My family emigrated to the USA when I was a little boy. The youngest son of professional parents who lost everything and fled for safety in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
I grew up in neighborhoods where I never felt truly represented. I have devoted my professional career to trying to change that. Believe it or not, I always knew exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up. To become a journalist just like Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Edward R. Murrow, Lowell Thomas, and so many others to name a few.
For me, journalism was, still is, and will continue to be about speaking truth to power. Giving people as many facts as I possibly can and then letting them draw their own conclusions. Fact-finding and newsgathering have been more than my job or my career. It’s truly been my life calling. This photo appeared in one of the local newspapers in El Salvador when colleagues have murdered #FLASHBACK - Paradise Lost: Remembering our Dutch colleagues were shot, killed, and found riddled with bullets on the ground. https://www.dutchnews.nl/.../el-salvador-to-take-19
It started at a young age when my Cuban homeland was robbed of me by Communists. I later determined to dedicate hours of research about grave injustices in America and the world. This not only included the reality and heart-wrenching pain so many people experienced here on earth. So many years, with blood, sweat, and tears later I still enjoy practicing journalism.
Besides my parents, grandparents, and brothers, I have also had fellow journalists who have served as role models who were not only heroes but more importantly, formidable human beings.
I learned the importance of family, hard work, morality, kindness, compassion, and finding a higher purpose in life. I’m still guided and motivated by the same values instilled in me as a vulnerable child and political refugee.
So today I want to say to all of them, alive and gone, but not forgotten. Thanks for lighting my way!!
In my life, I had the opportunity to follow the path of #Murrow at #USIA, to meet #Cronkite on City Island, had the pleasure of introducing myself to #Brinkley at #NBC, I also taught journalism all over this great nation, including at poor and underserved regions like Albany State an #HBCU in Georgia and at Marist Collge, a place for wealthy students at the Media Center named after #Lowell Thomas
Practicing journalism for a living is a chance to be professionally curious and share what you find with the world. At its heart, a journalist reports tell stories and pursue accurate information for the public facts and truth
Since journalism is all about what’s happening at the moment, one of the key parts of any journalist’s day is to stay on top of news trends by checking newswires such as The Associated Press or Reuters News and many social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
Doing this throughout the day allows journalists to come up with an editorial plan and assign reporters to stories that need to be covered. Researching stories. Once a journalist has their assignment, they’re responsible for conducting in-depth research. Talking to everyone and Interviewing people is an important part of a journalist’s job