CALÓ News welcomes California Local News Fellow Andrea Valadez

CALÓ News welcomes Local News Fellow Andrea Valadez, who will be reporting from Sacramento. 

She will cover state policy from the Capitol as well as issues that affect Latinos throughout the state. 

Valadez is a graduate from California State University, Monterey Bay. She previously covered education at the Monterey Herald and was editor-in-chief of The Lutrinae, CSU Monterey Bay’s student newspaper.

As part of California’s investment in local journalism through the UC Berkeley-based California Local News Fellowship, 38 new early-career journalists have been selected for two-year fellowships in California newsrooms. 

“Robust local journalism is essential for transparency, accountability and coverage of underrepresented communities,” said Christa Scharfenberg, who has led the program since its inception. “We’ve proven that this state-funded model can and does work.”

The California Local News Fellowship currently has more than 70 early-career journalists reporting from every corner of the state, covering immigration, wildfires, housing, healthcare access, city council and school board meetings and the effects of Trump administration policies. Fellows are working in 35 counties covering more than 90 percent of the state’s population through community newspapers, local nonprofits, ethnic media outlets and public radio stations. They’re producing more than 100 stories a week that would otherwise go untold.

Fellows and newsrooms are selected through a competitive process led by the fellowship staff and advisory board, with input from journalism faculty at California State University campuses. 

The inaugural cohort, which began in September 2023, is set to complete its fellowship this August — marking a milestone for a growing initiative dedicated to strengthening local journalism in California.

Fellow Michelle Zacarias, a member of the first cohort of fellows, placed first in this year’s LA Press Club Awards for Race and Society for her story, “Black and Latino survivors of burned Palm Springs community seek restitution.” She won second place for Commentary for “Latinos are not a monolith: a nuanced picture beyond the polls,” and third place in the Columnist category for her deeply personal column “Sin Pena,” which reflects on her experience navigating cancer twice — first as a child and again as an adult — and on health disparities for Latinos.