Elizabeth Aguilera

Assistant Professor of Journalism

  • Los Angeles CA UNITED STATES

Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts

Contact

Biography

Elizabeth Aguilera is an award-winning multimedia journalist. She joined CalMatters in 2016 from Southern California Public Radio/KPCC 89.3 where she produced stories about community health. Her reporting there revealed lead-tainted soil on school campuses near a former lead battery recycling plant that spurred district action. Previously Aguilera was a staff writer at the San Diego Union-Tribune where she covered immigration and demographics. At the U-T, she won a “Best of the West” award for her coverage of sex trafficking between Mexico and the United States. At the Denver Post, where Aguilera wrote about urban affairs and business, she was named a Livingston Award finalist for her reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Aguilera has also worked at the Orange County Register. She is a Marshall Memorial Fellow and an International Center for Journalists alum. She is also a lifetime member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The L.A. native is a graduate of Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California. She lives in Los Angeles.

Education

University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism,

M.A.

Specialized Journalism

2010

Pepperdine University,

B.A.

Political Science and Journalism

1997

Cerritos Community College

AA

Journalism and Public Relations

1995

Social

Areas of Expertise

Editing and Production
Social Issues
Podcasting
Reporting
Radio Production

Accomplishments

Price Child Health and Welfare Journalism Award, Children’s Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego

2020

National Edward R. Murrow Award for “Graying California,”

2020

California Fellow, Association of Health Care Journalists Conference

2020 (postponed to 2021)

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Affiliations

  • SAG-AFTRA : Member
  • Cerritos Community College : Journalism Advisory Board
  • National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) : Lifetime Member
  • Association of Health Care Journalists : Member
  • CCNMA, California Latino Journalists : Member, Former Board Member

Media Appearances

An Interview With Journalist Elizabeth Aguilera

Zocalo Public Square  online

2023-04-23

Elizabeth Aguilera is an independent journalist who recently joined Zócalo Public Square as an editor-at-large. Previously, she was a staff writer at CalMatters and reported for the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Denver Post. Before joining the panel for “What Is a Good Tourism Job Now?,” the inaugural program in “What Is a Good Job Now?,” a new series supported by The James Irvine Foundation, Aguilera chatted with us in the green room about being a tourist, her last great read, and what she missed most about Denver.

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Articles

Screening for adverse childhood experiences is increasing, but are patients getting treatment?

CalMatters

2022

Medi-Cal doctors are screening more patients for adverse childhood experiences, but they aren’t required to report whether those patients receive therapy or other services they may need. Yet getting that helps is key to preventing chronic health or mental health conditions later in life, research finds.

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More people will be eligible for health insurance through Covered California

CalMatters

2022

Under previous rules, family members of those who had insurance through an employer were not eligible for Covered California. In some cases, those employer plans cover the employee but are expensive for spouses and children, leaving families with few options.

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Schools scramble to find teachers as California expands transitional kindergarten

CalMatters

2022

This school year the California transitional kindergarten program began expanding to eventually include all 4-year-olds. But amidst a teacher shortage, some school districts had to move teachers already on staff or lure staff away from preschool programs.

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