Tracey Eaton is an award-winning journalist and documentary producer. He has worked as a staff writer, editor and bureau chief in the U.S. and 20 foreign countries.
As a correspondent for the Dallas Morning News, Eaton interviewed everyone from presidents to armed insurgents and teen-age drug traffickers.
He ran one of the only American news bureaus in Havana, and coordinated coverage of Pope John Paul II’s visits to Cuba, Mexico and the Middle East.
Eaton has investigated corruption and organized crime in Mexico, and covered fighting in Afghanistan after Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
He has led or worked on 10 Pulitzer Prize-nominated projects.
As a freelance journalist, Eaton wrote more than 3,000 blog posts and articles about Cuba with dozens of pieces translated into Spanish, Portuguese and other languages and reproduced in publications around the world. The New York Times, Reuters, the Associated Press, the Atlantic, Columbia Journalism Review, Politico, the Miami Herald and others have cited his work.
Eaton has sold stories to USA Today, Insider, Newsweek, Florida Center for Investigative Reporting and others.
He created the Cuba Money Project, which tracked U.S. tax dollars spent in Cuba before it was discontinued in 2022. Numerous books have cited Eaton’s research, including: Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations Between Washington and Havana; U.S. Foreign Policy Since the Cold War; Cuba: A Global Studies Handbook, and others. Scholarly publications have also mentioned his work. Titles include “Ladies in White: A Peaceful March Against Repression in Cuba and Online” and “Internet, public space and contention in Cuba.”
Eaton has also been a media trainer and has directed journalism workshops in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala and Colombia. He also has been an invited speaker at Northwestern University, American University, Rollins College, City University of New York and other institutions.
As a documentary producer, Eaton:
- Created and sold videos to NBC News and other media outlets. One video lit up the facades of UNESCO’s Paris headquarters. Still another drew 34 million views on YouTube.
- Made 10-minute documentary called “Grietas de Muerte” (“Cracks of Death”) about the housing crisis in Havana. The video was shared 11,600 times on Facebook within four days of publication.
- Produced a documentary called “Death in the Jungle” about the impact of oil drilling on indigenous groups living in the pristine jungles of Ecuador.
Eaton has also been a college professor. He was chair of the Communication Department from 2018 to 2021, and received the School of Creative Arts and Letters’ highest honor for leadership and service.
In March 2024, Eaton was inducted into the Communication Department’s Hall of Fame.
