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Alumna brings personality to news

Alumna brings personality to news

December 13, 2015 at 12:00am


Very Important Panther: Belkys Nerey ’89

  • WSVN-TV Anchor
  • Bachelor of Science in Communication, 1989
  • Torch Award recipient, 2015

What ignited your passion for news?

I’m naturally an inquisitive person interested in what’s going on around me. It’s probably not a big surprise I ended up doing a job where I get to ask people questions. I enjoy telling their stories.

Your light-hearted on-camera persona differs from how many news anchors portray themselves. Where does this come from?

It’s just me being me. My personality comes through during the broadcast. My greatest compliment is when people meet me and tell me I’m just like I am on TV. Viewers can spot a fake from a mile away.

You have covered every type of news. Is one most satisfying to you?

I’ve covered history-making events like Princess Diana’s death, Prince William and Kate’s royal wedding and the election of Pope Francis, to name a few. Whenever I’m covering something of that magnitude, I take a minute to remind myself how lucky I am to witness history firsthand. Those stories are the ones I’ll be telling my friends in the nursing home.

Do you have a secret to staying energized in what is a very demanding job?

No secrets, really. I just try to lead a balanced life. I have a boyfriend I adore, and we love to travel. I have great friends and a wonderful family. I love my work, but I can also disconnect from it completely.

What advice do you have for young people looking to break into broadcast news?

I would tell young people to be prepared to start small and work their way up. Young people today think they can graduate and sit at the anchor desk. That’s not the way it works. My first job was at a cable station where I shot and edited my own video in English and Spanish. I would also tell them to be prepared to move away to some small town for their first job if that’s what it takes.

Do you have an FIU memory to share?

I just remember being at FIU and wanting to do this so badly. I couldn’t wait to graduate to get my career started. My TV broadcasting class final project was to shoot and edit three stories about FIU, and that tape landed me my first job at the cable station.

How do you decompress?

I love eating out for my Bite with Belkys blog, then coming home, plopping on the couch and watching anything that’s on Bravo.