A Hispanic television reporter in North Carolina has left broadcasting to start her own business and dedicate herself to telling “positive stories.”
After seven years as a reporter and program host on WBTV, an affiliate of CBS in Charlotte, Sarah Batista dropped the crime beat to produce a series of documentaries called “Stories to Inspire.”
Batista, 33, told Efe that reporting bad news had become a routine, and she had little chance to work on stories that would inspire her audience.
“In 2012 I started researching what I had to do to start my own business, and I chose the not-for-profit field because that is where people can make a difference,” she said.
“The goal is to help non-profit organizations garner donations and clients, to motivate their staff and volunteers to show the power of the institution,” Batista said.
Born in Chicago, Sarah was 4 years old when her family moved to Charlotte after her father, a pastor, began working for PTL, an old evangelical TV channel based in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
After graduating from one of the best high schools in the city, she earned a degree in communications and journalism from the University of North Carolina Charlotte.
Batista worked for two TV stations in Charlottesville, Virginia, before joining WBTV in 2006.
“My start with WBTV wasn’t easy,” Batista said. “I had to work really hard, I was the only Hispanic reporter and they didn’t know what to do with me, but I tried hard and my work was appreciated. I’m leaving the channel at the top of my game.”
In 2008, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists awarded her a prize for producing the four-episode series “Beyond the Border,” which analyzed the immigration problem from the Mexican border to life among the immigrants living in Charlotte.
Published in Latino Daily News