NotiVisión Georgia’s New Hire

Earlier this month, NotiVisión Georgia’s CEO and publisher, Monica Pirela, was named one of Georgia’s most influential Latinos by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. It’s one of many accomplishments that Pirela and the digital platform have achieved since receiving Pivot Fund support last year.

Now, she’s expanded her team with an exciting new hire. Colombian journalist Raphael Navarro joined the staff last month as editor-in-chief. Previously an editor at El Nuevo Georgia, a Spanish-language newspaper in Atlanta, Navarro knows what it takes to serve the state’s Latino and Hispanic community effectively, Pirela said.

“I am excited about the arrival of our new editor-in-chief, who represents an exciting opportunity for growth and development for our media. We plan to strengthen our journalistic capabilities, especially in investigative journalism, to delve into issues important to our community and expose the truth,” she said. “Additionally, we are committed to diversifying our coverage, addressing various relevant topics such as education, health, housing, culture, and local and state social and political issues. To achieve this, we will invest in developing the talent of our editorial team and encourage collaboration and active community participation in the identification of topics. Our priority continues to be the commitment to quality, journalistic ethics and objectivity in our coverage, all for the benefit of our Latino and Hispanic audience in Middle Georgia.”

The Pivot Fund provides grantee partners with transformational dollars, meaning we give them enough money to hire at least one additional employee in their first year of funding. NotiVisión Georgia, like Pasa La Voz, BeeTv, and other grantee partners, has actually used grant dollars to hire more than one staff member. They not only know how to cover their communities best, but they also know the value of a dollar.

NotiVisión Georgian has more than doubled its staff from one person (Pirella) to five employees.

The Pivot Fund team quickly caught up with NotiVisión’s Navarro to understand his approach to journalism.

What led you to journalism?

“I was always clear about my passion for journalism, even though, when I was young, the conditions around me were unfavorable.

Without a doubt, this further strengthened my desire to communicate what was happening in my environment, making me the first person in my family to finish high school and then university. I love what I do, and I always have the hope that someone will benefit from that work, even if what we report at any given time may be considered negative.”

What are some of the core values of your journalistic approach?

“A fundamental value in my career has been honesty. I consider it to be key to facing daily events, in which we have in our hands information that can help or harm many people. Empathy, on the other hand, allows us to put ourselves in the other’s shoes and from there, not only create stories of impact but also ones with a human sense, which, without a doubt, will help someone along the way, or at least, leave a positive influence.”