"Every day, America challenges us to be better"
Walkiria Marin is a TV Reporter for Mega TV based in Miami and a Venezuelan foreign correspondent for LatAm TV Network. As a member of the Foreign Press Correspondents Club in the USA, she spoke with FOREIGN PRESS about her journey and what it takes to be a foreign correspondent in America.
What makes working as a foreign correspondent in the US so special?
I decided to be a foreign correspondent to understand and explain better the reality that our countries want to know. I appreciate the respect that individuals and institutions have for our profession in the US.
When a foreign journalist comes to the United States to work as a foreign correspondent, what are the major challenges that they face? What challenges did you face when you first moved to the U.S. as a foreign journalist?
For Hispanic correspondents, the knowledge of the language is, in my opinion, the main challenge since it is not only about speaking well in English but also learning how to think and write fluently in another language.
How can a foreign journalist build resources and report in the United States? What tips would you like to share from your experience with prospective foreign journalists?
Our profession is based on networking, on the quality and quantity of colleagues with whom you are related. My recommendations to new colleagues are: integrate, review the work of other correspondents, and learn from them, what they do and how they do it.
For your country's audience, why does US news reporting matter?
I am Venezuelan, but our region is interested in knowing about how North American society lives, the migration issue, sports where its athletes participate, or the stages where its artists shine, everyone wants to feel proud of their country and its people.
What is a typical day like for you as a foreign correspondent in Miami, Florida?
Miami is a magnetic city for Latin Americans, a permanent news source of tourism, business, and real estate. A high volume of human-interest content is generated in Miami every day and for many reasons: people want to know how much it costs to live here, how to work, or which are the best beaches to visit. Important political and economic news is generated in Washington.
In your opinion, what makes a great story, and what interests you to pursue and report about it?
The best stories are always those that include a dream fulfilled, a goal achieved, or a barrier broken down, and in that sense, Latin Americans have stories to spare. I always aim to find people who inspire others to be better.
What do the Americans not know about your country?
In my country, Venezuela, the Americans know the extremes: the good and the bad; the first centers on the beauty of our landscapes and women, and the second on the dictatorship and corruption of the regime established by Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro; both cases are completely true.
How has your career as a foreign correspondent in the US shaped you as a professional and as a person?
Living and practicing journalism outside your country implies learning in an accelerated way to expand our knowledge and contact base and then better understand the topics of interest. Professionally, I have access to technology and informational resources that allow me to prepare better content for the audience of the country to which I am working as a correspondent, I am currently a correspondent for Argentina, Honduras, Mexico, and a special envoy from Miami for political events within the United States.
Would you like to share a message with your colleagues in the foreign correspondents' community?
The United States is a country that challenges us every day to be better, it shows us the strengths and weaknesses of our countries of origin. But above all, it opens the doors for us to practice the best profession in the world in a front-row seat. If you have an opportunity to become a correspondent in the United States, take advantage of it, learn, and become an ambassador of the good news of your native country.
