“We Are Only as Good as Our Last Story”

Hiba Nasr is the Senior Correspondent for Asharq News, a renowned Saudi news portal. She was recently a guest of the Foreign Press Correspondents Talk series, in which she shared some of the main highlights of her career in journalism. With over 14 years within the news and media production industry, Hiba has covered various stories, including the United Nations General Assembly, the Presidential and Midterm Elections in the US, the G20 in Buenos Aires, and the Trump/Kim Summit in Singapore.

When reflecting on the start of her career, Hiba ended up choosing Journalism as a third option. Growing up in a small village with no journalist role model to look up to, Hiba was previously focused on Psychology and French literature before she found herself immersed in the newsroom. 

“Actually, it came by accident, and now I call myself a journalist by blood.”

Hiba Nasr

Before her move to the U.S., Hiba worked as a reporter in Lebanon and covered the assassination of a former prime minister. This story became a highlight of her journalism trajectory in her home country and deeply affected Lebanon’s population.

“When you come from another country to a specific place, and you cover something, you won’t have as much emotion, but when you cover something that affects you, it is different, and it is hard.”

After she left Lebanon, Hiba worked in other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. Her experiences in those places established her move to the U.S. as a foreign correspondent. Despite working primarily as a reporter in these other countries, Hiba had to be flexible and play more of a behind-the-scenes role. She was first a Producer, then a Senior Producer, and then an Editor-in-Chief. Only later was she able to move forward as a reporter. Even though these jobs were not her top choice, Hiba was grateful for all she had learned from these occupations.

“I had to choose a job offer that gave me a better salary because I had some financial challenges at home…but this was very beneficial to me because working behind-the-scenes shaped my personality and my career.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s interview with Hiba Nasr of Sky News (Photo Credits)

It was only in 2017 that she came to the U.S. permanently. Hiba had covered the presidential elections in 2016 and was ready to share more coverage in America. Although the focus was primarily related to politics, she opened up about how the Black Lives Matter Movement and the protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death were unforgettable moments that captivated the Mena viewers.

“Last year, I found out that everybody in the world was watching what was happening here…You can feel that the people like stories that are similar to their stories. When I was covering these events, I learned a lot about the U.S.A. I consider myself lucky to have come in 2016 and 2017 because the atmosphere was very different from what I heard from abroad.”

Hiba also had the opportunity to witness and cover the United Nations General Assembly three times. When reminiscing about that experience, she stated that it required a global point-of-view since you are not aiming at covering the story for a particular country but instead for multiple places around the world.

“When you go to the United Nations as a reporter, you don’t focus on your country or what is related to the particular area of the viewers of my channel. You are exposed to everybody; you can see everybody… These people have their own dreams, their own challenges, their own problems, and their own aspirations.” 

Towards the end of our conversation, Hiba shared her word of advice for upcoming foreign correspondents and what they must do to pave their way in this career path. 

“Before moving, or after moving, you have to be a lifetime student in journalism. You don’t have to take yourself that seriously… Dare to dream; you can cover anything you want and listen to what the people say in the streets… We are only as good as our last story.”