Mariana van Zeller (born May 7, 1976 in Cascais, Portugal) is a Portuguese journalist and former correspondent for the Vanguard documentary series on Current TV.
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Van Zeller studied International Relations at the Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa. She then spent two years interning at SIC Notícias, a Portuguese news channel, in the international news and travel departments.
She applied to Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism three times: her first application was rejected, and her second was wait-listed. After her third application in 2001, van Zeller flew to New York City and knocked on the dean's door, explaining her dream of becoming a journalist in the United States. The dean was impressed and allowed her to enroll.[1]
One month after van Zeller moved to New York City, the September 11 attacks took place. She was contacted that morning by a producer from SIC Noticias, where she had previously interned. She was directed to meet a news crew atop the CBS Building in Midtown Manhattan, where she would go live in three hours. Before going on air, she was told: "Prepare yourself. The whole of Portugal is watching you." [2][3]
After receiving her degree from Columbia, van Zeller moved to London to work for a documentary producer, with hopes of covering the Iraq War. With London as her new base, she studied Arabic at Damascus University in Syria in order to better seek out stories in the Middle East. Over the next two years, her freelance documentaries from Syria appeared on PBS's Frontline/World, the CBC, and Channel 4 (United Kingdom). In 2005, she joined Current TV as a correspondent and producer for the Vanguard documentary series. Van Zeller is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian and French. She also speaks some Arabic.[4]
Van Zeller is married to her former Columbia classmate Darren Foster, who is a producer and cameraman with Vanguard. In July 2010, she gave birth to her first child, a son named Vasco.
| Year | Award | Organization | Work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Livingston Award for Young Journalists | Mollie Parnis Livingston Foundation | Reporting on the Iraq-Iran Border | Best International Reporting | Nominated[5] |
| 2009 | Webby Award | International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences | "Obama's Army" | News & Politics: Individual Episodes | Won[6] |
| 2010 | Peabody Award | Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication | "The OxyContin Express" | Won[7] | |
| 2011 | "Greatest Person of the Day" | Huffington Post | March 23, 2011 | Won[8] | |
| Livingston Award for Young Journalists | Mollie Parnis Livingston Foundation | "Rape of the Reservation" | Won[9] |
"The OxyContin Express" also received the 2010 Television Academy Honor, a Prism Award and an Emmy nomination.
Vanguard
Current TV
Christof Putzel
Adam Yamaguchi