Jesse Linares dies at 49; journalist helped launch Hoy Los Angeles
Jesse Linares, a journalist who helped launch the Spanish-language newspaper Hoy Los Angeles, died Saturday at Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park Medical Center. He was 49 and had cancer.
Linares worked at Hoy Los Angeles since its founding in 2004 and helped shape its coverage as he rose to the position of deputy editor.
“Jesse was a fundamental part of Hoy. His love of journalism not only impacted our coverage, but the work of his co-workers,” said Reynaldo Mena, Hoy’s editor. Hoy is owned by the Tribune Co., parent company of the Los Angeles Times.
Born Feb. 25, 1963, in El Salvador, Linares came to the United States during the Salvadoran civil war. He studied journalism and political science at Cal State Northridge and began his journalism career in Los Angeles working as a reporter and assignment editor at La Opinion newspaper.
Colleagues praised him for his deep knowledge of Los Angeles’ Latino community and for his work ethic, curiosity, objectivity and passion.
“If there’s something that defines Jesse, it was his friendship, his sincerity and his journalistic integrity because he never compromised,” said Francisco Rivera, president of the Central American Roundtable. “He left that legacy that you write what you have to write and you say what you have to say. His legacy at Hoy is that journalistic integrity of telling things like they are.”
Linares is survived by his wife, Victoria Infante, also a journalist, and their 1-year-old son, Victor Santiago Linares.
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