Fernanda Santos covers Arizona and New Mexico as the Phoenix bureau chief for The New York Times. She was previously based in New York, where she covered the New York City public school system; Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s City Hall; Queens, New York City’s most ethnically diverse borough; and the rural and suburban communities of New York State.
Ms. Santos holds a bachelor’s degree in social communications from Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, her home country, and a master’s degree in print journalism from Boston University.
She came to the United States in 1998 and, prior to joining The Times, she worked at The Republican in Springfield, Mass.; The Eagle-Tribune in Lawrence, Mass.; The Daily News of New York; and People Magazine. She co-wrote “Latinos in the United States: A Resource Guide for Journalists,” published in 2001, and traveled to Colombia in 2005 as a fellow for the International Reporting Project. She speaks four languages – English, Portuguese, Spanish and French – and is trying to learn a fifth, Italian.
