The news is such an important part of our society. It keeps us informed and aware of all the things that are going on in our community. The news anchors come on screen with their smiling faces and report the top stories. We see the news every day but never think about the people who bring the news to the screen. Or the photographers who take time to make sure that the news anchors can give the daily information.
Daniel Manrique has been working in the media industry since 1992. In his 32 years, Manrique has worked with Univision, Telemundo, CW, and News Nation. He is also a 10-time Emmy winner. Manrique has had a long and successful career that all started with humble beginnings.
Manrique was born in Mexico City, Mexico to María Cristina Navarro. He and his mother lived there until he was around four years old. They then moved to Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Daniel Manrique’s first encounter with the media was in his last semester of high school. His whole life he had planned on being a veterinarian or a pilot, both of which would require he and his mother picking up their lives and moving. Everything was arranged for the move until he took a class called Mass Media. Manrique fell in love.
“I asked my teacher where I could go to school to do that. And he told me [that] there was a private university in the city […] and they would offer that class to go and study that,” Manrique said.
Manrique’s first media experience was for a radio station in Nuevo Laredo. A news director from the station came to his school asking for volunteers to get involved in the media world. He accepted the offer. Schools in Mexico have Social Service, where they get hours for volunteering. So Manrique’s hours spent in the radio station counted towards his graduation.
“They offered two positions for reporters. I was selected,” Manrique said.
Manrique didn’t end up staying with that radio station. So he kindly declined the position and went to the new radio station.
At the new radio station, he was an operator of sorts. He played ads, music, and the weather because everything was pre-recorded. At the same time, he and one of his friends had the idea to make a show. It was called Video Onda Juvenil (Youth Video Wave). This show would broadcast the top shows and videos from the time. Manrique was doing a lot of work; he started as a photographer and soon took on more and more roles.
After meeting his now wife, Hilda Zuñiga, they moved to the United States. The border system was very inconsistent about when it approved people to cross. Manrique had to start from scratch.
“We moved unexpectedly…We knew it would happen just not that day,” Manrique said.
His wife was working in a newspaper in Fort Worth, called “El Informador Hispano.” So he would write stories for them weekly. He became their border correspondent. Because of his work, they hired him as a graphic designer and photographer. This was his first job in the states.
Manrique’s first job in television was in Univision. He got a part-time job as a graphic designer. His job was to make element designs for different stories. One day, there was a huge fire and they had no one to send.
“I raised my hand and said, ‘well I can go’,” Manrique said.
They were confused at first because he was not a photographer. How did he know how to cover a story? He then told them how he used to be a photographer in Mexico. After making sure he actually could operate a camera, Manrique was immediately sent to the scene with a car and camera. After that day, he switched from graphic designer and was given a full-time position as photographer.
Manrique would go on to work with Telemundo and win his 10 emmys. One of his most prominent stories was the 2017 Mexico City Earthquake. He and his reporter, Norma Garcia, were originally tasked to a special report on kidnapping in Mexico City.
“I remember it took a long time to find victims… who were willing to talk about their experience, so finally…we were interviewing three sisters who had been victims,” Garcia said.
Mid interview, the ground started to shake and they heard screams. Manrique and Garcia just happened to be a block away from the Enrique Rébsamen Elementary School. This school sadly fell during the earthquake. According to the Associated Press, the collapse would take the lives of 19 kids and seven adults.
“Pretty quickly we knew the story had changed,” Garcia said.
Since they were only a block away from ground zero, Manrique and Garcia were able to be the first crew to go live.
Now Manrique is working with News Nation and has been mainly doing stories about the border with his current reporter, Ali Bradley.
They met in Del Rio, Texas in 2023. They were doing a story about one of Governor Greg Abbott’s buses to Washington, DC.
“My initial impression was that [Manrique] was very professional and that he cared the most about the story we were covering,” Bradley said,
I have the privilege to talk to this professional because Daniel Manrique is my father. To me, my dad is simply my dad. Yet every time I pass by our bookshelf that proudly displays his emmys, I am reminded how important my dad and his job really are.
