On this episode, we're joined by Elaine Díaz Rodríguez. Elaine is the membership director for Tiny News Collective, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to equip visionary news entrepreneurs in underserved communities to transform journalism from the ground up, making it more equitable, accessible, and connected.
One of its points of emphasis is supporting marginalized voices whether it's people of color, women, gender, diverse individuals, those without formal journalism training.
Previously she worked in a similar role for LION and was executive director at Periodismo de Barrio, a Cuban newsroom that covered climate, the environment, and social justice. She was also a professor at the University of Havana.
Excerpts here are edited for length and clarity. I hope you'll listen to the whole interview.
What would you say about the challenges of being a journalist in Cubs as they related to you?
For me, there was a turning point. It was when my whole team was detained when we were covering Hurricane Matthew.
We were interrogated. We were harassed, politically harassed. That was the first time we were in like a state security facility and we were being searched, we were being interrogated.
That was super heavy for me. And it wasn't heavy just because of what I was going through, but I was also responsible for leading 13 people who were going through the same thing at the exact same time. It takes a lot of humility to face that kind of reality.
You have to realize that you don't have solutions. You didn't put your, to your team in that situation. You have to trust that your team has what it takes to react to a situation and to manage it to a level that they can. But also, you have to think about how you can lead after something so traumatic as that happens.
The biggest challenges that my team was facing in Cuba was how to cope mentally. How can you get out of 24 hours of constant interrogation and react to that. We don't, we don't talk a lot about that because you cannot see it. The person is broken inside, but you cannot see it. Understanding that as a leader, I didn't have the tools, I didn't have the resource, was super important.
Elaine found a journalism support organization that worked with journalists in Latin America and they got through mental health assistance.
Me and my team and more people in Cuba, we went through those programs. We were having conversations with psychologists. We were doing a lot of. exercises. And I feel like that was a great way to react to what was happening in a more intentional way. The learning there for me as a leader is that sometimes you don't have the resources and all you can do is find the person who has the expertise to solve for those issues.
When you see what happened in Minnesota with the indictments of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, I would imagine that you react strongly to that everything that happened. What did you write?
It was something around how when these things happen, we need to think more about how we protect people who are covering those kinds of realities and how everybody's in a different position in terms of vulnerability.
You need to do a self-risk assessment in order to determine how much risk I am taking? Just because two people are journalists doesn't mean they're taking the same risks.
I am an immigrant and I'm an independent journalist. I felt so inspired by civil society and what independent journalism was doing. What was happening on the ground (in Minnesota) was horrible, and the way that civil society came together … I have friends who are just still delivering groceries to immigrants who cannot leave the house. I have friends who couldn't afford to cover that because they can be deported.
Seeing people coming together and seeing that sense of like community rooted and power that was inspiring because in Cuba people will pay such a huge price and probably go to jail in less than 24 hours (in those circumstances).
Everything I wrote about it was out of deep respect for all the organizations that were there, the founders, the independent newsrooms, the hyperlocal media, the legacy media, the statewide media, I feel like everybody was aligned about what's happening, and that was very powerful to see from my end.
Segueing, give us an example of what you did in your job, say yesterday.
Oh, yesterday was a good day. What we are doing Wednesday is interviews with new members. We are not a collection agency. We are not here to collect dues. We are not here to take members' money and just provide transactional services. We are here to be the movement and a community.
We take that very seriously. Something that I do that I love, and it's part of TNCs process, is interviewing new members. That means that they put in an application, we read the application, and then we talk to them.
The questions are all about 'What are you building? What is your vision?'
No judgment. I'm not there to say what is good or what is bad. It's more like: Are we the right organization for what we're trying to do? So, we try to have that conversation. This is what we offer. Do you think we are gonna make a difference?
And if so, how do you think of us interacting with your organization and how do you see these services supporting you?
Yesterday I had a wonderful interview with a military wife. This person is based in North Carolina. She's building a newsroom to serve the military community. They change places so often every two or three years. So it's very disruptive for the families.
She was explaining how it's really hard to adapt to a new location, finding things like, what school should I select for my kids? What are the events that are on the base versus what are the events in the city?
To me it, it was so similar to the same experience that I went through when I moved to the U.S. and at the same time having that conversation about a totally different reality that I'm not familiar with. Seeing someone trying to fill that gap was so inspiring.
What's the most important thing that a young person needs to know about entering the field of journalism?
I would say curiosity and ambition. Curiosity, because that will keep you grounded and that will keep you asking questions. That is something that I remind myself of every single day. Did I provide solutions today or did I ask questions that can add up to what I already know?
And ambition, because when you are young, many people are gonna tell you, you are too young, you are getting ahead of yourself, you have big goals, you need to slow down. So being clear that the speed at which you develop is only defined by yourself is also another important thing. No one has to have the same journey (as someone else).
And having clear goals. What is your North Star? What do you want to be? And what are the questions that you need to ask and the people you need to surround yourself with in order to get there?
I see my place in this ecosystem as the person who says, 'Why not?' And that will unlock so many things for so many people.
In 2025 we had a new episode each week and featured more than 60 guests. I don’t know that we were the most diverse journalist interviews podcast out there, but we certainly tried to be.
We look forward to bringing you more journalist interviews in 2026 but we can use your help. Tell a friend, a relative, a colleague about us and let them know that our episodes are worth their time.
A reminder to professors and teachers
You can find episode guides that you can use if you wish to integrate the podcast within your classroom. There are more than 50 available. Each one has suggested questions for discussion and activities a class can do.
I’m also happy to help you find an episode that would be appropriate for what you’re teaching. Reach out to me at [email protected].
Additionally, I’ve curated some of the 2025 episodes into groups. If you’re teaching a class or unit in any of these subjects:
- Investigative Journalism
- Feature Writing
- Covering government policy
- Social justice, immigration, and identity
- Local News
Check out the sets of episode guides that would be useful to you. I don’t have a good term for them, so I’m borrowing from Bluesky and calling them “Starter Packs” - sets of 5-8 episodes in each category that may be useful in your classroom.