Mariana Martínez Barba

Prior to joining Voice of San Diego, Martínez Barba worked as a freelance journalist between the U.S. and Mexico, producing stories on immigration, culture, and climate for outlets like The Los Angeles Times, Prism Reports, and Ireland’s national radio station RTÉ. She also worked as a stringer for The Washington Post and as a field reporter and translator for The New York Times. As an intern with The Associated Press, Martínez Barba covered the historic inauguration of Mexico’s first female president, the capital’s ongoing water crisis, and investigated the growing network of migrant camps in Mexico City. She holds a master's degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY with a double concentration in international and bilingual reporting. She was a finalist for the Ñ Awards for NAHJ in 2024 and a recipient of the Silurians Press Club Award in 2023 for local reporting in New York City. She also holds a B.A. in Sociology from Occidental College.

Voice of San Diego

Voice of San Diego has been a pioneering investigative, nonprofit news organization since 2005. Our mission is to provide investigative journalism for a better San Diego. Our writers have the freedom and responsibility to tackle the biggest issues in the region. We believe San Diego is strong enough to face its most uncomfortable and intractable problems. But we also seek to educate, enlighten and entertain readers who care about San Diego's future and want an excellent and just government. Voice of San Diego has a unique approach to local journalism. We encourage conversational, engaging writing. We believe complexity is a form of elitism and that journalists are educators to help residents understand their communities, public policy discussions, plans and finances.