"Asking difficult questions is a big part of our job"

Beatriz Pascual Macías is a Washington D.C. correspondent for EFE, the leading international news-wire service in Spanish. She covers U.S. politics, foreign policy, and transnational crime. During her seven years in Washington D.C., Beatriz has cultivated relations with high-level sources, conducted in-depth research, and broke exclusive news. Among others, she has interviewed Vice President Kamala Harris. Beatriz was a 2021 Kiplinger Fellow at Ohio University and currently serves at the Center for Security Policy Studies at George Mason University. She is a member of the Club of the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents and Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE).

Beatriz Pascual Macías

Why did you decide to become a foreign correspondent in the US?

Honestly, at first, the United States did not interest me at all. I knew I wanted to be a foreign correspondent, but I was more interested in North Africa. Studying journalism in Madrid, I signed up for an Arabic course, and I started writing about the region in various journalism blogs with friends. However, in 2013, I was awarded an EFE-La Caixa fellowship, and everything changed. The fellowship offered me the unique opportunity to be a foreign correspondent anywhere in the world. I started reading and studying the U.S. political system, and I automatically felt drawn to it. President Obama’s speeches gave me goosebumps, and I was fascinated by how political leaders communicated and framed their ideas. So, I decided to go to Washington D.C. When the fellowship ended, I was hired as a foreign correspondent. 

Tell us a little bit about your job as a foreign correspondent. What do you think the average American outside of journalism doesn't know about a foreign correspondent working in the US? 

This is an interesting question because it is difficult to define who is the "average American" in a country with more than 330 million people. To be a good foreign correspondent, you cannot just scrape the surface of an issue; you should go deeper. As a foreign correspondent, your mission is to explain a country to the rest of the world. If you are reporting only on the political fight in Washington D.C., then I think you are not doing a good job. You must talk with people who have different experiences and understand why things are important to them.  I think this is a very valuable part of the job that foreign correspondents do and, unfortunately, sometimes goes unnoticed.

When was the most difficult time to be a foreign correspondent in the US? Under Obama, Trump, or Biden? 

I think each Administration had its own challenges. My perception is that the Obama Administration was able to get its message across in the media, while the Trump Administration was much more chaotic. The Trump administration restricted the number of briefings at the White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon. There was less “official” information, but at the same time, many people were disgruntled and willing to talk with you about it. This is much more difficult in the Biden Administration because their communication team is good at their job and has better control of the narrative.

Having said this, it is important to understand that political leaders in the United States usually see the foreign press as something of lesser importance and prefer to dedicate resources to national media. Access is always tricky. 

As a foreign correspondent for Spain and Latin America here in the United States, what are the most important stories you have covered that Spanish-speaking people cared the most about?

This also an interesting question because it makes me wonder, what do Spanish-speaking audiences care most about? During my seven years in D.C., I have learned that almost everything is important to our audience. People care not only about immigration or U.S. relations with the countries they live in, but also about the electoral process, climate change, or, for example, all the scientific investigation related to Covid-19.

Personally, I really enjoy covering elections. In February 2020, before the pandemic started in the United States, I was able to cover the Iowa Caucus. I used that as an opportunity to report on deindustrialization in the United States and the impact it had in the city of Newtown, where a Maytag washing machine factory closed its doors in 2007. I also visited Muscatine, a city that worships Chinese culture, and talked with some farmers about the impact that Chinese tariffs on soybeans had in their lives. In 2016, I also covered the New Hampshire primaries, the Democratic National Convention and traveled to Pennsylvania to do various features on Trump support in coal counties. Elections usually are the perfect excuse to travel and talk with people in different parts of the country. 

Beatriz Pascual Macías

What are some of the moments when you feel overwhelmed by your work as a foreign correspondent? 

I think I have never really felt overwhelmed. I am very lucky to work with a team of EFE reporters that are wonderful professionals, and they are very good at what they do. Not everyone has that privilege, and I feel very grateful to be part of that team.

While working as a foreign journalist in the US, what has been the biggest frustration you have encountered, and what has been the biggest reward you have received from your work?

Honestly, I tend to try to forget frustrations to be able to keep moving forward (laughs). But I would say that access is sometimes frustrating. As a foreign correspondent, sometimes is difficult to get an interview with a government official because they are more interested in the national press. So, working through the bureaucracy is sometimes frustrating.

However, one of the biggest advantages of being a foreign correspondent, is that people almost always want to talk with you and explain what is happening in their country, what they think about that, and why. The best part of my job is leaving the office and just going to the street and talking with people. 

When comparing how the media work in the US and Spain and how journalism is conducted, what are the major similarities and differences?

This is a difficult question. I have not worked as a journalist in Spain for seven years, so I am not sure I can make a comparison. Before coming to the United States, I covered crime and the judicial system for EFE, and before that, I covered local news in Madrid for Europa Press. From that time, one of the things I remember is how some press officers tried to “control” to press and demanded to know what question you were going to ask the politician. Of course, this was not every press officer (I worked with good ones), but it was a common practice that was frustrating. 

So, when I started working in the United States and could raise my hand and ask a question, I was positively surprised. I was able to ask about anything I wanted, although, of course, I didn’t always get an answer. This is not to say that there are no pressures on the press in the United States. Sometimes press officers try to “manipulate” you into reporting something from a particular perspective. But, in general terms, I believe that in Washington D.C., there is respect for the work that journalists do, and nobody gets angry if you ask a tough question. Asking difficult questions is a big part of our job.

What do you consider the most important part of organizations such as the Association and Club of Foreign Press Correspondents in the US? 

It creates a sense of community and allows foreign journalists to share tools and resources. I think it does a great job at empowering and connecting foreign correspondents in the United States so that we can do a better job.