Two years ago Pablo Fernández left his comfort zone and took on the challenge of being Radio Universal Journalism Director. This week the new cast of Punto de Encuentro premiered, with Victoria Rodríguez, Leo Sanguinetti, Fabián Tiscornia and Fernández hosting the morning news program. “You get the taste of radio, which is very different from television. It seems like they were the same, but the radio has a greater connection with the public that television does not give you,” says Fernández. Pablo Fernández spoke with Sábado Show about what it was like to meet the members of Punto de Encounter, the election year that will begin soon, the new season of Sign and Sign, his style of journalism, sports and his sentimental present.
—You put together a great squad for the new Meeting Point.
—Yes, we changed. There is one thing we say a little jokingly and another seriously: the only constant thing is change. For various personal reasons of the team we had last year with Mariano López, César Sanguinetti and Eugenia García who decided to take other paths, we had to rebuild the team. I was already last year at Punto de Encuentro doing the electoral column: Bishops and Pawns, and doing some substitution when one of them was on leave. Gabriela told me that she liked me to join the permanent team and she suggested that I put together the new team.
—You added Victoria Rodríguez to drive.
—Yes, Victoria, who is undoubtedly one of the most important media figures that Uruguay has, is versatile and thanks to the work of Esta boca es mia, she is one of the most informed communicators, steeped in all topics. We believed that she was going to contribute a lot in an election year that will have a lot of current and political information. We felt that she was going to contribute to the analysis and digesting of the issues, in addition to being an excellent communicator. And the connection with people. What radio has is that, the need to be in constant connection with people, and Victoria is the right person. Luckily we managed to count on her and it has been the highlight of the year for us. It is a luxury to have her for this season.
Pablo Fernandez.
Photo: Kindness.
—But the entire team was renewed.
—Yes, we also managed to add Leonardo Sanguinetti. I have known him for a long time and he has a very important professionalism, he has been working in radio for years, he comes from a sports background but recently he has worked a lot in current affairs radio production and he is a journalist who likes to produce a lot of each of the contents. , and we are noticing that he is a very prepared guy who takes great care of each of the contents. We like that when we sit in the studio and the red light turns on to go on air, we are not improvised, that the material we present to people is worked on. We also managed to add Fabián Tiscornia, one of the most important and respected journalists in the media for his handling of economic information; and in this election year the economic issue is key; and someone who manages and manages to translate economic issues to people is key. That team, the quartet that we make up, is a luxury to compete with the rest of our colleagues in a very strong way.
—Those colleagues include Ignacio Álvarez, with whom you worked on Channel 4’s Sign and Sign.
—(Laughs) Yes, and in addition to being a colleague he is a friend. That’s the issue. Luckily and as Jaime Roos says, we are rivals and friends. Luckily we have a good relationship, because on the one hand we are rivals and on the other we are on the same side. We compete at the same time with Nacho, who is one of the most important journalists in Uruguay with his important audience; There is also Patricia Madrid in another media, and changes have been generated in Sarandí and other media. That helps us because it has been a year of many changes in which all the teams have opted to make changes, and that is good for the media. Many opportunities have been generated so that each of us can show new proposals and that ultimately it is the public who decides what they want to hear and what offer they are most entertained with.
—What’s the bet?
—Offer the best, most accurate, dynamic information and also entertain, because that’s what radio is. The differential that we want to offer is pure and simple information but at the same time, entertainment. Another differential that we have become in recent years is that we are not only a radio, we also broadcast on YouTube, Twitch and a cable channel that is transmitted to the 18 departments of the interior. That gives us very strong feedback from the interior, which is great, because sometimes from Montevideo we forget about the people from the interior. That is why we managed to create a network of correspondents from the interior to have information from the entire country; more in this election year.
—Besides, you’re preparing for the return of Password.
—Yes, we’re just starting now, we’ll be back in March; It’s my seventh year in the program. It’s already a life on the channel and the team is very oiled. The journalists’ table became a classic in which we have managed to discuss current issues in a very particular way, generating an exchange, and the feedback from the public has been tremendous. I understand that the difference with the rest of the proposals is that we handle journalistic information with analysis but dumping information that each of us collects throughout the week. That’s the good thing, because everyone has their own focus and does their job independently, and has the freedom to say and present what they want and think. Unlike what some may think or opine, Nacho allows us to work with the greatest freedom. And in a year of electoral campaign it is important for the product to be the best for the public.
Pablo Fernandez.
Photo: Kindness.
—In all this, is there time for CrossFit, or was it left aside?
—Crossfit was a bit relegated due to knee injuries. Yes, there is time for sports because I went back to the gym and played tennis, which I had forgotten about. I’m fully recovered from my knee, so I’m at full strength. I’m healthier, I quit smoking and I’m starting to get back on the courts little by little. Who knows, maybe I’ll hang up my boots again and run on a court; and if I come back I will have Nacho as a rival because we are in the same university league. So in addition to having him as a rival on radio mornings, I’m going to have him as a rival on the court.
—You are the son of Nelson Fernández, one of the best-known journalists in our country. Is there a Fernández style?
—I think that each person makes the style. Obviously, Fernández always carries the backpack, but I think that in my case the backpack doesn’t bother me. And with the passage of time I have tried to make my style. I couldn’t say if there is a Fernández style because in that sense I consider myself different from my father. I am more temperamental than my father, but I don’t know what my father would be like in the beginning, because he was very young when he started. My way of doing journalism is not to deal with anything. I don’t like to be conditioned by politicians, interviews, questions, or information. What’s more, it bothers me a lot, and in that sense I am intransigent. Sometimes I’m like a small cat, I don’t know the danger and, perhaps because of my age, I often don’t measure the fights. But I think that journalists do not have to measure the consequences and do have to owe it to the public because politicians pass and we owe it to the public as a whole. More so in the electoral campaign when they are always going to criticize us, from one side and the other. My father’s style has been forged throughout his career and is unquestionable. I have nothing to criticize him and in his long career he has shown that he has gotten to where he has gotten because of his impeccable career. There is a reason he will be one of the most recognized journalists in Uruguay. I am not the one to talk about my old man who, due to his own career, speaks for itself.
—Didn’t he tempt you to take Underlined?
—No, and I don’t think I would because I don’t know if I would work with my father. With Sunday talks he reaches us.
—What do you think about the issue with Ana Inés Martínez?
—I understand that my old man’s case is being handled in other work or judicial areas that I am not aware of, and on my part I have no choice but to wait for the resolution in those areas, as appropriate. Obviously as a family they always affect family ties, but I am very clear about who my father is and the professionalism with which he acted and has acted. It is not for nothing that he has reached the places that he has reached, not only in Uruguay, but internationally. My old man will always have my support as a son, and as a colleague, because I know what he is like, because I believe in his humanity and professionalism.
Pablo Fernandez. Photo: Archive.
ESTEFANIA_LEAL
—Is there life beyond work?
—This year I am quite dedicated to work. I have tried to focus a lot on work and dedicate the little free time I had to work. Last year I had a little free time that I dedicated to friends. This year I was planning to take a trip, but election campaign years are like a 15th birthday for journalists where we enjoy that. So I’m going to enjoy the election year dedicated exclusively to work, let sport be the grounding cable when I need to lower the ball, but it’s going to be a lot of work. It seems crazy, but political journalists thoroughly enjoyed the election campaign.
—Every year that you covered elections, you followed whoever became president. Who are you going to follow this year?
—I was humping about that, because I had to follow the one who won. In the last one to Lacalle Pou, in the previous one to Tabaré Vázquez, and before that to José Mujica. This electoral campaign, being on Radio Universal in the morning, I am not going to follow any candidate, so the cabal is not going to come true. I will have to cover the campaign in another way, and that is good because we are going to prepare radio coverage for the days of the elections with a deployment that we are already preparing. Furthermore, the radio is turning 95 years old, so it is going to be a special year for everyone, and there are going to be surprises that will be announced in due time.
—You talked a lot about the campaign, radio and sports, and how are you on sentimental topics?
—I’ve been single for a few months, and for now I’m going to stay that way because this year is about concentrating on work and there isn’t much more time for that. I ended a very nice, beautiful and intense relationship, but now it’s time to learn to be alone for a while and let time pass.
2024-02-24 08:06:24
#Pablo #Fernández #role #Radio #Universal #return #Santo #seña #work #father
