Unknown (5:47)

But that's the Brega in Puerto Rico.

Unknown (5:51)

That's la.

Unknown (5:52)

That's La Brega. That's La Brega in Puerto Rico.

Maria Hinojosa (5:56)

There's no perfect English translation for this word that Puerto Ricans use all the time. We love you, Puerto Rico. And of course, the podcast Suave, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2022.

Unknown (6:08)

For our audience, it's important for them to know that you are one of two Latinas in history to win a Pulitzer, and you did it out of an organization that you founded. So, so much kudos to you.

Maria Hinojosa (6:19)

So what's the point, Maria? Well, today we are taking a really big step, and we're launching a membership and subscription program. It's a huge step, and we're calling it Futuro Plus. It's full of exclusive episodes, lots of events, and other amazing stuff that we're going to talk about in a second. But first, here's the reason why we're doing it. I have said often that running an independent journalism nonprofit is not for the faint of heart. This is not easy. And in a lot of ways, it's becoming more difficult now than ever. For one, after a mega podcast boom during the pandemic that we all live through, I mean, right now, the podcast industry has been in recession, right? It's shrinking. The big companies that poured money into the industry have dramatically been cutting back their podcast budgets. That means less shows are getting greenlit, and the ones that are getting greenlit have much smaller budgets. And also, there's more competition than ever for the nonprofit dollars that are out there now. We are incredibly grateful to have the supports of some pretty powerful and wonderful foundations and really fabulous individuals, but we have to prepare for the future. You know, funding priorities can change. And so with all of the federal funding that's getting pulled from all across the country, there's more pressure now on those funders to fill those gaps. So we're feeling it. And because of the rules of public media, actually Puturo cannot run our own pledge drives on the radio, right? Only the public radio stations themselves can do that. I don't know if you knew this, but Futuro does not get one single dollar, not one penny, from the corporation for public Broadcasting or any other federal sources or public sources. But it is something that we are proud of because it means that we are truly independent when it comes to reporting on the government. Now, on the other side of things, you know, what we do at Futuro Media, it's not cheap, right? And with all due respect to people who do chatcasts, you know, we don't generally just put two people and sit them in front of a mic and just have them have at it, right? Our weekly deeply reported journalism and immersive podcast series cost money to make. And we have to pay our producers, our story editors, our sound designers, our audio engineers. Now, it is important for you to know that we use independent fact checkers for every series because we want to guarantee that you are getting factual, accurate information, right? And of course, we also have all the normal business expenses required to operate, legal, accounting, it, rent. I like to say that we are lean and mean. Of course, the vast majority of our budget goes to creating the stories themselves, but there's no way around it. Making great journalism costs money. So we are launching our subscription service because we want to be able to continue bringing you the kinds of podcasts that you aren't getting anywhere else. There is no other futuro media and we think that actually being funded by our listeners is really healthy for an organization like ours. It means that we're accountable to our listeners, not to the government, not to corporations. Okay, so what will Futuro plus look like? Oh, my God, it's gonna be great. Basically, you're gonna sign up on our website and you're gonna get access to members only subscription feeds for all of our shows. I kind of think of it as like onlyfans, but we keep our clothes on and everybody's skin is in the game. Get it? Okay. Now, on those feeds, first of all, you're going to get completely ad free listening. Yes. And there will be extended interviews and special exclusive episodes filled with juicy behind the scenes chisme and how we make this all happen. Also, we're going to send members only newsletters with notes from the field, great recommendations, there's going to be special subscriber only playlists and virtual events, and that's where you'll get to find me and other futuro journalists joining you in conversation and. All right, this is really cool because whenever we launch a new show, members are going to be able to listen to the whole season right away. So while everybody else has to wait every week for a new episode to drop, you're going to be able to listen to it all in one sitting, as some of us are known to do. And we are launching our subscription service with the Suave Podcast Season two, which is available for members right now in its entirety.

Unknown (11:38)

Right now, at this moment in this life, I am not happy. I'm glad I'm home. But if you say describe happy, I should be able to describe happy. And I can't. I. I can't. I won't even know how to start to describe happy.

Maria Hinojosa (11:54)

Adios.

Unknown (11:55)

Even with a Pulitzer. Even with. I can't describe it because I'm not. I'm just surviving like I was in prison.

Unknown (12:04)

Who.

Maria Hinojosa (12:05)

Suave Podcast season two is a roller coaster. It's deeply reported journalism and you get to be right there on the front lines of this story. It's really amazing. And we're gonna be releasing more new podcasts later this year, and we're bringing back new seasons of shows that you love. We have an ambitious and pretty exciting slate of new shows we're gonna be releasing totally on our own. For all those shows, Futuro plus members will get to Hear them first. Okay. Yeah, there are a lot of perks, and we're working really hard on that. But, you know, there are other reasons to subscribe. The real reason to support FUTURO is because of what we stand for as journalism of conscience. Now, I know I'm going to call you out a little bit. I bet you have a subscription to Netflix or to Max or to Hulu. And yeah, they do offer hundreds of movies and TV shows to watch. But how about if you think about taking just a little bit of that money that you give every month to those mega corporations and instead support a small organization, a nonprofit that is fighting literally every day to bring you stories that you love. Stories that like, oh, my God, they touch your heart, they make you cry, they make you learn about the world and your community and. And you know that. Futuro Media is a nonprofit that was founded and is run predominantly by women of color. And it centers the lives of Latinos, Latinas, immigrants, black and indigenous people, queer people, Muslim people, trans people. You know, we see ourselves as practicing excellence in journalism because our newsroom reflects our country. And you know what? If you sign up for this membership program, you're going to be joining a community of people who care about news and storytelling the same way that you do. We believe the most interesting work in podcasting and the most rigorous journalism is still happening in public media. We want to keep investing our time and energy into building the future of that work with you. We want FUTURO to be around for another 15 years and another 15 years after that. It's an invitation for you to take on a bigger role in our future, in our futuro. Today, our country's leaders are trying to silence journalism that's inconvenient to them. They're suing newspapers, threatening to go after the non profit status of many organizations. But you know what? We're not going to be silenced. We are invested in creating journalism long term that is accountable to you, to our listeners. That's why we maintain relationship with sources for decades. Like in terms of suave, it's why we don't just parachute in some place and then leave. We go back again and again, and we keep following the story, whether it's the ICE raids in Mississippi or our series, which is looking at how the border is moving. We believe in telling the truth, in telling it like it is and telling it to you directly. Now, the thing we need right now most is each other, is community. And as the news media around us crumbles, there aren't a lot of organizations like us to take up the mantle. If Futuro falls, there probably won't be another one to take its place. Place. So this is the ask. We want you to join us. To join us in Nuestra Comunidad, to be a part of this all. So Visit our website, futuromediagroup.org join + that's my invitation. Become a futurista and let's see what we can grow together. Because Yatusam is.