Paola Rodriguez Alvarez (she/her/ella) is a reporter and producer at Arizona Public Media, the NPR/PBS affiliate in Tucson, AZ.

She is an alumna of the University of Missouri, where she graduated with a bachelor’s of journalism with a concentration in convergence media. She is currently enrolled at the University of Arizona, where she is studying for her master of legal studies with an emphasis on Indigenous peoples’ policy and law. However, Mizzou will always be her first love. M-I-Z!

Before joining AZPM in 2022, Rodriguez worked at the Columbia Missourian as a photo editor and audience engagement reporter working on building the newsroom’s social media presence through visual, yet informative storytelling. She has previously reported for NBC affiliate KOMU 8 News and St. Louis Public Radio. During her time in St. Louis, she won a national award for a feature story about a debt relief program meant to rectify decades of systemic discrimination against Black farmers.

Rodriguez’s work has been published in local, regional, and national news organizations. In addition, her work has garnered recognition from organizations such as the Radio Television Digital News Association, the Public Media Journalists Association, and the Arizona Press Club.

During her free time, she can be found planning her next hiking trip to a national park, cheering (but really screaming) for her favorite sports teams, or rebuilding a Lego set that her cat broke.