Today we’d like to introduce you to Adriel Miramontes
Hi Adriel, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started my journalism journey because of seeing all the negative coverage my city was getting. When you search up “Oxnard News” on the internet, you will find a videos of violence, videos of robberies, videos that make the city look so bad. I saw this and knew it didn’t represent what Oxnard is about. I wanted to change the narrative that Oxnard was this bad city that should be avoided, so I joined my schools newspaper and got to work in covering the stories that truly represent Oxnard. I was interviewing a candidate for city council when I realized I had to go solo and become an independent journalist so I could have the full freedom of covering stories that truly matter to Oxnard. I started posting stories on Facebook groups to get my name out there, I then started a Podcast called “The Adriel Show,” that highlights all the news in Oxnard. I then started focusing on Instagram where I’ve had the chance to give the community the actual news of Oxnard. I cover the events my city has, I cover protests, I cover wildfires, I cover the stories that truly represent Oxnard. Yes I will also cover the crimes, the violence and the robberies, but that isn’t the only thing I’ll put out there. Oxnard is so much more and I hope I could make a difference in showing Southern California and the world how beautiful Oxnard truly is.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road, I’ve had to cover stories that hit home, stories that have personally affected me. It really makes me think if this is truly what I want to do. You see the reality of the world, you realize the world has really bad people. I then realized journalism is the core to democracy. Without journalists, there is no democracy, without democracy there are no journalists. They need each other, I love my city, I love my country. To truly serve both I believe the best way is to inform the citizens on what’s happening in the community, take all that into consideration when voting and make change happen.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m an independent journalist and the host of the podcast “The Adriel Show”, I cover the news that truly matters in Oxnard. I’ve had the chance to cover wildfires, protests, crime, city events, car accidents, train accidents. I’ve interviewed the Mayor of my City, the Superintendent of the Oxnard School District, Superintendent of the Oxnard Union High School District, a Mexican Ambassador who was in town. I’ve had the chance to interview many other city officials, but the interviews I truly love doing are the ones with the people of Oxnard, the people who don’t have fancy titles or recognition, those are the people who truly represent the city. My most proudest moment is when the Mayor of my city Luis McArthur personally invited me to a private city meeting to cover the topic they were discussing. They were discussing the federal governments immigration policies, and he knew I did many reports on immigration and of the protests that were happening in the city. He invited me to be there and listen and interview city officials, he trusted me more than the media giants and that truly made me feel so appreciated and made me know I’m doing good for my city.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I like how resilient and strong our city is, after every disaster we come together and form an even stronger bond than before. We don’t falter and we don’t hesitate to help one another. I like least the very few who put a bad reputation on the city. These people don’t truly represent the city, but are covered as they do. We as a city need to be more outspoken that this isn’t Oxnard, this isn’t what we represent.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theadrielshow?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/theadrielshow?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Image Credits
Soraya Ornelas
Eva Miramontes
