Fernando Hessel

Fernando Rodrigues Hessel (Born February 13, 1976) is a Brazilian entrepreneur, journalist, and currently a corresponding member for White House. Fernando Hessel's professional life has been marked by his active role in advocating for Brazil's freedom of press, and the implementation of television stations in developing regions of Brazil.
== Journalism ==
In 1996, Fernando Hessel, who at the time was a journalism student at University of Mogi das Cruzes, where he would later return to give lectures about journalism's enhanced mobility, initiated his career in journalism as a production assistant at Cozinha Maravilhosa da Ofélia and on the "DIADIA" program at Rede Bandeirantes de Rádio e Televisão. The journalist at that time had participated in an internship program at CNN en Español Spanish in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 2000, he became a video reporter on Canal 21, a broadcaster part of Band tv, and participated in multiple news projects within the company such as the 'SP Digital' news program and as editorial manager at the Brasil Urgente program, whose first presentation was by the journalist Roberto Cabrini and later led by José Luiz Datena.
Fernando sought specializations in international relations and completed the 'Brazilian Diplomacy' course at University of São Paulo.
== Life as an Executive ==
As Hessel's career progressed, he performed different roles such as editor, producer, reporter, and image editor in Band TV. In 2005, he won a scholarship for a Master of Business Administration course sponsored by Rede Bandeirantes itself at Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing - Escola Superior de Propaganda and Marketing.
At the end of this course, Hessel received an invitation from the president of Rede Bandeirantes, João Carlos Saad, for an executive position in the company's conglomerate, leaving aside the daily making of hard news. After immersing himself in all the TV's administrative and operational departments, Fernando Hessel began to know all of the Rede Bandeirantes Group's own units and broadcasters throughout Brazil through the expansion and network executive board. At this time, the young executive had the opportunity to learn to represent the company in government and institutional relations, both in managing liabilities and in the commercial actions of significant projects and TV events with the State and Municipal Governments.
In 2008, Fernando Hessel was invited to set up Rede Bandeirantes first broadcaster in Palmas, Tocantins. The former Band affiliate had unilaterally suspended the transmission signal, giving space to RecordTV|Record TV. Consequently, the Rede Bandeirantes lost its representativeness in Tocantins from the capital Palmas, Tocantins. The invitation was accepted, and there Hessel went to explore the developing region of the Cerrado by implementing TV Band's first proper television station in Palmas, Tocantins. Strengthening the brand with independent journalism, producing the main electoral debates with repercussions across the state, and innovating with new ways of doing newscasts in Northern Brazil.
In 2015, Band's headquarters, in the face of a deep economic crisis, decided to reduce Tocantins' operation by inviting Fernando Hessel to be transferred to São Paulo or Brasília. At this moment, Hessel did not accept the invitation and refused to return to São Paulo's station.
In the same year (2015) Fernando Hessel receives the invitation to audit the purchase and sale of a SBT (Brazil)|SBT Television station in Tocantins; becoming the General Director of these broadcasters in the Amazônia Legal|Legal Amazon. Likewise, he implemented all the experience gained during 20 years within SBT Tocantins by repaginating the program schedule, strengthening the brand, building a new commercial relationship with the market, technical operations; and initiating a arduous and challenging project to digitize the broadcasters to the HD system; a new requirement of the Federal government of Brazil|Brazilian Federal Government.
== Advocation for Press Freedom and AI-5 References ==
Even with a precarious transmission signal by channel 4 VHF in the capital, Rede Bandeirantes gained tremendous visibility with controversial actions that affected the daily lives of the entire population of Tocantins, denouncing corruption and communicating with all social classes. Censorship in the middle of the 20th century was a fact that shook public opinion throughout Brazil, with Fernando Hessel as a protagonist in this story by giving a cake recipe live on the newscast of Band in reference to what was practiced in Institutional Act Number Five during the Military dictatorship in Brazil|military regime. This fact made the headlines in major leading newspapers, such as Folha de S.Paulo|Folha de SP, O Estado de S. Paulo|O Estado de SP, Exame (Portuguese magazine)|Exame, and others. The journalist's attitude had enormous repercussions in the country; the following day, overthrowing the censorship imposed by Governor Carlos Henrique Gaguim, who was running for reelection and had reached the most prominent media in the country.
Journalist Fernando Hessel has always been involved in defense of freedom of the press and free work by the private sector. An important fact was Fernando Hessel's election as a delegate to defend the interests of the telecommunications sector in Brasília|Brasília, DF. The government of ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva tried in 2010 to regulate the media in Brazil and established a conference to impose limits on the exercise of journalism. CONFECOM would be this government instrument, but sector delegates defeated it before it was put into action.
In 2016 as the General Director of an SBT Affiliate in Tocantins, Fernando Hessel received the Fecomercio Journalism System Award due to his influence in the journalistic field of Tocantins.
== Internationalization of Businesses ==
In 2017, Fernando Hessel hands over his position as General Director of the Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão|SBT Tocantins TV station and moves to the U.S. to internationalize his news company, Canal24horas Brasil. In Miami (FL) the company was renamed America24h Corporation and later became a 100% American company.
Fernando Hessel also played an active role in the development of a a social volunteer work in preserving the environment through 8 Billion Trees based in Las Vegas|Las Vegas, Nevada. Intermediating the negotioations between the Non-Governmental Organization "8 Billion Trees" and Tocantins' State Government, with the goal of adopting areas for reforestation in devastated regions with native plants in the Brazilian Amazon.
On April 2021, Hessel received the authorization from the Biden-Harris Administration to gain access to The White House. The accreditation of new correspondents was suspended during the previous administration by the determination of former President Donald Trump. Correspondent Fernando Hessel became the first Brazilian to acquire this permission in this new administration to accompany U.S. Politics directly from the White House in Washington, D.C..
Category:1976 births
Category:Brazilian businesspeople
Category:Brazilian journalists