Maria Peralta-Arellano has joined the WUWM team as our seventh Eric Von Fellow. She is a graduate of the Milwaukee Public School system and obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before working for El Conquistador and Carvd N Stone.
After a few months in the role, she sat down with President and General Manager David Lee to introduce herself.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Can you tell us a little bit, not only about yourself, but about your role as our seventh Eric Von fellow?
I was born and raised in Milwaukee. I'm a very proud alumni of MPS. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. So, this city is my forever home. I will most likely never leave here. I am the seventh Eric Von fellow. So, it's a learning position. I am an early career journalist, so this giving me exposure in professional newsrooms learning how broadcast works, how to write for broadcast reporting for just general reporting, learning how to do that.
You come to us with some experience in local and neighborhood media. What has been the differences that you've noticed so far?
So previously I was doing a lot of freelance work for El Conquistador, which is another local print paper. And I did a lot of work from home. Sometimes I would be in the building, but it was mainly from home. And then with my last position before this one I was also working from home. It was mainly remote. So it is very different to actually have a space to come in here, have all the equipment that I need already, not having to worry about whether I need to buy something. So, I think just generally having a space where I am free to learn in has been the best part.
We have seven core values here at WUWM: trust, integrity, inclusivity, collaboration, creativity, respect and care for community. These values obviously drive the way we show up together and the way we work. They’re all incredibly important, but if you had to pick one that resonates with you the most, which one would it be?
To me, it's trust. And I think that extends into my journalistic career, I come from a community that doesn't have the greatest amount of trust in media. I have a lot of friends and family that come from communities that don't have the greatest amount of trust in media. So, I think having that value and that foundation of trust within our communities is the beginning point. I think seeing a station go out of their way to make connections and rebuild trust and keep building trust over 60 years now is one thing that I admire a lot.
