Christina Carrega is a National Crime Reporter for Capital B News — a local-national nonprofit news organization that covers Black voices, audience needs, experiences, and partners with the communities it serves.
She is a first-generation born American and was raised in Brooklyn. Her father is from New Amsterdam, Berbice in Guyana, and her mother is from St. Peter, Barbados in West Indies.
She credits her upbringing in Brooklyn for connecting her to her roots. “I was fortunate to grow up in Brooklyn, New York, where it continues to be a melting pot of cultures from around the world, especially from the West Indies and South America,” Christina Carrega said.
But despite growing up in an area where the presence of Caribbean culture is well known — there are also times when challenges arise. “I also understand that living or growing up in other parts of the country, it can be challenging if you’re the only Guyanese person in your school and/or workplace,” Carrega said.
Her professional career in journalism began at the New York Post where she discovered her interest in wanting to master covering the criminal legal system.
Following her job at the New York Post, she briefly left the news industry to work as a public information officer for the late Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson. After that, Carrega worked as a Courts Reporter for The New York Daily News and The Brooklyn & Queens Daily Eagle newspapers.
Then her career took a different turn, as she entered into broadcast journalism — where she worked as a Multimedia Reporter for ABC News. At ABC, her coverage focused on the criminal legal system around the United States.
After her time at ABC, she worked for CNN as a Crime and Justice Reporter and Producer — where she was based in Washington, D.C.
Aside from her journalistic jobs as a National Reporter, Carrega is also an Adjunct Professor at New York University’s American Journalism Online Master’s Program.
She longtime member of the New York chapter of the Association of Black Journalists — where she served as Vice President of Broadcast and Deputy Secretary & Co-director of their high school journalism workshop, First Take NYC. She is also a member of the Washington Association of Black Journalists.
She serves on the board for Princess Chambers Inc., a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping young women identify the princess within so they can grow to become the queens they are destined to be by hosting events, workshops, and programs that address the challenges a young woman faces today.
Throughout her career, she has earned awards from the New York Association of Black Journalists and received the “Beacon of Hope” Award from the East New York United Concerned Citizens, Inc.
Though Carrega is still learning more about her roots and her culture — she notes that staying true to yourself plays a role in your success. “Never let the status quo make you feel like you have to dim your light to be more like them to succeed in any industry you dream to be a part of.”
