Virginia Hernandez Rueda is a journalist at EL MUNDO.
What led you to start working in digital/media publishing?
When I was in my last year of university, my brother, that is three years older than me, asked: “Why don’t you specialize the Internet?” It was 1999 and the web was only a small possibility for mass media. I started my internship in elmundo.es, the website of the Spanish newspaper EL MUNDO because I could grow as a professional with the explosion of the Internet. That was a privilege. For example, we could tell our readers the 9/11 terrorist attacks in real time.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I have to coordinate our multimedia special reports and my days are very different if we are starting a project or we are very close to the deadline. When we have to decide the subject of a new project, it’s necessary to have brainstorming meetings with the team we are going to work with. Then we have to distribute the areas, document the topic and the interview experts. All the projects are different, so I have the opportunity to learn a lot about each one.
What does your work setup look like? (your apps, productivity tools, etc.)
I usually go to the EL MUNDO office by bus, then I prepare the day with my iPhone and iPad. We share our documents using Google Drive. In the office, we use a desktop PC. If we are preparing a small project, we could use the CMS of elmundo.es. If we are working on a bigger project, our designers make specific web pages for us which we then have to work in a group.
What do you do to get inspired?
I love starting my morning reading news, articles, reports, watching videos, and taking a look at social networks. I think is the best way to come up with new ideas. Another excellent opportunity to get inspired is interviewing experts about the topic you are investigating. It is wonderful when you talk to someone who loves their work.
What’s your favorite piece of writing or quote?
I love a lot of books and I don’t have a very special quote from because I always remember my mother’s advice: “You have to work in the best way you can.”
What is the problem that you’re passionately tackling at the moment?
Although I have been working almost for 20 years on digital journalism, L MUNDO is a legacy media and our editors are still very worried about the paper. One of my tasks is work with my paper colleagues to change their mindset about how they prepare their pieces. Now we have a lot of ways to tell a story.
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Do you have any advice for ambitious digital publishing and media professionals who are just starting out?
Never give up. You have to be tenacious to reach your goals. It is a simple recipe but difficult to keep.
