Meet Vic Vela, the Incoming Host of New Mexico in Focus
If you’ve been following our show, you’ll know we haven’t had a permanent host for almost a year. Gene Grant left NMPBS last summer after a run in the chair that lasted more than a decade and a half. In the intervening months, Senior Producer Lou DiVizio, Our Land Senior Producer Laura Paskus and I have shared the duties — putting us on your screens far more frequently than we ever bargained for — while we searched for a new host.
I am delighted to report that the search is over.
Vic Vela’s first day at NMPBS will be Aug. 1, and we couldn’t be happier about it. We aren’t sure exactly when he’ll start appearing on air, but we’re confident our audience will warm up to him straight away.
Here’s a little about Vic to help you get to know him:
Vic is a 5-time Edward R. Murrow award-winning broadcast journalist, public speaker and fierce advocate for addiction and mental health recovery.
A Colorado native and a proud Chicano, Vic was the first person in his immediate family to attend college. His mom was born in a tiny village near Taos and has Spanish and Indigenous ancestry in New Mexico going back centuries. He has fond memories of watching his mother and elders make tamales in the kitchen while listening to Al Hurricane and speaking a unique “New Mexican Spanish” that many folks here grew up speaking.
For five years, Vic covered crime and courts for the Albuquerque Journal’s northern bureau in Santa Fe.
“I’m simply over the moon about being back in New Mexico, a place that has such profound personal, familial and spiritual meaning in my life,” Vic says. “The people of New Mexico have rich cultures and connections to this beautiful state, often going back generations that predate even the earliest New England colonies. There is simply no better place for news and history than right here in New Mexico.”
A jack of all trades, Vic has worked in television, newspapers and public radio in a journalism career spanning three decades. His career began as a sports anchor for an NBC affiliate in West Texas, and he later covered politics and state government as a member of the Colorado Capitol Press Corps. For nearly a decade, Vic was a news and podcast host and reporter for Denver’s NPR affiliate, Colorado Public Radio.
Vic speaks openly about his journey as a recovering crack cocaine addict living with HIV. Vic often shares his addiction and recovery story at mental health conferences and rehab centers across the country. His podcast, “Back from Broken”, features comeback stories of people who have overcome the biggest challenges in their lives, such as drug addiction, alcoholism and mental health issues. “Back from Broken” has won several awards — including back-to-back wins for Best Podcast by the Colorado Broadcasters Association — and has helped thousands of people along the road to recovery.
“I’ve gone through a lot in my life. I know what it’s like to suffer. I know what it’s like to struggle. My experiences have made me a better interviewer, a better journalist, a better person,” Vic says. “When I sit across from someone in a broadcast setting — be they a politician, a baseball player or a farmer — I try to connect in a way that helps the audience better understand not just their worldview, but what makes them tick as a human being. I think that’s what I can bring to the table as the host of New Mexico In Focus. And I sure would be grateful if you folks came along with us on this journey. Because we have a tremendous team here at NMPBS.”
In 2020, Vic was named the Media Person of the Year by the Colorado chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Two years later, he received the prestigious Larry Tajiri Media Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado for his work in combating stigma around addiction and mental health.
Vic is a diehard Denver Nuggets and Grateful Dead fan, even naming his dog, Rider, after a Dead tune. A huge dog lover, Vic often speaks at events to raise funding and awareness for animal rescue groups across the country.