Dany Villarreal Martinez didn’t always know she wanted to be a journalist — when she was growing up in Tucson, Arizona, she used to think she wanted to work at the United Nations to advocate for disadvantaged people. But after going to college at the University of Washington and studying journalism, she realized it was a good way to combine her skills and interests.
“Journalism is kind of the medium I found combining this passion for writing and researching with also a passion for speaking out,” she said.
Villarreal Martinez joined the WVXU newsroom late last month as the station’s inaugural Adam R. Scripps fellow. In that role, she’s creating a new Northern Kentucky beat, and is bringing her curiosity and drive to elevate the voices of underrepresented communities to the job. She is also bilingual, and is equally comfortable reporting in English and Spanish.
Over the next three years at WVXU, she expects to be pushed outside her comfort zone — something that’s already happened with a cross-country move to a new region of the country. Villarreal Martinez said she thinks those kinds of challenges will help make her a better journalist.
“Always adaptable to change, I think, is the mark of a good journalist,” she said.
The Adam R. Scripps Fellowship has allowed WVXU to expand the newsroom, adding dedicated coverage of a critical area that affects a large portion of Greater Cincinnati’s population. It also enabled the station to create the opening specifically for an early-career reporter, and provide the hands-on training, editing and mentoring necessary for success.
In the coming months, Villarreal Martinez will continue to get to know the diverse communities that make up Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties. She’s looking forward to learning more about the area’s challenges and opportunities and sharing those stories with WVXU listeners and readers. And of course, she’s also eagerly anticipating the end of winter, so she can spend more time outside.
You can reach her via email at dany.villarreal.martinez@wvxu.org