursts and cause bleeding in the brain, most of  those cases we’re able to now treat up through the leg or  sometimes even up through the wrist, through just a tiny  needle puncture and be able to put a device or little  metal coils or loops into the burst point and seal everything  up, which is obviously a much a much less invasive approach  than when we have to do surgery to put metal clips to  seal those.

But, for ischemic stroke, this is really where  things have revolutionized the field, just because it's so  much more common.

It's the most common type of stroke.

And, when a blood vessel gets blocked off, like the carotid  artery, or one of the main blood vessels going out to  the side of the brain from a clot that comes from the heart  or comes from the neck somewhere, exactly as you  said, we're able to thread tiny tubes all the way up,  using just x-rays from a puncture in the leg and then  either retrieve that clot with a little net or sometimes  even put a little suction up, right up to the clot and  suck it out of there.

If needed, we can open up the  blood vessel and keep it open with a stent and that's  a proven treatment, where we know that, if we do that  treatment for people who have blocked off blood vessels and  still have brain that we can save, that there's a  very good chance that we'll be able to get somebody,  not just to survive, but actually to have a good  outcome, which is really what's different here.

We're  not talking about just making somebody survive, but in a  severely debilitated state.

We can actually make more  people be able to be interactive, be able to be  communicative and be able to take care of themselves,  compared to if we, if we couldn't do that treatment.

So, that's what's really exciting about the technological  advances.

>>Grant: That's amazing.

That's  really… through the wrist.

That's amazing.

Torsten Rohde,  does this… what's the window now, as Dr. Carlson describes it?

My understanding as a lay person is about four to four and a  half hours.

You don't want to push it, you know, obviously  on up to four and a half hours, but what's the window?

Has it  narrowed in a way that you can get folks in, into a better  recovery position?

>>Rohde: Well actually, we're  working on extending those windows, right?

So,   for the clot-busting medication, TPA,  or outerplace, there's a couple of them out there, our standard  number is three hours, but we can extend this to four and a  half.

That's the number you have.

Now, for the technology  that Dr. Carlson is describing, we're looking at a 24-hour  window.

That still can be very effective and maybe even, you  know, depending on the situation, looking at stretching that,  there are other ways.

The one stroke that always confounded  us is wake up stroke, right?

Person goes to bed normal,  wakes up, you know, eight hours later and has a stroke and  now we don't know when the stroke happens.

So, we always  have to assume the last normal well, you know, when it was  seen the last time, but there's even talk about looking at that  and extending those windows.

So, it's moving in the, in the  direction of more intervention at later stages.

But, I’ll let  doctors talk about that even more.

>>Grant: Torsten, let me stay with you on this one, though.

We should get into again, another reminder for folks  about what to look for in a stroke, if you're out in  public with your friends and family.

I've been in  two situations, both of them were cookouts, believe  it or not, where there was a stroke situation.

One was  quite obvious and quite severe, but the other one  we literally had to talk to the person… I wasn't part  of this, but they, the person had to be talked  into going to the hospital, because they… “Well, I feel  all right.

I just was sort of lightheaded.” Well, a  week later I find out it turned out they did have a  small stroke.

How often does that happen, where  people feel like they're just a little bit off, but  they don't feel like they need to take that next step,  and they don't realize that something very serious is  going on here.

>>Rohde: Well, you make a  great point.

Education about that is probably one of our  most important steps.

So, the recognition of the  stroke and especially now in this, you know, new  world we're living with, COVID and people are afraid  to going out, people are afraid of going to the  hospital.

We had, for a while, concerns that people  with light, slight symptoms, decided not to go to the  hospital, because they were afraid of… So, we had public  announcements about that.

So, the pneumonic, of course,  is BE FAST, that we're using.

B is for balance, you know,  when you're suddenly off balance and you can't stand  up.

That might be a stroke symptom.

Eye deviation,  when your eyes can't really look where you want them to.

And, then the obvious ones, that we known for a long  time, the facial droop.

That's often the one that  family recognizes.

You know, Mom, suddenly, the  one side of the face is falling.

Then we have the  arm, that you can’t move part of your body, usually  the side that's opposite from what’s affected in  the brain.

Speech, that's a big one, too.

That's  actually the one that I would think that you talked  earlier about, people being at home and being alone.

When you can’t suddenly get your words out, that's a  big indication and you do need to call if you can.

And then, the last one for BE FAST is time, right?

Time is brain, as Dr. Toby said.

So, we would recommend,  we are recommending even slight symptoms, if you have  a speech problem suddenly, on set, or you know you're  definitely facial droop, but even if your balance is off,  do come in.

Let us look at you.

Let us scan you and  then these guys here on the, on my right, will be able  to tell you what's going on.

>>Grant: Interesting.

I have  an aunt, she's a long past now, she was a victim of a  stroke.

No one had gotten to her for a number of hours  and regrettably she lived out the last seven years of  her life, just not in a great place.

It was really  just not a good situation.

And this, I've always  gotten the feeling, this is way more common than  people realize, like this is, sort of, like the silent  thing.

We talk about, silent killers, all that kind of  thing.

The problem with stroke is,   you know, there's a diminished life that  happens sometimes, when you do recover and how to get  across the seriousness of that.

That you may end up  in a chair, you may end up not being able to feed  yourself.

I mean, just all… I don't mean to be  dramatic here, don't get me wrong, but there are  serious implications for when a stroke is not caught  that sometimes I feel like the public's not quite  snapping to.

Do you have a sense of that you can help  me with on this one?

>>Torbey: Yeah, I know, Gene…  I mean this is really an important issue and to kind  of follow up on what Torsten mentioned, I mean, the big  challenge, as you've noted, in some of these cookouts,  is when the patient develops stroke symptoms  and then the symptoms resolve completely.

And  this is what we call a TIA or transient ischemic attack.

At that stage, they feel they're fine and they don't  want to go to the hospital.

And, it's important for  patients to realize that their risk of a recurrent  stroke is exactly the same, whether they had a TIA,  or a full big stroke, that ended up by them needing  to go to the hospital, emergently.

So, this is  what I tell my patient is this was your warning sign,  and in a sense, it's important for you to go to  the hospital to make sure that any problem is being  addressed and fixed.

And, going to your question,  a lot of it is because, sometimes even in an acute  setting, stroke is not a painful disease, like  when you have a heart attack, you have the  severe chest pain, that radiating to your arm.

And the reason you go to a hospital is mostly to  get rid of the pain, not as much because of, you know,  you think, “Oh, I'm having a heart attack.” And it's  unfortunate, from a stroke perspective, but also to  help them in their recovery which is going to be as  important as getting the stroke therapy, because  if you can get the best therapy, let's say at UNM  and now you're going to go to rehab and then in  the rehab facility they're not working on, you know,  on your stroke as they need to, but also if the  patient isn't following the recommendation from  their stroke rehab docs, all the work that we've  done in the first 24-48 hours for this amazing  recovery, the patient could get step backs and  not perform at 100 percent.

So, it's a continuum of  care that we have to really work as a team  across the board and with the patient being the center  of this whole sort of process to work with them  and educate them on what would be the, you know,  the best way to get the optimum recovery.

>>Grant: It's important.

It's important for New Mexico,  with an aging population.

It's kind of a big deal, so  thanks guys.

I really appreciate your time  today, absolutely.

>>All: We appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

>>Grant: my pleasure.

>>Grant: If the last year has shown us anything, it’s  that our relationships with the people around us are  more important than ever.

I know for me, life in  lockdown proved that no Zoom meeting or social  meeting tweet-up can replace the connection of  in-person gatherings.

And yet, in many ways, we seem  to have a harder time as a society right now, just  treating each other with the basic common courtesy.

From cancel culture, to  social media spats, we  seem to be in a constant struggle for common ground.

But it’s not too late to turn things around.

If our  stories this week teach us anything, it is that  we will never regret taking the time to hear  from people who are different than ourselves.

And the key there is the  listening part.

If we can  all do a little more of that in these months  coming out of the pandemic,  perhaps we can get back to a little more compassion,  and a lot more understanding.

At least that’s my hope.

Thanks again for joining us and for staying informed  and engaged.

We’ll see you again next  week… in focus.

>>   Funding for New Mexico in Focus provided by the  McCune Charitable Foundation and viewers like you.