Paula Soria
Paula Soria pah-OO-la SOH-rhih-ah (she/her/hers)
Visual Journalist, Phoenix

Paula Soria expects to graduate in December 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication. Soria, who is assigned to Cronkite Noticias this semester as a visual journalist, has interned at Arizona PBS producing the show “Arizona Horizon.”

Latest from Paula Soria

Un jonrón que cruza fronteras y el éxito de peloteros latinos

PHOENIX – El noroeste mexicano produce mucho talento beisbolero, figuras actuales como Alejandro Kirk y José Urquidi, que siguen construyendo el legado que tanto hiciera Fernando Valenzuela para establecer en otra generación.

Erubiel Durazo jugando para el equipo de béisbol de su ciudad natal Naranjeros de Hermosillo. (Cortesía Priscilla Mungarro)

Wiggly workers: Arizona Worm Farm reduces food waste through vermicomposting

PHOENIX – The Arizona Worm Farm breeds red wiggler worms for vermicomposting and then sells that compost to help people start their own composting and repurposing food waste system.

Red wiggler worms are used for vermicomposting to repurpose and dispose of food waste in a sustainable way. Photo taken at the Arizona Worm Farm in Phoenix on Feb. 1, 2023. (Photo by Paula Soria/Cronkite News)

Doctors, shelters stitch medical care help for El Paso migrants

EL PASO, Texas – A humanitarian matchup of medical, shelter and government workers reach out to try to help some of the thousands of migrants who cross into El Paso from its municipal twin, Ciudad Juárez in Chihuahua, Mexico. El Paso city officials estimate that an average 250 people daily – up to 1,000 daily during surges – make their way from half a dozen countries, mainly from South America.

A migrant waits in the intake room before being taken into an exam room at a clinic in El Paso. Advocates say hope and faith is a common denominator among migrants who leave home and make their way through hardships on their journey to the U.S. (Photo by Paula Soria/Cronkite News)

Food forest 360 tour: Glendale permaculture landscape designer grows produce in the desert

GLENDALE – Justin Haddad, owner and operator of Herbal.Lyf.Styl, has been growing a food forest in his backyard for the past seven years. He launched a permaculture landscape design business to help other people grow their own food forests.

Justin Haddad points at flowers growing in his backyard. “My favorite flowers have always been mango flowers,” Haddad said. “I grew this plant from seed.” Photo taken in Glendale on April 16, 2023. (Photo by Paula Soria/Cronkite News)

Migrantes reciben atención médica en El Paso, Texas luego de una larga travesía

EL PASO, TX. –Miles de migrantes continúan llegando a El Paso, Texas en busca de oportunidades. Han abandonado sus países de origen huyendo de la violencia y la pobreza.

Diana Uriña, migrante de Ecuador con su bebé de tres meses en un albergue de El Paso, Texas, el 30 de marzo de 2023. (Foto por Miriam Cristal/Cronkite Noticias)

Programa colaborativo en El Paso, Texas ofrece consultas médicas y servicios de salud básicos

EL PASO, TEXAS – Programa colaborativo en El Paso entre Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center y Doctors of the World ofrece apoyo a migrantes. El programa brinda consultas y servicios médicos.

Un migrante espera a ser registrado para una consulta médica en la clínica de El Paso, Texas el día 30 de marzo de 2023. (Foto por Paula Soria/Cronkite Noticias)

No more silence: Boarding school survivor Anita Yellowhair shares her story, over 60 years later

Anita Yellowhair is a Navajo woman and a boarding school survivor. Yellowhair left her home and family in 1950, stripped of her identity and forced to assimilate into American culture alongside other Indigenous children.


Have health needs, will travel: ADHS delivers vaccines, tests to underserved communities

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Health Services takes COVID-19 tests and vaccines to low-income and other underserved communities, from migrants to Indigenous residents, across the state. Mobile units and pop-up sites offer temporary help, where needed.

Sample tubes for COVID-19 testing are lined up at a Foundation for Senior Living facility in Phoenix on March 1, 2023. (Photo by Paula Soria/Cronkite News)

Compassion meditation: UArizona researchers to study impact on breast cancer survivors, caregivers

PHOENIX – The University of Arizona will use a $1.7 million grant for breast-cancer survivors and their partners to practice “compassion meditation,” studying whether the program can ease their anxiety, depression and sense of isolation.

The University of Arizona is conducting a study about compassion meditation, which is being used to help treat anxiety, depression and sense of isolation in breast-cancer survivors and supportive partners. “It’s a meditation that is about our feelings for other people, as well as our feelings about ourselves,” said Thaddeus Pace, PhD, the principal investigator. (Photo illustration by Paula Soria/Cronkite News)

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego prioritizes homelessness, climate, infrastructure in state of city address

PHOENIX – Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego stressed the importance of homelessness, climate change and infrastructure in her annual State of the City address on Wednesday.


Nowruz celebration hails women fighting for their rights in Iran and Afghanistan

PHOENIX – Nowruz, the Persian new year, was celebrated with an event in Phoenix this month that also commemorated women’s rights movements in the Middle East. Event organizers honored women who are advocating for their rights in Iran and Afghanistan.

Taiba Hussain showcases clothes and jewelry at the Nowruz Phoenix celebration on March 18, 2023. (Photo by Paula Soria/Cronkite News)

Arizona Republican legislators announce formal opposition to ranked choice voting

PHOENIX – Two bills and a Wednesday news conference signal some Arizona Republicans’ and the state’s Freedom Caucus’ opposition to ranked choice voting. The process, which would allow voters to rank candidates on preference, would be prohibited by the two bills.

Arizona Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, speaks about SB 1265, which would prohibit ranked-choice voting, during a news conference at the state Capitol on March 15, 2023. “Ranked-choice voting, again, should be called rigged-choice voting,” Kern said. “Because it disenfranchises voters and allows marginal candidates not supported by a majority of the voters to win elections.” (Photo by Paula Soria/Cronkite News)

Organización sin fines de lucro apoya a mujeres latinas emprendedoras en Arizona brindándoles una espacio en sus mercados mensuales

PHOENIX — La organización sin fines de lucro, “Empowering Latina Leaders of Arizona” (E.L.L.A.), apoya a mujeres latinas emprendedoras brindándoles un espacio para promocionar sus negocios en sus eventos mensuales conocidos como Mujeres Mercado.


Phoenix officials urged to address income discrimination against renters on public assistance

PHOENIX — Residents who have struggled with high rents in America’s fifth-largest city are calling on city officials to address discrimination against renters on public assistance.

Residents who have struggled with high rents in Phoenix are calling on city officials to pass an ordinance that would prohibit landlords from rejecting renters who rely on Section 8 housing vouchers and unemployment benefits for income. (Photo by Paula Soria/Cronkite News)

Hospitality, tourism and sports industries come together before the Super Bowl to fight human trafficking

PHOENIX – Up to 150,000 people are expected to visit the Valley for Super Bowl LVII, and It’s a Penalty is using the exposure to bring awareness to human trafficking and convene the hospitality, tourism and sports industries to raise awareness and continue the fight against trafficking.

Collette V. Smith, who was the first Black woman to coach in the NFL, and Arizona Cardinals player Jesse Luketa speak as part of a panel at the It’s a Penalty event in Phoenix Jan. 25, 2023. (Photo by Paula Soria/Cronkite News)