Mariana Atencio
Mariana Atencio | |
|---|---|
| File:Atencio Mariana.jpg | |
| Born | April 2, 1984 |
| Nationality | Venezuelan-American |
| Education | Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (MA) Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Caracas (BA) |
| Occupation | Anchor/Correspondent |
| Employer | NBC News & MSNBC (2016-present) |
| Spouse | José Antonio Torbay |
| Awards | Peabody Award, Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, Gracie Award |
Mariana Atencio (born April 2, 1984) is a Peabody Award-winning bilingual journalist, author and public speaker. She is currently a national correspondent for MSNBC and NBC News. Previously, she was an anchor and correspondent for Univision News and the millennial start-up FUSION.
She was named one of AdWeeks’s Young Influentials 40 under 40 in November 2019[1].
Early life and education
Mariana del Carmen Atencio Cervoni was born in Caracas, Venezuela to Alvaro Atencio and Diana Cervoni. She is the oldest of three children.
Atencio has a Bachelor's degree in Communications from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello[2]. As a junior in college, she participated in the 2007 wave of pro-democracy student protests after former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez shut down RCTV, the country’s oldest television network. As a student activist, Atencio would organize during classes. She and her fellow students were tear-gassed and water cannons were opened on them. Atencio credits the protests as an influence to become a journalist[3].
In 2008, she emigrated to the United States after being awarded the Castagno full-merit scholarship from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Career
In 2009, Atencio started her journalism career as a reporter at Impremedia's El Diario La Prensa in New York City, the oldest Hispanic newspaper in the US[4]. From 2010-2011, she reported and anchored for VME-TV, the only Hispanic public service television station in the United States[5].
Atencio began working as a guest anchor and correspondent for Univision News in 2011. She covered the 2012 presidential election for the network’s morning program Despierta América and its flagship evening newscast Noticiero Univision[6].
She also served as a reporter for the network’s Investigative Unit. In 2013 she was part of a five-person reporting team that won Univision's first Peabody Award for "Fast and Furious: Arming the Enemy," an hour-long investigation on the gun-walking scandal known as Operation Fast and Furious[7].
Atencio was awarded a Gracie Award for her lead reporting on “PRESSionados,” a one-hour special on the state of press freedom in Latin America that aired in December 2013 on Univision and its digital platforms[8].
In 2013, Atencio joined FUSION TV, an English-language cable news network created by ABC News and Univision for U.S millennials[9].
Atencio was a member of the anchor team for the network’s The Morning Show, a two-hour program featuring a mix of hard news, feature stories and live interviews[10].
She also served as a field correspondent. Atencio led the network’s on-the-ground coverage of the 2014 protests in Venezuela amid growing violence and scarcity, where she also contributed to ABC News[11][12]. She covered other notable stories such as the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong and the 2014 Iguala mass kidnapping, where 43 students went missing in Mexico[13].
In 2015, she was a reporter in McAllen, Texas for ABC News’ virtual town hall with Pope Francis ahead of his first visit to the United States[14]. She interacted with Pope Francis and translated on live television for recent immigrants who wanted to ask the pope questions[15].
In March 2016, she was part of the anchor-team for Univision and The Washington Post’s debate between Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders[16].
Atencio made the crossover from Spanish to English-language network news in September 2016 when she became a correspondent for MSNBC and NBC based in Miami. She is currently the only Latina correspondent on the cable network[17].
As a correspondent, Atencio specializes in covering immigration and doing live on-air translations from Spanish[18]. She has reported on notable stories such as Central American migrant caravans, the child separation crisis at the border and the ICE raids across several Mississippi chicken plants that led to the arrest of 680 undocumented immigrants.
Atencio’s live interviews with migrant mothers in Reynosa, Mexico during the Trump administration’s family separation policy was nominated for a Emmy Award[19].
She has also focused on coverage of U.S. Latinos. During the 2020 presidential race, the 2018 midterms and the 2016 presidential campaign, she reported on Hispanic voters across the country[20]. In 2019, she was part of a team of NBC and MSNBC reporters, known as “Road Warriors,” that were awarded the First Amendment Clarity Award for their coverage of the 2018 midterm elections[21].
National Association of Hispanic Journalists recognized her with the 2019 Presidential Award[22]. She was also awarded Columbia’s First Decade Award[23].
Personal life
Atencio married Jose Torbay, a Venezuelan tech and real estate entrepreneur in 2015[24].
In 2014, Graciela was involved in a car accident in New York City. After multiple surgeries, she was able to regain her ability to walk. Mariana and her sister went on the air with the story to promote awareness for kids with disabilities[25].
Atencio’s father passed away in February 2018 due to complications from pneumonia after contracting the flu. She chronicled his health crisis in the hospital in Caracas and the lack of basic medical supplies in Venezuela as a result of the humanitarian crisis[26][27].
After her father’s death, Mariana returned to Venezuela in April 2018 and partnered with the NGO Comparte por Una Vida to donate 1,000 meal supplements for children at the JM de Los Rios Children’s Hospital in Caracas[28].
Speaking
Atencio is a two-time speaker at Tedx University of Nevada[29].
Her second Tedx talk “What Makes You Special” has been viewed more than 10.7 million times[30].
Book
- Atencio, Mariana (2019). Perfectly You: Embracing the Power of Being Real. W Publishing Group. ISBN 9780785228387. OCLC 1080997518. The book is self-help and part autobiography.
References
- ^ 29 Savvy Stars Changing the Way We Think About Branding
- ^ Mariana Atencio. La periodista Mariana Atencio es miembro del equipo de Univision Investiga del departamento de Noticias de la Cadena Univision
- ^ Journalist Mariana Atencio Details Personal Tragedy and Career Struggles in Inspirational New Memoir
- ^ Mariana Atencio. La periodista Mariana Atencio es miembro del equipo de Univision Investiga del departamento de Noticias de la Cadena Univision
- ^ Award Winning Journalist Mariana Atencio
- ^ Mariana Atencio
- ^ Inside the Award-Winning "Fast and Furious" Investigation
- ^ En algunos países de América Latina no hay libertad de prensa
- ^ Fusion Unveils Morning Program, 'The Morning Show'
- ^ Fusion Unveils Morning Program, 'The Morning Show'
- ^ Venezuelan Opposition Leader's Arrest Intensifies Protests
- ^ Fusion CEO Says Network’s Partnerships Shone During International Coverage
- ^ FUSION Recognized with 3 NAHJ Journalism Awards
- ^ Pope holds 'virtual town hall' with ABC and Catholics in 3 cities
- ^ Passion and Purpose
- ^ Univision Noticias: un menú digital para seguir el debate demócrata de Miami
- ^ Mariana Atencio's Next Career Step Is A Book That Challenges Latinas To Live Their Full Potential
- ^ Interview with Award Winning TV Personality on Diversity & Activism Mariana Atencio
- ^ [http://cdn.emmyonline.org/news-doc-40th-emmys-nominations-v03.pdf NOMINEES FOR THE 40th ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED]
- ^ Suburban Detroit voters speak on key election issues
- ^ First Amendment Clarity Award
- ^ Fox News’ Trey Yingst, and NBC News’ Mariana Atencio Make Adweek’s Young Influentials List for 2019
- ^ Columbia Journalism Names Winners of 2019 Alumni Awards
- ^ La periodista Mariana Atencio comienza un nuevo capítulo en su vida (FOTOS)
- ^ La familia de Mariana Atencio vive la "discapacidad" de cerca
- ^ In the chaos of Venezuela, a daughter fights for her father’s life
- ^ MSNBC Journalist Mourns Father's Death and Sheds Light on Humanitarian Crisis in Venezuela
- ^ Mariana Atencio | Perfectly You: Embracing The Power Of Being Real
- ^ Mariana Atencio
- ^ What makes you special? | Mariana Atencio | TEDxUniversityofNevada