Monsy Alvarado will contribute to the network’s multiplatform, statewide reporting

June 25 2021 – Newark, NJ – NJ PBS, New Jersey’s public television network, announced that its news division, NJ Spotlight News, is welcoming a new social justice reporter to its team: Monsy Alvarado.  She will contribute to the newsroom’s online coverage beginning this week, reporting directly to John P. McAlpin, Managing Editor of NJ Spotlight News.

“We are thrilled to have a seasoned reporter like Monsy on board to cover important social justice issues full-time for NJ Spotlight News,” said McAlpin. “Her passion for the topic and its many threads has resulted in award-winning journalism throughout her career, and she will surely enhance and expand our coverage within New Jersey, one of the most diverse states in the country.”

The daughter of immigrants from Ecuador, Alvarado will cover social justice issues across the state including immigration, police reform, community activism and engagement for NJ Spotlight News.

“Growing up I always heard about family or family friends trying to come to America,” Alvarado says. “Visas and consulate visits were part of my vernacular early in my life. My college coursework further opened my eyes to the plight of women, immigrants and others, and that also drew me more to social justice issues.”

Alvarado will mainly contribute to the newsroom’s online news coverage at NJSpotlightNews.org and also periodically to the broadcast program, NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi, which airs weeknights at 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. on NJ PBS.

Alvarado previously reported for The Record and USA Today Network New Jersey as a staff writer on the multicultural and diversity beat, leading The Record’s immigration coverage, including issues like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, tech visas, the travel ban, and temporary protected status and its effect on New Jersey and its residents.

Prior to that, she was a municipal reporter at The Record covering a range of subjects including local government, law enforcement, civil rights, social justice, and education and a freelance writer for several outlets in the New Jersey/New York area.

Among her career accolades: a first-place Society of Silurians Medallion in 2017; a New Jersey Press Association Award in 2015; a Tim O’Brien Award and a New Jersey Society Professional Journalist award in 2012 and an award from the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists for Health‚ Science‚ Technology and Environmental Reporting in 2006.

She has a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication from Rutgers University and resides in Bergen County.

Major funding for NJ Spotlight News and NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the William Penn Foundation, the Fund for New Jersey, RWJBarnabas Health, NJM Insurance Group, New Jersey Education Association, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Orsted and PSEG.