SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Express-News (mySA) reporter Madalyn Skye Mendoza is constantly on the go.
“It was a lot easier being in the newsroom because you are feeding off of each other, but now I’m a one-woman newsroom,” Mendoza says. “So I have one laptop. Before, I used to have all of these monitors - I would have Twitter on one side, content system manager on the other side.”
Mendoza produces five to eight articles a day and still manages to find time to promote and engage on social media, where she’s developed a huge following.
“I always try to be authentic. It does a much better job to adding context, adding voice to your tweets, talking to people in a more conversational level,” Mendoza says.
Mendoza grew up in a low-income neighborhood on San Antonio’s Southside, but she earned scholarships to attend Catholic school.
“What I didn’t realize [was] what a disadvantage I had. Until now, I hear stories of people who were go to Ivy Leagues,” Mendoza says. “[People] who had SAT prep classes, who had all of these benefits afforded to them that I didn’t even know existed.”
What kept this Southside girl afloat was a program run by the San Antonio Express-News called the Teen Team program, in which high school students shadowed professional journalists and even wrote their own articles.
“Seeing my articles in the San Antonio Express-News at 15 years old and to be a publisher-author, I think was one of those sparks that you had mentioned,” Mendoza says. “I think it was something that made me feel like I could do [journalism].”
She’s been doing it for the last six years at mySA, but Mendoza is proudest of the growth she’s seen while covering more serious stories — the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the recent snow storm.
“I take into consideration that these people are trusting me with these more intimate stories,” Mendoza says.
The Express-News is bringing back the Teen Team program and Mendoza hopes to be there too — this time as a mentor.
“I think the Teen Team bringing in these different voices and encouraging them, giving them space to grow, encouraging these young people is important now more than ever,” Mendoza says.