Life and Career
Kara Patria David was born on September 12, 1973 to journalist Randy David and former Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission Karina Constantino-David.
Kara graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines, Diliman with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Communication. After her graduation, she worked as a production assistant and researcher for GMA Network in 1995. She was promoted as writer/researcher for the program “Emergency”; while at the same time hosting a two-minute segment “HulingHirit” in the daily news “Saksi” doing adventure-oriented and inspiring features. Kara rose from the ranks to become the youngest reporter for the award winning magazine show “BrigadaSiete”. It was in this show that Kara developed her niche in the industry and her lifelong advocacy for children’s rights.
In 2001, Kara was promoted to news producer of two major newscasts, 24Oras and Saksi. The next year she was given the chance to become part of the prestigious team of “I-Witness” the first ever full-length documentary program in the country, what has been dubbed as “Philippine Television’s Finest Hour”.
It is in “I-Witness” that Kara maximized her training as host, researcher and writer. She is one of the few TV hosts who pursues her own research and single-handedly writes all her scripts. She is most outstanding in writing, melding poetic narration with powerful visuals, merging objective observation with personal engagement. Her documentaries have received overwhelming feedback from critics and viewers because they touch the heart with the truth and uplift the soul without preaching. Many have said that Kara’s gift for writing is unparalleled among broadcast journalists of her generation.
It is her documentaries on children that have had the most impact. In the documentary “SeldaInosente” Kara entered the world of children born and bred in prison. This touching documentary won her the UNICEF Child Rights Award besting more than a hundred entries from all over the world.
In “Buto’tBalat” Kara explored the state of malnutrition in the country and the reality that extreme inequalities and the absence of a concrete and cohesive nutrition and population policy has resulted in a state not far from what occurs in Africa. For this documentary she was chosen as one of twenty finalists for the Japan Prize. She won a silver medal at the US International Film & Video Festival. It also won Best Social Awareness Program at the prestigious Asian Television Awards.
Kara has almost a hundred documentaries to her name. In “Bitay” she became an instrument in stopping the execution of a convict on death row. For this she was honored as Investigative Journalist of the Year by the Rotary Club of Manila.
Her most celebrated documentary was “Ambulansyang de Paa”, a touching documentary about the lack of access to health services of the Mangyan tribe who live in Mindoro Oriental. Kara documented the plight of our Mangyan brothers who have to carry their sick in hammocks for eight hours just to get to the nearest hospital. This documentary won the presitigous George Foster Peabody Award – considered the Nobel Prize in electronic media. Kara is the second Filipino to win this most prestigious recognition.
Last 2007, Kara was chosen as one of The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) of the country. She was likewise honored as Broadcast Journalist of the Year. In 2011, she was chosen as one the Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) giving recognition not only to her journalistic ethic and excellence but to her deep passion to help the countryside.
Aside from I-witness, Kara also hosted several public affairs programs such as Case Unclosed… an documentary program that investigates unsolved cases and mysteries. She also hosted OFW Diaries, a public service program that reaches out to Filipino overseas workers. Today, she is the news anchor of News To Go, a morning news program on GMANewsTV.
But Kara is more than just a teller of tales. She matches her documentaries with a deep passion for change and a commitment to action.
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