MIRAMAR, FLORIDA-In the hustle and bustle of the makeup room, Jackie Nespral was getting her hair blow-dried and makeup put on her face just before the 4PM Newscast.
Her story begins at the Calle Ocho festival in Little Havana. At one of the booths, a poll was going one. She went up to the booth and when they asked who she would interview from around the world, she said she would interview Barbara Walters. Many years later, she would meet Barbara Walters on the TODAY Show. Jackie went to the University of Miami majoring in Psychology. While there, her mom put her in the Orangeville Pageant and she won. From there she would get countless interviews and appear on David Letterman, and this is when she knew she wanted to go into news. After that, she continued to study Phycology, but this time minoring in communication. By the time she graduated, she went to get her masters in journalism and then two years of post-graduate in journalism.
Channel 23, the Telemundo station based in Miami, was looking for a meteorologist. Jackie went to audition, but she was told that her Spanish wasn’t good enough. So then she went to intensive Spanish lessons with Olympia Rosada. She would come over to her house twice a week. Once she completed her Spanish lessons, she went back to the station and from there, she was given the position. A year later from working at Channel 23, Jackie got a call from NBC who asked her if she wanted to audition for the spot of an anchor for the Weekend Today Show. She flew to New York, auditioned, was offered the job and became the first Hispanic women to anchor a network newscast. Working there for three years, Jackie missed Miami and her family, so she went to tell her boss that as soon as her contract expires she wants to move back to Miami. The General Manager of WTVJ NBC 6 wanted her there, and ever since then, she has become the lead anchor for NBC 6 South Florida.
For someone as important to South Florida as Jackie Nespral, she says that if you work hard you can achieve greatness. Jackie recalls back when she started at NBC 6 South Florida she was able to interview the President of the United States at the time and saw that as a major achievement for her. Some other major stories she reported that she sees as an achievement include the transition of power in Cuba, the Pope visiting Cuba, hurricanes, and championships. Another thing she says is that although we have personal opinions, in this industry, they must be taken out and the only thing needed is just to report the news because people will trust you because they know that you are always going to know what’s best.
Being born and raised in South Florida, Jackie says that her background has played a role in contributing ideas towards the table. She says he can understand the community through the many years of growth and apply it towards everyday reporting. The evolution of cultural and population change in Miami has shifted over time when NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX were the only TV channels around. Now with the Internet, there are a variety of sources for the people to read. When Jackie first started the market was basically comprised of African Americans and Cuban Americans, and now the Miami area has grown to become a major melting pot.
The experience Jackie has gained working at two major Spanish speaking networks has allowed her to marry her experience on what people who watch these networks want while using it toward an important local TV station in South Florida. In addition, with the knowledge of working at NBC News and bringing it to a localized form at NBC 6, it has helped Jackie bring a worldly experience from all her days anchoring and reporting to deliver accurate information to local South Florida viewers. Back when she anchored Weekend Today, she went to Cuba to report on Pope John Paul II’s visit. This story had an impact on her career on a political, religious and cultural level. It also impacted her personally due to her parents being from Cuba.
