Ricardo Rodriguez-Long of Fullerton, Calif., is the latest journalist to receive the Motorcycle Industry Council Chairman’s award for excellence in media.
“Ricardo Rodriguez-Long is a longtime friend of our industry,” said MIC chairman Mark Blackwell. “He has successfully reached our market again and again with numerous Hispanic broadcast and online media placements featuring a wide variety of motorcycles. The latest data from the MIC Owner Survey shows an increase in motorcycle ownership by Latinos of more than 100 percent since 2003, and we believe efforts like those of Ricardo’s are a big reason why.”
Rodriguez-Long has helped the Motorcycle Safety Foundation create Spanish-language public service announcements, has assisted the Motorcycle Industry Council with an upcoming tire guide video in Spanish, and since 2004, he has been an on-air radio host on Garage Latino at 690 AM in Southern California.
“Being a Hispanic immigrant has given me the understanding of the nuances and differences among all different ethnicities that make America great,” Rodriguez-Long writes. “I am not sure when I became the ‘vehicle’ to pass along useful information between the general market and Hispanics, but credibility has always been important to me.”
Since arriving from Argentina, Ricardo Rodriguez-Long’s journalistic excellence has led him to create the first Spanish automotive radio program in the U.S., the first Spanish language trucking magazine and the first automotive television show in Spanish in the U.S., which has featured motorcycles.
