"As journalists, we aren’t here to praise anyone"

Bricio Segovia is a White House correspondent for MVS Radio, a regular contributor to Spain’s leading news channel Antena 3, and a contributor to Colombia’s international broadcaster NTN24. Bricio has reported from over 30 countries and worked as a correspondent in Russia for over five years before moving to Washington. Currently, he is a White House Correspondents Association member and is the Washington Bureau Chair at the Foreign Press Correspondents’ Club USA. In a recent conversation with FOREIGN PRESS, Bricio shared his incredible accomplishments covering political affairs, the importance of knowing multiple languages, and his trajectory landing the unprecedented job reporting from the White House.

For some people, it might take years before they realize their true vocation. However, there are a rare few that were born to play a particular role. In Bricio’s case, his talkative spirit, and the red microphone he got as a child, presaged his future in journalism. 

“I remember for my seventh birthday, all I wanted was a red microphone. I got a red microphone, and I was literally reporting on everything I saw in the street and my house…I remember writing articles in my notebook, taping radio shows that I would record in my bedroom when I was a kid, so honestly, I would say it has been my passion forever.”

Before his move to Washington, Bricio had the opportunity to work in Russia as a foreign correspondent for over five years. The experience enabled him to view information through a different lens. Having grown up in Barcelona, the correspondent was used to looking at news and history from a Western perspective, so the opportunity to broaden his horizons was remarkable. 

Bricio Segovia, reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine, during the revolution.

“Seeing another perspective in the world really helped me to improve my craft as a journalist and to be more unbiased, even though it is tough to be unbiased. It really helps when you question what is happening in the world, what stories are being told by leaders in the west and leaders on the other side of history.”

As a political commentator and correspondent focused on political affairs, Bricio had the chance to interview various political representatives across the globe, including Bolivia’s former President Evo Morales, Colombia’s President Ivan Duque Marquez, and Ecuador’s former president Lenin Moreno. Bricio explained that it is important to treat high-profile interviews in the same way as other interviews and mentioned that it is important for journalists to keep political figures accountable. 

“As journalists, we aren’t here to praise anyone. We are here to question and to really push people, especially those who are in positions of power who take decisions that affect society and the rest of the country, we need to keep them accountable.”

Bricio is conversant in seven languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, French, Russian, and Catalan. To him, the ability to cover stories in multiple languages is an asset that enables journalists to get their work done without any barriers. This even led him to write Baikonur: The Door to Space, the first documentary film ever made in Spanish of Russia’s secretive space center.

“Languages are essential if you become an international correspondent because our job is understanding society… If we depend on a translator, we are dependent on someone else to get the information we need to report on. When you are the person able to communicate with society, then you can report firsthand.”

Bricio Segovia, reporting from Washington DC during the Black Lives Matter movement, when law enforcement used force against protesters.

Later, Bricio came to the U.S. and became a White House correspondent. He is not only involved with the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents USA (AFPC-USA), but he is also a regular at the White House briefing room. He was the first Spanish-speaking correspondent to participate in the White House pool, getting exclusive access to information that normally doesn’t go to the press conferences. 

“I became the first Spanish-speaking foreign correspondent to be part of the extended pool of the White House. It was usually open to U.S. nationals.  I was proud of my job and what I had achieved at that point. For me, being a journalist who grew up in the outskirts of Barcelona in a small city, who ended up in the White House, and then ended up in the White House pool, it was a dream come true.”

In his final remarks during our interview, Bricio shared his word of advice for upcoming foreign correspondents: “Get ready, know what you want and where you want to go, learn your languages so that you can become the best professional that you can be, and be willing to go to places that may not be your first choice.”