Profile: Rosa María Palacios ’01, Peru
July 2002
Rosa María Palacios loves her work as a political journalist, and her dedication shows in her demanding schedule. Every morning, she is one of three anchors of a two-hour show on Radio Programas del Peru that includes interviews with eight to ten people active in Peruvian politics. Every evening, she produces and anchors an interview show on cable television that features the likes of the prime minister and members of the Congress. She also conducts research for an independent think tank, Instituto Apoyo, and teaches constitutional law at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas.
What drives her is a keen commitment to keeping politicians accountable and providing the public and thorough political analysis. One million of Peru’s 24 million people listen to her show every morning. Her evening TV show, she said, is “more of an elite experience, mostly for politicians and people who are very interested in politics. I have all the freedom you’d want. On cable, we’ve developed an island of freedom. And up to now no on has sued me for anything. [She laughed.] I take extra care.”
Palacios began her 2001 Eisenhower Fellowship in the wake of a scandal in Peru in which key politicians were found to have bribed some members of the press. Determined to fight such corruption, Palacios focused her Eisenhower program on learning ways to protect democracy and the media. Unexpectedly, Palacios said, she found the U.S. media is also facing a credibility crisis, one stemming form corporate and advertiser influences and an emphasis of profit making.
Back in Peru, Palacios often refers to ethics manuals she collected during her fellowship to help craft ethical standards at Peru’s largest national radio station. Asked if she ever feels constrained in an atmosphere in which bribery still exists, Palacios said no. “I am a very independent person, and a lawyer,” she explains. “I want to get my rest every night with my conscience clear. I know my phone was tapped all last year, and maybe it still is now. But I tell jokes and talk to them—Hello, how are you?... This is not a job about making the government happy. It is in fact exactly the opposite.”
Palacios remembers her Eisenhower program warmly: “The most precious experience I have from my Eisenhower Fellowship is… the incredible relationships with 24 people you travel around the country with. We found out we had the same leadership abilities, the same concerns.” She ahs stayed in touch with many Fellows and draws on them for background when reporting international news.
Palacios lives with her husband, Alberto Varillas Cueto, also an attorney, and their three daughters. She is currently pregnant with their fourth child. She welcomes interested people to listen to her Spanish-language radio show at www.rpp.com.pe