What I do
I design, organise and deliver the Reuters Institute’s programmes for news media executives, editors and media managers. My work falls under the umbrella of the Leadership Development team, focused on creating diverse communities where we can have frank, in-depth conversations and training on challenges and opportunities in a changing media industry.
I host our open-admission courses, welcoming media leaders from around the world to Oxford throughout the year, in programmes carefully curated to provide a space for learning, private discussions, and valuable exchange through testimonials, practical case studies, Reuters Institute research, and conversations with industry experts.
My experience leading newsrooms and creating bridging strategies between editorial, product and commercial teams is crucial in navigating the conversations with these communities on varied topics such as new audiences and trends, news avoidance, AI, business sustainability, innovation and digital transformation; but also on having deep conversations on teams and career development, leadership styles, or culture of care and wellbeing while not loosing the focus on our main passion: good journalism.
In the Leadership Development team, I also worked on the creation and delivery of Bespoke courses, designed in partnership with and for specific organisations worldwide, and on the organisation of our portfolio of Invitation-only forums: closed discussions for a select group of senior executives and editors on particular topics, key to the business in the media industry.
As part of the project of AI and the Future of News at the Reuters Institute, I've hosted a series of invitation-only AI ‘Show and Tell’ sessions with media leaders worldwide to create a valuable space for publishers in digital news to discuss plans, concerns, projects, and opportunities related to AI.
I am a co-author on one of the Reuters Institute newsletters, Spotlight on Newsroom Leadership, where my colleagues and I from the Leadership Development team publish pieces and interviews, as well as curated recommendations on research, readings, and insights from other leaders to understand the leadership issues we face in the newsroom.
I’m based in London and in Oxford for all of our in-person activities. However, as a Mexican journalist, I have a strong bond with Latin America, so I work to bring the Reuters Institute research and the Leadership Development discussion forums to the region through activities such as the Festival Gabo in Bogotá, Colombia, the Foro Centroamericano de Periodismo in Antigua, Guatemala, and journalism schools in Mexico.
My background
Before my position at the Reuters Institute, I was Deputy Editorial Director at Animal Político, one of the most important native digital media in Mexico. My role there from 2017 to 2022 was focused on serving as a head and bridge between the editorial and special investigations team, the audience and innovation team, the multimedia and product team, and the commercial team.
As the lead of the investigation team, my primary focus was on corruption, accountability, human rights, violence, and inequality. Some of our investigations covered the impact of COVID on gender inequality, the manipulation of violence statistics to mislead the security policy results, the failure of the Mexican justice system to investigate murders in the country, or multiple corruption cases on different levels of government in the health, education and public infrastructure sectors.
Our team won the Ortega y Gasset Award in 2018 and the National Journalism Award for the investigation called La Estafa Maestra, which revealed the big-money embezzlement by the federal government through public universities and shell corporations. And was a finalist in the Gabriel García Márquez Awards.
As a reporter, I have also collaborated with international organisations such as Finance Uncovered to publish The Baby Broker Project, about ethical concerns and exploitation around surrogacy or with CLIP (Centro Latinoamericano de Investigacion Periodistica) on the use of public resources to finance disinformation in Mexico, and the organised spread of disinformation around COVID-19 in Latin America.
During my time at Animal Politico, I was also part of the team that founded El Sabueso, the country's first fact-checking unit, in January 2015. As a member of the International Fact-Checking Network, I presented our work at conferences in Spain, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Italy, Norway, the United States, and South Africa.
I was the Head of Editorial for a special collaborative electoral project called Verificado 2018, led by Animal Político, AJ+ Español, and Pop-Up Newsroom, to identify and debunk potentially harmful misinformation. We won the 2019 World Digital Media Award in the Best Innovation to Engage Young Audiences category, the LATAM Digital Award, and an Online Journalism Award from the Online News Association (ONA).
I still do consultancy on disinformation and digital harassment. I am an experienced OSINT researcher and collaborate with civil society organisations, activists and journalists to document their cases when they are victims of digital violence and harassment.
Apart from my time at Animal Politico, I have been a reporter at CNN, El Universal, and Forbes, and a Higher Educator Lecturer in Journalism and Media Culture at ITESM - Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico.
I have a Master's Degree in Race, Media and Social Justice from Goldsmiths, University of London, and I am a former fellow in Programmes in the United States, including the World Press Institute and the Women’s Leadership Accelerator at the Online News Association.
Journalistic ethics
As the members of the Institute's editorial team, I am committed to the Reuters trust principles and Reuters standards and values.
In December 2021, I published a chapter in the book Futuro Imperfecto. ¿Hacia dónde va el periodismo? - (Where is journalism going?) edited by UNSAM Edita and Revista Anfibia. My chapter explains the type of journalism I believe we should be committed to, detailing how it is impossible to publish good journalism without being engaged in the fight against inequality and social injustice.
