María G. Ortiz-Briones was a reporter and photographer for McClatchy’s Vida en el Valle and a reporter for The Fresno Bee. She covered issues affecting Latino communities in the Central Valley and regularly contributed to La Abeja, The Bee’s newsletter on Latino issues. She had 20 years of experience in journalism, working as a reporter, photographer and editor.

María was the editor of Las Noticias del Valle, a Spanish-language publication in Kings County. She also served as the features copy editor for three Gannett newspapers in California: The Visalia Times-Delta, The Tulare Advance-Register and The Salinas Californian. She later worked as a health and environmental reporter for Vida en el Valle.

From 2016 to 2024, María was one of the members of The Fresno Bee’s editorial board and the only Latina on the board. She received numerous journalism fellowships and awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications, the California News Publishers Association and American Community Media. She also spoke at journalism conferences about covering Latino communities.

María earned a BA in Journalism from California State University, Northridge. She was a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Association of Health Care Journalists.

Outside of work, María enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, being outdoors, camping and visiting amusement parks.