Natalie Escobar - 2017

Natalie Escobar is the first-ever recipient of the Hortencia Zavala Scholarship!

In her application Natalie writes: “Throughout my journalism career, I have realized my responsibility to pitch the kinds of stories that often go overlooked, directly tied to Latinx issues or otherwise. I have pushed my usually white editors to allow me to write about topics that they initially write off non-issues. I have rewritten pitches about mental health or school segregation over and over again, knowing that a little more research can make all the difference. I want to help curb the worst kind of journalism: the kind that presents the news as ahistorical, often at the expense of black and brown people. I have read too many articles that talk about Central American migrants without talking about how U.S. foreign policy has influenced the region. I have read too many articles about gang violence in Chicago that don’t mention residential segregation. I want to be a journalist because I believe in fighting to include this context. It is my job to ask the question that would never cross a white reporter’s mind, to connect the dots that only I can.”

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