The Washington Journalism and Media Conference

ARELIS HERNÁNDEZ

Reporter, The Washington Post

Arelis Hernández is a reporter covering the U.S. Southern border and immigration. She has covered hurricanes, mass shootings and the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.  She was part of the team that created the digital project “Sin Luz: Life without power,” which garnered an national Emmy nomination and international recognition. She joined the Washington Post staff in 2014 to cover Prince George’s County, a suburb of Washington D.C., where she grew up. Hernández has also spent time in Venezuela for the foreign desk and at one point lived in Puerto Rico to probe the politics, culture and social movements of the island archipelago. Before The Post, she was recognized nationally for her coverage of the racial dynamics of Trayvon Martin’s shooting death and other coverage in Central Florida. She was part of the award-winning team that assembled the “George Floyd’s America” project which won several awards including a Peabody. That reporting led to the publishing of a book about Floyd’s life. She has a BA in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland with a minor in U.S. Latinx studies.