Tina Vasquez

I feel like it’s been a very bad week for journalism. I’m actually quite sad to see the L.A. Taco stuff unfold. It’s also really crystallized the failures of our industry. Like, people fundamentally do not understand what journalists do or what our roles should be/entail.

My husband also made the great mistake of telling me that Nate Silver went on a podcast and talked about how Claude is a great copy editor? I don’t know. I don’t really care enough to listen to it.

I just think it’s depressing to know that it’s not like, corporate executives who will further ruin our industry with AI. It will be people on the inside of the industry embracing it.

I saw the latest back and forth about LA Taco and while I told myself I’d shut up about it, I’m sorry. Two things really stood out to me…

Staff reporters don’t get to report whatever they want. Newsrooms often have policies for how their reporters can post or operate online. This is pretty standard stuff!

Ok, that’s all. I’m done.

I saw the latest back and forth about LA Taco and while I told myself I’d shut up about it, I’m sorry. Two things really stood out to me…

This is actually quite a big deal. The “appropriate journalistic practice” is not to date a source, period. But if you date a source, you should no longer cover that source. But if, for some wildly inappropriate reason, you still cover that source, you disclose in the reporting that you are dating!

Second, $30K is more than most reporters at tiny newsrooms get when they are laid off, let alone fired! And honestly, so much of his post sounds sort of standard for a small, overwhelmed newsroom trying to figure out how and what to cover with limited staff and resources.

Take this for what you will because it is anecdotal, but: The voter turnout in my small NC city has been bananas. I went to vote on the first day of early voting in the state and I waited in line for an hour! All of the early voting lines I’ve seen are snaking around the building!

The L.A. Taco revelations, if true, are very, very upsetting. But so was watching so many people so quickly dismiss the newsroom, slander it, and threaten to end their memberships.

It was so painful to see people in very large numbers say that one man was the newsroom. What about people like Lexis-Olivier Ray? He is one of the best investigative reporters in L.A. He’s been hustling for L.A. Taco for years now, going toe to toe with the LAPD.

Anyways, I think the response to the initial news of Memo leaving the publication also says a lot about what we are up against in terms of the gigantic gap between what journalism actually is and what the public thinks it is.

The L.A. Taco revelations, if true, are very, very upsetting. But so was watching so many people so quickly dismiss the newsroom, slander it, and threaten to end their memberships.

A person who isn’t adhering to the ethics of our field, a person who gets mad over being fact checked, actually has the potential to subject vulnerable communities to incredible harm—especially now. Especially in the context of covering immigration enforcement.

Also, a newsroom is not ever one person or personality. Journalism is team work. It’s sources and editors and copy editors and fact checkers and photographers and audience team members and so many others, depending on the type of reporting. It’s all of these people working together, shaping a story.

The L.A. Taco revelations, if true, are very, very upsetting. But so was watching so many people so quickly dismiss the newsroom, slander it, and threaten to end their memberships.

Still, it is a privelege to report on our communities—especially in a newsroom like L.A. Taco that for years and years, well before the ICE raids, did its best to do right by our communities.

To dismiss them so quickly is a mistake. A newsroom is more than one person. And again, if what is alleged is true, y’all are mad at the wrong ones.

The L.A. Taco revelations, if true, are very, very upsetting. But so was watching so many people so quickly dismiss the newsroom, slander it, and threaten to end their memberships.

There are so many ethical quandaries that come your way when you are reporting on undocumented communities. One slip up and you can ruin someone’s life. The stakes are very high and they should be taken seriously.

I also understand that there is a lot wrong with our field. Reporting is often harmful and extractive. Objectivity is a myth. Latinos are locked out of newsrooms. It’s a very shitty industry that sometimes feels like it hates workers.

The L.A. Taco revelations, if true, are very, very upsetting. But so was watching so many people so quickly dismiss the newsroom, slander it, and threaten to end their memberships.

You can actually put people in incredible danger if you don’t report ethically, if you don’t fact check, if you don’t adhere to the ethics of our profession.

I don’t say that to say that you have to go to J-school or that you can’t learn while doing. I learned while doing. I have a high school diploma, but I took journalism classes. I was trained to be a reporter—and I cannot tell you how important that is when covering immigration.

The L.A. Taco revelations, if true, are very, very upsetting. But so was watching so many people so quickly dismiss the newsroom, slander it, and threaten to end their memberships.

To me, it spoke to a much larger problem around media literacy and a fundamental misunderstanding of what newsrooms are and how they function.

The ethical issues that arise when you are covering a subject as serious and sensitive as immigration are vast—and you have to have training to be able to navigate them. Reporting the news isn’t as simple as sitting in front of a mic.

In recent years, many, many people in the journalism industry—including editors—have told me that publications now shy away from long form reporting because no one wants to read stories that are 3-5K words long. The common refrain is that people don’t typically read beyond the headline.

apple.newsThe Chocolate Conspiracy — New York MagazineEveryone in my life agreed: It tastes different now. I ventured into the molten belly of our crumbling world to find out why.

Anyways, I woke up at 5 am to get caffeinated enough for a community yard sale. I slammed caffeine while reading this very charming and fascinating story about why Reese’s now taste like shit. It’s many thousands of words and I enjoyed each one.

Long live long form reporting—even when it’s about the decline of chocolate!

@chrisgeidner.bsky.social

I’ve long thought this was a tragedy, and a great mistake. When freelancing, I’ve had editors try to condense a complicated and sensitive investigation into 1,500 words. It’s impossible! And maddening, and frankly disrespectful to the people who entrust us with their stories.

Tina Vasquez reposted

Chris Geidner

BREAKING: Fifth Circuit, on a 10-7 vote, says no bond hearing for detained immigrants pending removal proceedings, no matter how long they're detained — reversing panel decision and district courts. www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...

Do you ever not want to be a journalist and instead have a cookbook store? No? Only me? OK.

theguardian.comHeatstroke ruined his health. Years before, it took the life of another farm worker at the same companyA farm labor contractor exposed laborers on H-2A agricultural visas to heat-related health hazards, but the contractor is still bringing hundreds of migrant farm workers to North Carolina

You can now read Carlos Vargas Moreno's story at The Guardian. Carlos was an H-2A worker who experienced a debilitating heat stroke in 2022 after being subjected to unsafe work conditions by his employer, Florida Orange Gold. Two years prior, another Florida Orange Gold worker died of heat stroke.

@pressonsouth.bsky.social

Typically, it's only when a farmworker dies of heat stroke that the public hears these stories. Carlos survived and his family went public for the first time in the hope that what happened to Carlos doesn't continue happening to other farmworkers. I hope you read his story.

Tina Vasquez reposted

Press On

For @prismreports.org, @us.theguardian.com & @enlacelatinonc.bsky.social, our fellowship coordinator, @tinavasquez.bsky.social, investigated Florida Orange Gold’s disregard for the health of their migrant farmworkers in North Carolina and Florida. Read the story at tinyurl.om/farmworkersheat.

Tina Vasquez reposted

Prism

@prismreports.org

After a farmworker died & another became disabled after a heat stroke, their employer keeps sending workers on H-2A visas out to the blistering North Carolina fields. Our co-published investigation by @tinavasquez.bsky.social is up now in @theguardian.com, with photos by Kaoly Gutierrez.

The Guardian@theguardian.com

Heatstroke ruined his health. Years before, it took the life of another farm worker at the same company

prismreports.orgDespite farmworker death and another disabled by heat stroke, employer keeps sending people to fieldsFlorida Orange Gold has exposed workers on H-2A visas to extreme heat, but continues to bring hundreds of migrants to North Carolina

On Sept. 29, @prismreports.org published my story about Carlos Vargas Moreno, an H-2A worker with a company called Florida Orange Gold who in 2022 experienced a heat stroke that left him disabled. Two years prior, another Florida Orange Gold H-2A worker died from heat stroke.

@princessjemmy.bsky.social

Since this story was published, I've learned of two farmworkers' deaths: a 24-year-old in MS and an H-2A worker in NC. I fear we are getting to a place where we simply accept these deaths each year, as if they aren't largely preventable with better workplace protections.

Tina Vasquez reposted

Prism

@prismreports.org

Florida Orange Gold is one of hundreds of middlemen contracted by U.S. growers & crop farmers to hire & oversee migrant farmworkers. Even after the 2020 death of a farmworker they employed, Florida Orange Gold continues to expose H-2A workers to heat stress, @tinavasquez.bsky.social reports.

Tina Vasquez reposted

The Flytrap

@theflytrapmedia.com

Our co-founder @tinavasquez.bsky.social is an excellent reporter. ALWAYS read Tina:

Andrea Grimes@andreagrimes.com

Incredible reporting by @tinavasquez.bsky.social here. A story about how the people who put food on American tables are denied water or even the ability to carry it with them or meaningfully ask for it to be provided, lest they lose their jobs working in oppressive heat.

Tina Vasquez reposted

NotMe

It’s unconscionable that this could be allowed to happen, including companies like this being able to participate in a Farm Labor Visa Program in the first place.

Tina Vasquez@tinavasquez.bsky.social

NEW: H-2A worker Carlos Vargas Moreno experienced a catastrophic heat stroke when his employer, Florida Orange Gold, subjected him to unsafe working conditions. The same company was cited two years prior for the heat-related death of H-2A worker Carmen Sebastian Hernandez Mosqueda.

Tina Vasquez reposted

Andrea Grimes

@andreagrimes.com

Tina Vasquez reposted

Prism

@prismreports.org

“Almost nowhere inside this system is an expressed desire to do better, to improve working conditions, to create a heat standard.” Despite farmworker death & another disabled by heat stroke, their employer keeps sending people to blistering fields, @tinavasquez.bsky.social investigates.

Tina Vasquez reposted