Former Noozhawk reporter Jade Martinez-Pogue explains the work around her USC Annenberg Health Fellowship mental health series and her most impactful stories as a local journalist.
Martinez-Pogue most recently worked as an assignment editor for KEYT, and is now taking a job in New York at court reporter agency Law360.
In her hallmark work for Noozhawk, she successfully appled for a special project grant in partnership with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism. The series covered the shortage of acute-care psychiatric beds for people experiencing a mental health crisis in Santa Barbara County.
“That was the most rewarding story, or series of stories, that I have ever done,” Martinez-Pogue said.
Jade recalled that while she was in college, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she saw friends who struggled with mental health issues. From there, she turned her focus to the county to learn about mental health services and ways the county could improve how it treats people
She made public health data requests, and said she has “about 20 spreadsheets” on her desktop.
“The thing that struck me the most, it wasn’t the numbers, or how much, or how little the county gave to the mental health system, it was the interviews I did along the way,” Martinez-Pogue said.
She put out a survey through Noozhawk to ask people to share their stories of interacting with the mental health system. She spoke to about 20 people for the series.
“Not a single one of those interviews lasted less than an hour,” Martinez-Pogue said. “It was hard. It was taxing. It’s kind of difficult to talk to people about some of the most vulnerable situations in their lives.”
The reporter also talks about her work at KEYT and her breakneck speed of reporting stories online and posting on social media. In the podcast, she also talks about the challenges she faces as a young Latina in the industry, and shares stories about her parents and upbringing.
Martinez-Pogue graduated from UCSB and began her career at Noozhawk.com.
Consider a contribution to this podcast by clicking here. Subscribe to this podcast by clicking here. Josh Molina has been a journalist in Santa Barbara for 20 years. He also covered City Hall for the San Jose Mercury News. In addition to working as a reporter at Noozhawk, he teaches journalism at Cal State University, Northridge and Santa Barbara City College. Please subscribe to his You Tube channel for more content.