Ray Suarez discusses Washington politics and the role that the media plays in influencing policy. Suarez thinks that the media is the best tool by which people can voice their opinions about those who govern. Yet, the media spends more time with the talking heads in Washington than it does getting feedback from the people. He points out that the Washington news media was once an investigative tool for the people and the best way to learn the truth behind what goes on in Washington. Now, however, the media is a tool most aptly used by politicians to promote their own agendas.
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Ray Suarez
senior correspondent
PBS NewsHour
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Ray Suarez joined the “PBS NewsHour” in October 1999 as a Washington-based senior correspondent. Suarez has more than 30 years of varied experience in the news business. He came to “The NewsHour” from National Public Radio, where he had been host of the nationwide call-in news program “Talk of the Nation” since 1993. Prior to that, he spent seven years covering local, national and international stories for the NBC-owned station WMAQ-TV in Chicago. He is the author most recently of a book examining the tightening relationship between religion and politics in America, The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America. A Life Member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Suarez was a founding member of the Chicago Association of Hispanic Journalists.