Agus Morales: "The passion for journalism is a flame that we all have to try to keep alive"

22/12/2023

Agus Morales, a former student of the Faculty of Communication Sciences, graduated in Journalism and then did his PhD in Language and Literature. Currently, he is a professor at the faculty and works as a journalist as director of the 5W Magazine. He has collaborated in international media such as The New York Times and has also written several books.

What has been your career since you graduated in Journalism at the faculty?

I studied at the Autonomous University the degree of journalism and then did a doctorate in language and literature, specifically a thesis on Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian poet.

Occupied, I was a correspondent for the EFE Agency in India-Pakistan and there I covered, in South Asia, including the death of Osama bin Laden. Then I spent three years working at Médecins Sans Frontières, travelling between Africa and the Middle East.

Then I started as a freelancer and so far. I have been working, however, especially on a very important project that is the 5W magazine. A medium of international chronicle and photography. In this time I have also written several books: We are not refugees, who stage the lives of refugee populations around the world; Ya no somos amigos, which is the novel I published last year and Cuando todo se derrumba, a chronicle that chronicles the pandemic.

You recently won the Montserrat Roig 2023 prize, what is this project about?

With Anna Surinyach we have a project that is entitled Young and old well accompanied. This group focuses on two groups, which are epitoms or symbolic of their cultural and political space. But the narrative wants to revolve, above all, around one of the two in particular, the youngest, because it was a topic that we had already worked on in the magazine before. 

The objective is to analyze how young people of legal age are welcomed for a few months by elderly people. See how this shared experience works and whether it benefits both parties, especially with the will to show it to society.

The journalistic origin consists of reflecting how these two worlds meet. The energy and strength of young people is intertwined with another world, which is that of these people who face loneliness.

With all the projects you have done and continue doing, why did you decide to be a teacher? And why the Autonomous

I decided to be a professor at the Autonomous University because it is my university and it is public, I think this is very important. My fundamental objective is not only to impart or share knowledge, but above all to stimulate students in all senses. This is the role I'm trying to take in the classes.

I decided to be a professor for this reason and also because for me the years at the university and the subsequent years were very important. When I finished my degree I experienced key moments from a professional and training point of view. So, I really like to accompany students at this time, I also learn a lot from these people.

And how do you think teaching or journalism has changed in the classes since you studied until now as a teacher?

In the technical field in many ways that have to do, above all, with technological evolution, the way of communicating, the new scopes of journalism... But the essence for me is the same. Especially this passion for the profession, if you don't have it, it's not worth studying at this faculty. Because there are many other faculties better to earn money or to look for other types of career opportunities.

Do they say that journalism is a career without careers or without a future, that you would tell those people who plan to do this career?

I think it is essential to look for ways of working and obviously they pay you for your work. But I also think that the focus of reflection when you study or want to do journalism should not be utilitarian. We do journalism because we think it is necessary to explain what happens in the world, because here it is a tool to change things in some way.

It is very important to find a way to turn journalism into an economically sustainable job. It is no secret that when we do journalism we do not do it in a utilitarian way, that is, it is not a race that we do to enrich ourselves or for other reasons, but, after all, the vocation is very present. That this can be dangerous too, yes, but I think that a balance can be found between the two.

As a renowned journalist, how do you apply your experience in classrooms?

In the classrooms I just try to share my passion for journalism. For me, this is much more important than imparting knowledge. To transmit this passion I think is essential, a passion that is already serial, but it is a flame that somehow we all have to try to keep alive.