John Quiñones has appeared on American television screens for decades. His work as a reporter for ABC News and as a host for the same network’s hidden camera, ethical dilemma show “What Would You Do?” has reached millions of viewers.
Despite his accolades and fame, he is not immune to stereotypes and prejudice that pervade our society. With grace, empathy, and sometimes humor, Quiñones dedi- cates much of his professional and private life to fighting against such harmful preconceived notions.
At the 27th annual Mark Luchinsky Memorial Lecture this past January, he recounted a story of flying to New York. While standing in line to board with his fellow passengers traveling first-class, he noticed almost all of them queueing up in the economy class line. While he waited in place, a woman at the front of the other line decided to engage him.
“I wasn’t dressed up. I was wearing a baseball cap, a sweatshirt, and jeans,” he said. “As I’m standing there, clearly Latino, [she] looked over at me and said, ‘Sir, are you even in first class?’”
He explained how the woman demanded he move to the back of the other line, and that she remarked how the call for f irst-class passengers to board was made in English. Quiñones chuckled as 4 he said that other passengers began to recognize him and wonder aloud if they were on a “What Would You Do?” segment. He finally responded to the woman as they boarded the plane.
“As I’m walking past her, I leaned over and said, ‘Ma’am my name is John Quiñones and I do this TV show called “What Would You Do?” and you would be perfect for the show. You could play the part of the racist,” he recalled, laughing.
Before he could use journalism and primetime television to combat America’s societal ills, Quiñones had to tackle a fair share of adversity. He entered first grade unable to communicate with his teacher or classmates because he didn’t speak English. In his teenage years, due to his heritage, most of his teachers encouraged him to consider a trade. He came from a poor family in San Antonio and did not have a clear path to college.
Quiñones credits his 10th-grade English teacher, Mrs. Gutierrez, with encouraging his love of storytelling and his desire to become a journalist. She introduced him to the teacher who supervised the student newspaper and he rose quickly from reporter to chief of editorials. He went on to college and graduated from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio before being awarded a fellowship that paved the way to a graduate degree from Columbia University in New York.
From there he launched a 40-year television career in which he has made a tangible difference in the world. He told the Luchinsky Lecture’s 300-person audience that his most impactful and inspiring story was a report on homeless children living in the sewer system in Bogota, Columbia. After the story aired on ABC’s “Primetime Live,” viewers donated $1 million to help establish an orphanage for these children.
“As a journalist and correspondent, I’ve been blessed with an opportunity to shine a light on the issues many people don’t want to hear about,” he said. “In so many ways, it’s like Schreyer Honors College’s mission to shape students to be moral agents who can influence the common good.”
In wrapping up the evening, Quiñones took time to answer questions from the Luchinsky Lecture audience. When asked if he believed the media was improving its representation of minoritized people, Quiñones emphatically answered yes. And his reasoning went beyond the diversity of the types of stories being told and the people telling them.
“It’s not just important to have people of color on television telling you the stories,” he said. “It’s also important that we have those people in management, people who tell [me] to go cover the story in San Antonio or San Diego or State College. That will, in the end, serve for better news coverage all over the country.”