Finding everyday heroes with John Quiñones

John Quiñones has been there, done that. The award-winning journalist for ABC News has traveled the world, reporting first-hand on a wide range of stories. He followed a group of Mexican immigrants as they took a dangerous journey to cross the American border. The journalist traveled to Israel to report on suicide bombers and went to Colombia to document the story of a young man’s long-awaited reunion with his birth mother.

But for Quiñones, “Primetime: What Would You Do?” has introduced him to a different kind of subject — the everyday heroes who could be sitting at the next table in a restaurant or could be standing behind you on line at a bank. 

In between segments of “Primetime,” which was filmed at the Empress Diner in East Meadow on March 17, the Herald had a few minutes to sit down with the host. “Primetime: What Would You Do?” airs Friday nights at 9 p.m. on ABC. 

Herald: Who comes up with ideas for the scenarios?

John Quiñones: “We’ve done hundreds — this is 75 this season. Sometimes there are so many that we can’t conceivably either one of us can come up with all of them. We have brainstorming sessions and we read the papers sometimes for headlines . . . We watch what’s going on out there.”

H: So the scenarios are based on real-life stories?

JQ: These things really happen, but usually they happen in darkness and in hiding, behind closed doors. We bring the audience and put them face to face with an issue. We push it a little bit and make it seem a little louder than it would normally. In this case some would argue why would he yell at her in front of everyone else. Well, we want to prove a point. We want people to hear it and then we see the heroes step up. These things really happen — we just shine a light on it. 

H: Do you have a memorable moment as host of the show?