Matthew Brian Walter

328 West 108th Street, Apartment 5, New York, NY 10025

· 347-698-0735

Education

Columbia University, New York, NYDecember 2011

School of International and Public Affairs

Master of International Affairs, Concentrating on Economic Policy and Latin America

  • Enrolled in Courses on Capital Flows, Trade and Labor Issues in Latin America; Brazil’s Economy and Politics; Accounting; Management; Quantitative Analysis

Loyola University, New Orleans, LAMay 2001

Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Concentrating in Print Journalism,and Spanish

Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico, summer 1999Summer 1999

  • Took courses in Spanish on the Mexican media system and Mexican literature in a three-month, intensive program.

Professional Experience

Bloomberg News

Caracas, Venezuela, Bureau Chief, April 2007 – October 2009

  • Managed coverage of the economy, politics and the energy industry in the biggest oil exporting country in South America; Trained reporters to gather news more quickly and tighten their writing to boost competitiveness in the four-person Caracas bureau.
  • Provided real-time analysis and information about monetary and foreign exchange policy decisions taken by the central bank; Reported on government economic policy decisions and the reactions they generated in the currency market.
  • Covered breaking news and wrote in-depth features on the government of President Hugo Chavez and his push to create a socialist state; Exclusively interviewed political, government, labor and opposition leaders about the economic and social transformation taking place in Venezuelan society.
  • Directly questioned President Chavez at press conferences and led coverage of political events, including national referenda in 2007 and 2009 on whether to eliminate the president’s term limits.
  • Produced a feature-length article for Bloomberg Markets magazine in 2008, examining the impact that consumer price controls, government nationalizations, the politicization of institutions, and foreign exchange controls have had on Venezuelan productivity and investment.
  • Covered President Barack Obama’s introduction to Latin American leaders at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago in April 2009.
  • Attended the opening week of the 63rd United Nations General Assembly in September 2008, working with Bloomberg Television Crews to interview Bolivian President Evo Morales, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, and Guatemalan leader Alvaro Colom.
  • After the overthrow of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya in June 2009, followed the deposed leader on his tour of Central America, landing one of the first interviews he gave to a foreign news agency during a one-on-one meeting in Panama.
  • Interviewed ministers of finance and central bank presidents from Venezuela, Chile, Canada, Mexico and Central America.

Bloomberg News

Santiago, Chile, Economy and Government Reporter, June 2005 – April 2007

  • Reported and wrote stories in real time about economic events in Chile, focusing on government, economic policy, and the central bank.
  • Attended press briefings following monthly monetary policy meetings at the central bank; provided analysis through real-time headlines and stories published on the Bloomberg Professional Terminal; Interviewed leading economists about policymakers’ decisions on how to adjust interest rates and the money supply to control inflation.
  • Covered all major general news events in Chile during the period, including the election of President Michelle Bachelet, the death of former dictator Augusto Pinochet and the country’s biggest student strikes in decades.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Northwest Arkansas Bureau

Business Writer, December 2002 – March 2005

  • Wrote on-the-spot business stories and features about one of the U.S.’s fastest-growing regions, and the headquarters of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
  • Covered agriculture, transportation, real estate and banking industries, including Tyson Foods Inc. and J.B. Hunt Transport Services.
  • Expanded coverage of the region’s growing immigrant population, interviewing Latin American workers in Spanish who were arriving to work in agriculture and poultry processing.

Skills:

  • Fluent in Spanish; Able to understand Portuguese
  • Proficient in Associated Press and Bloomberg writing styles
  • Trained to operate the Bloomberg Professional Terminal
  • Experienced working in Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
  • Taken courses using Stata Data Analysis and Statistical Software