Mariana Atencio facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mariana Atencio
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Atencio in 2018
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| Born |
Mariana del Carmen Atencio Cervoni
April 2, 1984 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Journalist and Author |
| Spouse(s) | José Antonio Torbay (m. 2015; div. 2020) |
| Awards | Peabody Award, Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, Gracie Award, National Association of Hispanic Journalists Presidential Award |
Mariana Atencio (born April 2, 1984) is an American journalist, TV host, author, and speaker. She used to be a reporter for NBC News. Mariana was born in Venezuela and earned a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. In 2020, she helped start GoLike, a company that creates videos and other media.
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Early life and education
Mariana Atencio was born in Caracas, Venezuela. Her parents are Álvaro Atencio and Diana Cervoni. She is the oldest of three children.
Mariana earned a Bachelor's degree in Communications from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas. In 2008, she moved to the United States. She received a scholarship to attend Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she earned her Master's degree. Ten years later, Columbia University honored Mariana with the First Decade Award for her great work as a journalist.
Career as a journalist
In 2009, Mariana Atencio started her journalism career. She worked as a reporter for a newspaper in New York City called El Diario/La Prensa. She also worked as a host for Vme-TV, which is a Spanish-language public TV station in the United States.
Working at Univision and Fusion (2011-2016)
Mariana started working as a guest host and reporter for Univision News in 2011. She reported on the 2012 presidential election for their morning show, Despierta America, and their evening news, Noticiero Univision.
In 2012, she became a reporter who looked deeply into stories at Univision. Mariana was one of five reporters who won a special award called the Peabody Award. This was for their documentary "Fast and Furious," which also won an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award. In 2013, her team won Univision's first Peabody Award for "Fast and Furious: Arming the Enemy." This was a long investigation into a gun-related issue.
In 2014, Mariana received a Gracie Award for her work on a Univision documentary called "Pressured: Freedom of the Press." She reported on and wrote this important story.
Mariana became a host for The Morning Show on Fusion TV. This two-hour program included news, special stories, and live interviews. She also reported for a segment called "Unearthing the Tomb," which won a National Headliner Award. Her report "Mexico Massacres" was recognized by The National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
She also worked as a field reporter, meaning she reported from different locations. Mariana covered the 2014 protests in Venezuela. She also reported on the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong, and the 2014 Iguala mass kidnapping in Mexico.
In 2015, she reported from McAllen, Texas, for ABC News. She helped with a virtual meeting where Pope Francis spoke to people before his first visit to the United States. Mariana talked with Pope Francis and translated for new immigrants who wanted to ask him questions on live TV.
In March 2016, she was part of the team that hosted a debate. This debate was between Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, put on by Univision and The Washington Post.
Working at NBC News (2016-2020)
In September 2016, Mariana started working for NBC. She became a reporter for the English-language network. She was the only Latina reporter on the cable news channel.
Mariana focused on reporting about the U.S. Latino community and immigration. She also did live translations from Spanish. She covered important stories like the Central American migrant caravans, the issue of children being separated from their families at the border, and immigration raids in Mississippi.
Mariana's live interviews with mothers during the Trump administration's family separation policy were nominated for two national Emmy Awards.
During the 2020 presidential race, the 2018 midterms, and the 2016 presidential campaign, she reported on Hispanic voters across the country. In 2019, she was part of a team of NBC reporters called Road Warriors. They won an award for their coverage of the 2018 midterm elections.
Mariana also covered major natural disasters. These included the earthquake in Mexico and the aftermath of Hurricanes Maria, Harvey, Florence, Michael, and Dorian.
Other projects (2020-present)
In 2021, Mariana was a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. In November 2021, she was chosen as an official spokesperson for the future National Museum of the American Latino in Washington D.C.
In 2022, she released a podcast series called Lost in Panama. This podcast looked into the disappearance of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon. They were two Dutch tourists who went missing on a hiking trail. While investigating, Mariana found more than 50 other cases of women disappearing in the same area.
Personal life
In 2020, Mariana Atencio became a U.S. citizen. As of 2019, she lives in Miami and New York City.
Mariana's father passed away in February 2018. He had complications from pneumonia after getting the flu. She wrote about his health struggles in a hospital in Caracas. She also wrote about the lack of basic medical supplies in Venezuela due to a humanitarian crisis there.
See also
In Spanish: Mariana Atencio para niños
