“To become a good journalist you need to write and read, read and write,” said Sergio Bustos.
Sergio Bustos, a political journalist for The Associated Press, is the son of Chilean immigrant parents and an immigrant himself. He attended The Virginia Commonwealth University where he received his Bachelor of Science, and Mass Communication/Media Studies, as well as attending The University of Southern California.
Being born a Hispanic has provided him with advantages in the political world but has made him been perceived as a foreigner while growing up. This, however, never held him back since he considered himself a journalist first.
Bustos started off his career as a writer for The Daily News Leader in Staunton, Virginia, where he eventually moved on to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Bustos then became an editor for The Miami Herald, where he worked for 10 years. Three months ago, he was hired by AP as the news cooperative’s Miami-based politics writer.
Bustos is currently covering presidential candidates: Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, and thanks to his bilingual background he’s been able to overcome the obstacle of understanding the candidates when they speak Spanish.
Bustos discussed the impact of social media, as well as technology in the newspaper industry.
He believes social media has affected newspapers he recognizes that “it’s the new way of communicating.”
“Today when you are reporting you have to keep track of social media as much as anything else,” said Bustos.
Social media has taken over many aspects of newspaper publications according to Bustos. It offers information at the speed of a few keystrokes, and informs people across the globe of what is happening worldwide.
“Anything new can be difficult to adjust to,” said Bustos, after being asked why there are still journalists that can be so resistant to using social media.
Bustos also gave the journalism class great advice for writing articles.
“Writing is a process, you have to go back and write it time over time, read it out loud, ask yourself is the tone right? How’s the pace? And most importantly check accuracy and don’t be afraid to rewrite.”
At the end of the day, writing has always been Bustos’ calling and it is something he enjoys and wouldn’t trade it for all the money in the world.
“I love telling stories, I love the power of the media to tell a story.”
Thank you, @sbustosAP for sharing stories & advice with us! pic.twitter.com/5yzMKBlF28
— clairel0ves (@clairel0ves) October 9, 2015
