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Fernanda Santos Profile picture
Fernanda Santos
@ByFernandaS
Editorial director @FuturoMedia. Contributing columnist @PostOpinions. @AmericanoBway co-writer. @nytimes alum. Immigrant. American. I sound better on Substack.
Oct 1, 2020 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
#THREAD I was intrigued by the number of older homeless Americans begging for money at traffic lights in Phoenix. I decided to find out why and that became the central idea for this @NYTMag story: nytimes.com/2020/09/30/mag…
Here is some of what I learned while reporting it: 2/ The more I looked into homelessness among older Americans, the more it seemed like an obvious story few chose to see (or many refused to see?). These could be your parents. They could be you. How did we get here? Some smart researchers have known the answer for a while, but …
Jun 30, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
1/ On June 30, 2013, 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots left their station in Prescott, Ariz., for what was supposed to be a routine wildfire in the nearby town of Yarnell, but never returned. Their deaths impacted my life in ways I’d have never imagined. Image 2/ I covered their deaths for @nytimes, but what fascinated me was the lives they lived and the families they left behind. I devoted much of the next three years to learning about them for my first book, “The Fire Line,” published by @Flatironbooks.
This was only the beginning. Image
Jun 24, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
1/ How NOT to start an email: "I read your article about Angel Palazuelos and I'd like to see if we can persuade/aid him in transferring to a better school than ASU for his sophomore year."

The writer offered to use her contacts to get him into Harvard.

Here's why she's wrong: 2/ Don't game the system. Admission to college ought to be gained by merit, which ought to be measured beyond the results of standardized tests.
The game is rigged exactly because of the role that money, influence and connections have played in college admissions.
Jun 18, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
A historic decision by the Supreme Court on #DACA, but still so much work to be done. For now, though, some 700k young immigrants — who are all more American than I’ll ever be — can sigh in relief. #HomeIsHere Let’s not forget that there is widespread support for granting legal status to #DACA recipients — 74% over all, and 54% among Republican voters. pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020…
May 18, 2020 • 22 tweets • 9 min read
In my narrative writing class at @Cronkite_ASU, students have the (rare) opportunity of spending the semester working on a single story. Their work this semester is amazing AND I'D LOVE TO SEE THEIR STORIES PUBLISHED. Editors: My DMs are open! Here's a thread on they're about: 1/ @molboha spent 4 months at youth suicide hotline staffed entirely by teens, who are busy w/ school, work and a social life, all while learning how to talk their peers off the ledge.
May 5, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
1/ Another semester is ending at @Cronkite_ASU, but this one is so, so different. I can't hug my students. I can't take them out for a farewell Arnold Palmer. I can't meet their families at convocation and praise them for raising a great human.
But here is what I CAN do: 2/ I CAN tell them there is opportunity in the challenges we face. One of the most remarkable things I've witnessed is how my students used today's challenges not to complain, or to cower, or to lose hope. They used the challenge to learn and grow.
Apr 2, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Last week, I listed a dozen or so remote reporting strategies I developed with my narrative writing students at @Cronkite_ASU. Time for an update on what they have used and how it has worked.
But first, here's a link to the original thread: 1/ One student had an interview set up w/ the 2 main characters of her story, 2 sisters who play softball. Once classes moved online, she couldn't go to their house, they agreed to meet over FaceTime. That's when ... 2/
Mar 21, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
My partner was laid off yesterday. He was sad, worried. Losing a job means no health care.
My daughter, who has already been dealing with the imaginable loss of her father, said to me, “I don’t know what to say to someone who’s lost a job.” 1/ We found some solace reading about others who have lost their jobs because of this new order we’re operating under. There's comfort in knowing that you're not alone. I learned this at the support group I attended after my husband's death. 2/
Mar 18, 2020 • 17 tweets • 6 min read
I worked with my narrative writing students at @Cronkite_ASU to create a list of remote reporting strategies. Sharing the list here; hope it helps journalists and # journalism students out there in these unusual times. 1/ Ask your character(s) to connect to you via a video chat app (@zoom_us, FaceTime, @WhatsApp) and go beyond interviewing. Ask about the objects on the wall behind him/her. Personal items can be used as part of descriptive details that help paint a picture of person to audience 2/
Mar 9, 2020 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Seems to be business as usual at @PHXSkyHarbor, where I’m waiting to board the first flight of my (long) trip to Salvador, Brazil, to see my mom. But I’ve noticed something interesting—and concerning—about people’s perceptions about #coronavirusus #COVID19 here in Arizona. 1/ Image 2/ Several people I know have dismissed #coronavirus #COVID19 and all of them mentioned the same fact: The flu kills more people and we don’t freak out about it. All of these people have something in common: They’re conservative Republicans who don’t trust the media much.
Mar 4, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
1/ Here’s the advice I gave a talented student who just texted me all excited because [unnamed company] wants her to hire her to write a specific Arizona-based story that’s essentially a follow-up to a story of hers that I edited and that got picked up by several media orgs: 2/ Make sure:
• [unnamed company] is paying you and ask if expenses (gas, parking, copies, FOIA costs) are covered separately;
• that all of this is in writing and that both parties sign a contract;
- that the contract includes “payment due within 30 days.”
What else?
Feb 13, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Just wait for a great story by @EllenBarryNYT on my next tweet ... “How to Get Away With Murder in Small-Town India”
nytimes.com/2017/08/19/wor…
Feb 10, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Dear Diary,

I had been paying to keep my husband's cell phone number since he died, in part because I couldn't bear the thought of that number belonging to someone other than him, in part because I wanted it to be my daughter's number whenever the time was right. 1/ That's what happens after a piece of you dies: You keep holding on to the pieces that person left behind. 2/
Feb 5, 2020 • 5 tweets • 5 min read
Congrats to Rebecca Nagle @rebeccana & Darcy Courteau, *freelancers* who won the $100K American Mosaic Journalism Prize by @HSFdn.
hsfoundation.org/prize
I was honored to judge this special contest recognizing *freelancers* covering underrepresented communities. Here's why: @rebeccana @HSFdn The mission of @HSFdn's American Mosaic prize is to "recognize and support freelance journalists" and call attention to the winners' "great promise and to give them freedom to continue their work."
Rebecca and Darcy stood out because ...
Feb 3, 2020 • 19 tweets • 55 min read
1/ I used to think that $32K for an entry-level journalism job 20 years ago was only OK pay. But then I asked about salaries for entry-level journalists these days. Here is a sample of what I heard: 2/ From @CarinaJulig, a crime/breaking news reported in Loveland, CO: "I make less than that."

To which @RyanWingFOX11, a sports anchor/reporter in Green Bay, WI, replied: "I made $32K in my THIRD TV job."
Jan 30, 2020 • 10 tweets • 5 min read
If you’ve been following the debate around #AmericanDirt, #ownvoices and #dignidadliteraria, this is a must-listen.
And as a Latina writer whose first book was published by @Flatironbooks, I have some thoughts to share. 1/ .@Flatironbooks was a brand new division of @MacmillanUSA when it took a chance on me, a novice book writer whose first language isn’t English, and published “The Fire Line,” where I write about people who are very different than me: firefighters who fight wildfires. 2/
Jan 21, 2020 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
“When you’re constantly shown to the back of the career bus, quitting what looks like a good job can be a vital moment of reclaiming the self-esteem that unlocks a world of possibility. At least it was for me.”
And for me, @vvchambers⁩. And for me. nytimes.com/2020/01/20/sty… @vvchambers It may sound odd to agree with the statement above when I left the NYT as Phoenix bureau chief. I mean, I was a friggin' chief!! But thing is, I could see the ceiling and it was right above my head. Also ...
Jan 7, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
My 10yo daughter is competing with 25 other spellers from fifth to eighth grade in the Madison #1 Middle School Spelling Bee. Omg I’m so nervous 😬
Wish her luck! Send your good vibes! Made it past the first round!
Dec 19, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Chaperoning a pack of wild wolves on a field trip today. Wish me luck Image Lady says, “If you see a rattlesnake, stop and back away very slowly.” And kid tells me, “If I see a rattlesnake, ima grab it by the tail!” 😳
Nov 23, 2019 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
1/ From the I-never-imagined-this-would-happen department: I’m the creative consultant on the amazing team behind “¡Americano!”, a musical based on the real-life story of an Arizona Dreamer, opening at @phoenixtheater on Jan. 29. This is why it matters: 2/ It matters bc it honors the stories of young undocumented immigrants who have taught me so much about what it means to be American. They’ve taught me the true meaning of citizenship and inspired me to not let my circumstances define me. (Widowhood can be tough to live with.)
Sep 19, 2019 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
1/7 This is a chapter in the story of an immigrant who turned the death of her husband, an American who’d carved a welcoming place for her in a country that's not her own, into a lesson in empowerment for their daughter, a bilingual kid born in the USA.
This is my story. 2/7 Mike @mikethesauce died on Nov. 1, 2017, 30 days after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was 46. We had been together for almost 19 years. He was my home.
I cried. I screamed. Then, I decided that I wasn’t going to let his death be my death. So …