May Ortega is a general assignment reporter and primary backup host for CPR News.
Education:
Bachelor’s degree is Mass Communications with a Print focus from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Professional background:
May joined CPR in late 2019 after working as a public health reporter at KUNM Public Radio, the largest NPR station in New Mexico. Before joining KUNM, May had only ever worked in print newsrooms. Writing for her college paper was her first-ever job. During her college years, she interned at the Las Vegas Review-Journal then the Gazette in Colorado Springs. That was when May started listening to CPR. She also worked as a nightside breaking news reporter in her hometown of McAllen, Texas towards the end of her college education. Her first full-time job after college was as a technology and health care reporter with Albuquerque Business First.
Achievements:
Shortly after moving to Albuquerque, May founded the New Mexico chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, for which she served as president for two years. She also earned a year-long fellowship with the Association of Health Care Journalists from 2018-2019.
It’s a sunny Saturday morning in a Pueblo neighborhood, and the scent of steak and eggs drifts through the air in Ana Agustin’s home. She’s making breakfast for her cousins. The women are keeping up their weekly tradition of hanging out on weekends and basking in each other’s friendship.
The case has gained international attention due to the severity of the crime — committed by a white man against a man of color — at a time when the United States is grappling with its own past and present issues around racism.
Musicians like Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, The Lumineers’ frontman Wesley Schultz and rap-rock band Flobots performed before hundreds marched through the city.
Spurred by rising social consciousness there is now renewed attention on fraught or racist symbols like statues, monuments, landmark names and state flags.
What does the pandemic mean for summer soirees and backyard barbecues? May and Sam look for answers by dreaming up a socially distanced party of their own.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult, but it’s hardly unprecedented. In 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic sickened or killed millions around the globe. In this episode, we look at the lessons of the 1918 pandemic.
The lack of scientific clarity around COVID-19 has offered a perfect opening for conspiracy theories. But accepting a certain level of uncertainty around the pandemic can help people resist easy answers and, over time, inch closer to the truth.
James and Elyssa have a relationship built on games and puzzles, so they came up with a plan to turn their passion into a business called Paruzal. Then the pandemic hit — and gave their idea a big boost. Hear the full podcast episode here.