Focus on business, economic, and corporate journalism
Reflecting on her career path, Dobal explains how her initial interests led her to discover her calling. Her passion for communication steered her toward business, economic, and corporate journalism. She found the subject accessible, so she decided to delve deeper into it.
“When it came to business journalism, while other colleagues with a background in the humanities would look at the charts or equations and panic, I found it easy. I loved it, and I also enjoyed explaining it.”
When the opportunity arose to work as a journalist at the newspaper El Observador, he realized that his future lay there.
Forbes' Proposal
After spending 12 years at El País, more than half of which she spent as editor of the El Empresario supplement, Dobal received a call from the publisher of the Forbes franchise for the Southern Cone (Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Paraguay). The call mentioned a desire to bring the franchise to Uruguay.
I found it incredibly interesting that a brand as prominent as Forbes—with 106 years of history in Uruguay—would launch this initiative, which included not only this bimonthly magazine, published every two months, and this website packed with content, but also recognized Uruguay’s business leaders, as well as the website and the entire conference program.
By the end of the first year, Forbes had already held 17 conferences, which filled Marcela Dobal with enthusiasm for developing the market and building a media outlet from the ground up in Uruguay.
A Day as Principal
Teamwork, practicing divergent thinking, and staying up to date are some of the basic requirements of Marcela Dobal’s daily routine. She also keeps a close eye on her teams to oversee tasks, offer assistance, and coordinate the publication of articles. She is always on the lookout for new stories, heading out into the field to gather diverse perspectives.
Every day is different, but they all share that common theme. The stories featured in the magazine help dispel the notion that everything in Uruguay is gray, monotonous, and the same. Instead, they highlight stories of leadership and growth.
Stories from Forbes
With strong support from digital media, various platforms, and the magazine’s website, we collect data on people’s interests, their search queries, the time they spend on each piece of content, and the types of articles they prefer.
Forbes magazine acknowledges that this data is not sufficient, as it is widely known within the industry. For this reason, the magazine focuses on telling inspiring stories, a topic of great relevance in today's society.
Forbes explores people’s emotional side through a variety of stories, moving away from a stiff, rigid, and formal approach to reveal the personal stories behind successful entrepreneurs, among others.
Tools provided by the School of Communication
“We need to think about what interests people, but it’s also very important to be thorough—always go the extra mile, ask one more question, make one more call.”
The Bachelor’s Degree in Communication with a concentration in Journalism offers a comprehensive education that prepares graduates to work in the media. In addition to providing a solid theoretical foundation, the program includes practical training in writing, radio, television, and digital media.
“It’s very important to have all the angles and all the perspectives, all the viewpoints. That’s something I learned a lot here at ORT, and it stays with me all the time: staying informed, trying not to make a misstep, being honest with the reader, striving for excellence.”