Natalia Contreras is joining Votebeat and The Texas Tribune

I’m delighted to formally announce our partnership with Votebeat and the hiring of Natalia E. Contreras, who will cowl Texas election administration and voting entry for each newsrooms. This thrilling new collaboration between two main nonprofit newsrooms will present our readers with constant, year-round protection to completely perceive and interact with the voting course of.

Votebeat is a brand new outlet from Chalkbeat, the most important native newsroom protecting public training in America. During the 2020 election, Chalkbeat launched Votebeat as a three-month popup news community, putting reporters with 10 associate newsrooms throughout eight states, together with the Tribune. Votebeat’s reporters will strictly cowl the nuts and bolts of voting — no polls, candidate platforms or election day outcomes — and preserve a strict nonpartisan deal with how elections are run, from early and mail-in voting to voter registration and election safety. As a founding associate, the Tribune will host and help Natalia, figuring out potential tales, amplifying her protection to audiences throughout and past Texas and sharing assets with Votebeat.

Natalia joins Votebeat and the Tribune from the Austin American-Statesman, the place she has served because the communities enterprise reporter, specializing in how training, public security and authorities insurance policies impacted communities of shade. As a local Spanish speaker with a deep background in protecting immigrant communities, Natalia will have the ability to spotlight how new Americans work together with our voting system as nicely.

Born in Mexico, Natalia immigrated together with her mom at age 11, settling in Corpus Christi. She studied at Del Mar College and on the University of Texas at Arlington, the place she labored on The Shorthorn, the coed newspaper. She coated breaking news, public security and immigration for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times from 2014 to 2018 and wrote about Hamilton County, one among Indiana’s fastest-growing suburbs, and immigrant communities for the Indianapolis Star from 2018 till final yr, when she joined the Statesman.

At Votebeat, Natalia will work alongside two fellow Texans — Lauren Aguirre, Votebeat’s engagement editor, and Jessica Huseman, editorial director. They are joined by Alison Go, Votebeat co-founder and Chalkbeat chief technique officer; Chad Lorenz, editor-in-chief; Oralandar Brand-Williams, Michigan reporter; Denise Clay-Murray, Pennsylvania reporter; Jen Fifield, Arizona reporter; and Carrie Levine, story editor.

At the Tribune, senior editor David Pasztor will likely be Natalia’s level of contact, collaborating carefully with the editors at Votebeat. Other Tribune reporters will in fact proceed to report on voting, campaigns and elections, together with Alexa Ura, who has produced stellar protection of redistricting, voting rights and the political impression of demographic change throughout Texas.

The honest and lawful administration of elections is a pillar of our democracy, and the Tribune is very excited to be Votebeat’s associate on this essential space of protection.

Disclosure: University of Texas – Arlington has been a monetary supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news group that is funded partially by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Financial supporters play no function within the Tribune’s journalism. Find an entire listing of them right here.

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