José Manuel Nava Sánchez began his career in journalism at the Mexican news agency Notimex. Beginning in 1976, Nava became a reporter for the Mexico City-based daily Excélsior newspaper. Around 1982, he became Excélsior's Washington correspondent, a position he held for 22 years. He was directing editor of Excélsior from February 21, 2004 until December 2005. In September 2006, Nava began writing the daily column "Nuevo Poder" (Translated: New Power) for El Sol de México with a focus on political and social analysis.