Stephanie Rodriguez ’18 never imagined her journalism career would take her from reporting on a dramatic murder trial featured on the true crime show 48 Hours to covering alligator mating season in Florida. Only seven years in, she’s earned an Emmy nomination, worked in four television markets, and has became a voice for those who often go unheard.

The bilingual reporter was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in suburban Elgin, in a household where her family tuned in to both WGN and Telemundo. Although she knew Spanish, she didn’t start speaking it until she was 12.

“I was stubborn, but I went to Puerto Rico one summer and my grandma told me I had to speak Spanish. As a kid, you don’t see it as the asset it is, the things you can do with it, the people you can reach,” she said. “It’s so important to me now because I am Puerto Rican, I am Latina, so I can be the representation of those in the community.”

Being bilingual has shaped her career. After graduating from Illinois State, Rodriguez started as a multimedia journalist at WEEK-TV in Peoria before moving to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, then Milwaukee.

In Milwaukee, she reported for CBS 58, covering presidential visits and the 2024 Republican National Convention. She earned an Emmy nomination for a feature on “beep baseball,” an adaptive version of the sport for children who are blind or visually impaired. She also covered the “eye drop murder trial,” where a woman was convicted of poisoning a friend with eye drops. Her work was highlighted in an April 2024 episode of 48 hours on CBS.

Last October, she left Milwaukee with a desire to live in a region with a high Hispanic population and a little warmer weather for those on-camera live shots in the field. As a reporter for News 6 WKMG, Rodriguez covers Osceola County, near Orlando, Florida, home to one of the largest Puerto Rican communities in Florida. Nearly 57% of the 438,000 residents identify as being of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Rodriguez’s bilingual background provides a unique ability for her to build trust with audiences and tell stories authentically. 

“I can connect with the community in a way others can’t,” she said. “It’s about representation. I’m able to use the skill set that I have and do the job I love. There’s a huge Puerto Rican community so I’m able to highlight my heritage and tell the stories of the people in the community.”

Illinois State University is where she fell in love with reporting, majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in Spanish and political science. She had no idea what she wanted to do in high school. When she told her guidance counselor she liked to read, write, and act, the counselor suggested broadcast journalism.

“I looked into the journalism program at ISU, and I loved it,” she said. “I feel it was kind of meant to be.”

She threw herself into every opportunity the School of Communication had to offer, starting at The Vidette as a reporter and becoming a news editor. At TV-10, she reported, wrote and produced the news. She also served as president of Illinois State’s Spanish Club.

“The program at ISU was really realistic for what life was like once I graduated,” she said. “We had four hours to report, write and produce a story. That’s what it’s like in the field.”

Faculty mentors played an important role as well. She credits former TV-10 News Director Laura Trendle-Polus and John Plevka, former general manager of The Vidette, for encouraging her to sharpen her reporting skills and pushing her to grow.

“I loved anchoring, but I knew I’d start my career in the field. So, my last semester, I told Laura I wanted to focus on reporting to make sure I was ready. That was the best decision.”

After graduation, she started in Peoria at WEEK-TV and was assigned to cover Bloomington. One of her most difficult assignments was reporting on the 2019 Bloomington trial of Rica Rountree, a young girl who died from physical abuse.

“It was intense,” she said. “Here I am fresh out of college, seeing and learning how trials work for the first time, and seeing autopsy photos and evidence. It was hard. But it introduced me to covering trials and since then, I’ve covered many. I felt like that was my foundation. I knew I could do it.”

Rodriguez’s passion for inclusivity extends to the journalism profession. She is a vocal advocate for newsroom diversity.

“Not everyone sees the world the same way,” she said. “I’m a big proponent of diversity in the newsroom, diversity of thought. When you don’t have the same lived experiences, it’s easy not to see life from others’ view. In journalism, we’re the gatekeepers so we have a responsibility to do that.”

Rodriguez is exactly where she wants to be, in a shift that starts at 5 a.m., covering everything from crime and traffic to immigration, the local economy and everyday life in an environment that feels like home.

“I love it,” she said. “It’s amazing doing new things, seeing behind the curtain, getting a front row seat to people’s lives. Being able to connect with and speak for others, especially those in marginalized communities, is amazing.”

Watch Stephanie Rodriguez’s reporter reel.