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A Multimedia Platform of NAHJ
 
 
 

A podcast where journalists talk about the intersection between their personal histories and their work

palabra and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) are proud to introduce Así Fue, a podcast series that allows journalists to unpack their experiences in the field and discuss issues they care about, including business, immigration and the arts.

New episodes are released on a bi-monthly basis.

This podcast is funded by a grant from Toyota, supported by Google News Initiative and PRX Podcast Accelerator.

 
 
 
 
 

Subscribe to Así Fue wherever you listen to podcasts

 

Episodes

 

Episode 1, Rooted

Journalists Zaydee Sanchez and Claudia Meléndez Salinas uncover the dangerous effects of pesticides in the farmworker community. In the course of their reporting they discover truths about their own immigrant roots. Claudia offers advice on self-care and Zaydee reflects on the importance of family. The episode ends with a personal reflection by reporter Olga Rosales Salinas about her father’s role in a global economy. Read Olga’s Essay “Everywhere you go, there you are”.

Show Contributors:

Zaydee Sanchez, photojournalist and writer (guest)
Claudia Meléndez Salinas, journalist (guest)
Olga Salinas, journalist (guest)
Mónica Ortiz Uribe, host
Luis Gallo, senior producer
Amy Silverman, essay editor
William Stanton, audio engineer
Monica Campbell, editorial consultant
Valeria Fernández, executive producer

 

Episode 2, The Only Woman in the Room

Women continue to face many hurdles in the music industry. In the recording studio, women make up a tiny percentage of producers, songwriters, and engineers. In this episode reporter Mariela Murdocco takes us behind the scenes with an up-and-coming artist, a seasoned songwriter with certified hits under her belt and other artists navigating this industry as women. Mariela also sits down with grammy-nominated audio engineer and producer and Jeanne Montalvo to talk about their personal histories and career paths in this male-nominated industry.

Show Contributors:

Mariela Murdocco, photojournalist and writer (guest)
Jeanne Montalvo, producer and audio engineer (guest)
Mónica Ortiz Uribe, host
Ruxandra Guidi, editor reported piece
Luis Gallo, senior producer
William Stanton, audio engineer
Monica Campbell, editorial consultant
Jude Joffe-Block, editorial consultant
Valeria Fernández, executive producer

Episode 3, Talento con Acento

In conversation with each other, journalists Maye Primera and Maritza L. Felix discuss the hyper-local journalism projects they are part of in their communities. Maye shares the experience of moving from Venezuela to San Francisco’s Bay Area and the information and service El Tímpano provides. Led by Maye, El Tímpano informs, engages, and amplifies the voices of the Bay Area’s Latino and Mayan immigrants. Maritza delves into being born and raised on the border and starting her own “news-you-can-use” platform, Conecta Arizona, to keep border migrant communities informed on the issues that affect them the most.

Show Contributors:

Mónica Ortiz Uribe, host
Maritza L. Félix, founder, Conecta Arizona (guest)
Maye Primera, managing editor, El Tímpano (guest)
Luis Gallo, senior producer
William Stanton, audio engineer
Mónica Campbell, editorial consultant
Sarah Bernstein, tape sync
Valeria Fernández, executive producer

 

Episode 4, Stories behind numbers 

Covering business might cause a reporter to break out in a cold sweat or their eyes to glaze over. But not Jordyn Holman. She writes about business and the retail industry for the New York Times. Her personal experience pushes her coverage beyond the executive suites and into the lives of wage workers and the communities where they live. In this episode, Jordyn and host Mónica Ortiz Uribe delve into Jordyn’s experience as a Black journalist covering issues of race, class, and gender in corporate America.

Show Contributors:

Mónica Ortiz Uribe, host
Jordyn Holman,  business reporter, New York Times (guest)
Luis Gallo, senior producer
William Stanton, audio engineer
Mónica Campbell, editorial consultant
Valeria Fernández, executive producer

Episode 5, The Pivot

Mónica Ortiz Uribe, a Mexican American journalist, has long been fascinated by the border - the place where two countries and cultures meet. Her reporting often amplifies the voices of underrepresented groups, including women, immigrants, minorities, and underpaid workers. In this episode, Mónica joins executive producer Valeria Fernández to discuss the creation of Así Fue, a platform that provides support and safety for journalists to share their experiences. The two freelancers delve into the realities of freelancing, including the challenges of being your own boss and finding balance after experiencing burnout.

Show Contributors:

Mónica Ortiz Uribe, host
Luis Gallo, senior producer
William Stanton, audio engineer
Mónica Campbell, editorial consultant
Valeria Fernández, executive producer

 

Episode 6, The Stories that Find Us

Pulitzer-prize winning reporter Adriana Gallardo joins her long-time friend and producer Luis Gallo to explore how their immigrant experiences prepared them to become journalists and writers.

Adriana Gallardo’s love for storytelling was born inside the library where her parents worked as janitors and grew during her time working in community radio. Luis Gallo became a journalist by writing about subjects he felt passionate about, including urbanism, history and music. In this conversation, they share how some of their most meaningful work happened by allowing stories to find them—instead of the other way around.

Show Contributors:

Adriana Gallardo, engagement reporter, ProPublica (guest)
Mónica Ortiz Uribe, host
Luis Gallo, senior producer
William Stanton, audio engineer
Mónica Campbell, editorial consultant
Valeria Fernández, executive producer

 

Episode 7, Live Your Truth

Journalists Michelle García and Fernanda Santos share a few things in common. They both have worked for legacy media institutions — the Washington Post and The New York Times, respectively. They have also endured profound losses that led them to search for their authentic selves. In the process, they discovered that there’s no standard roadmap to success. Instead, they learned to define success — or better yet, self-fulfillment — on their own terms.

Santos is now the editorial director at Futuro Media and García is working on a book about the U.S.-Mexico border for Viking Books.

Explore the issue "Rewriting the West" from Guernica, featuring Michelle García as the guest editor, and delve into Fernanda Santos' essay titled "The Best Kind of People."

Show Contributors:

Michelle García, guest
Fernanda Santos, guest
Mónica Ortiz Uribe, host

Jude Joffe-Block, consultant
Luis Gallo, senior producer
William Stanton, audio engineer
Valeria Fernández, executive producer

 
 

Así Fue Contributors

Mónica Ortiz Uribe, Host

Mónica Ortiz Uribe is an independent reporter based in her hometown of El Paso, Texas. She specializes in writing about the U.S./Mexico border and the American southwest. She last worked at the El Paso Times, writing about racial disparities and economic inequality. Mónica co-hosted the podcast, Forgotten: The Women of Juárez about the murders of women in the Mexican border city across from El Paso. The podcast was listed among the top ten podcasts of 2020 by the Atlantic. Mónica’s work was previously featured on National Public Radio.

Luis Gallo, Senior Producer

Luis Gallo is a Colombian-American journalist, writer and artist. His work has appeared on NPR, NBC, 99% Invisible, VICE, Slate, StoryCorps, Latino USA, Audible, PRX, among others. He's the co-writer and creator of Futuros Studios and Spotify's LOUD: The History of Reggaeton. He was an artist-in-residence at the Queens Museum.

Mónica Campbell, Editorial Consultant

Monica Campbell is a California-based independent journalist who focuses on immigration and immigrant life in the United States. She has reported globally for decades, including as a senior editor and reporter for The World.

 
 

Rux Guidi, Guest Editor

Rux Guidi has been telling non-fiction stories for more than two decades. Her reporting for public radio, magazines and various multidisciplinary media has taken her throughout the United States, the Caribbean, South and Central America, as well as Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico border region.

Valeria Fernández, Executive Producer

Valeria Fernández is the managing editor of palabra., a multimedia platform that aims to provide an accurate and honest representation of the Latino community by publishing stories from freelance journalists who are members of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). She is the founder of Altavoz Lab, a mentorship project to strengthen reporters at community outlets to serve Black, Indigenous, immigrant, and other communities of color. Fernández was a professor of journalism at Arizona State University and received a Nieman Visiting Fellowship at Harvard to develop the podcast Comadres al Aire. She is an inaugural recipient of the 2018 Mosaic Prize from the Heising-Simons foundation.