#Media Monday – Shanti Lerner
Today’s #MediaMonda comes to us from Shanti Lerner, who covers culture and outdoors for the Arizona Republic. It’s been a worldwide journey for her to get to Arizona.
Shanti, time to share:
My name is Shanti Anne Villanueva Lerner. I am a culture and outdoors reporter for The Arizona Republic. I am also a proud Filipino-American and lover of animals.
I am originally from Angeles City, Philippines, where I had an amazing childhood and upbringing. At the age of 16, I spent the next three years studying at George School, a 127-year-old Quaker boarding school outside of Philadelphia where I got my International Baccalaureate degree. I then attended The Ohio State University where I graduated in 2019 with a Bachelors of Arts and Sciences degree in journalism, and a minor in Spanish.
As a dual citizen, I spent most of 2020 with my family in the Philippines, where I worked as a freelance reporter for Vice News Asia, reporting on how the pandemic was forcing communities to change how they honored the dead and how home cooks were serving up comfort food to customers online. Previously, I also wrote for The Ohio State Alumni Magazine, The Ohio State student newspaper, The Lantern. I also worked in production at the Big Ten Network and Ohio State’s marketing department as a video producer.
Today I am part of the Features Department’s Travel team at The Arizona Republic. I report on Arizona communities with a focus on telling stories about the people, places, history and things to do that make this state special. I also speak English, Spanish and Tagalog, which has allowed me to navigate multiple cultures in both my personal and professional life.
In my free time I love to paint, hike, run, try new food, and explore everything Arizona has to offer.
If you would like to reach me, you can follow me on twitter @ShantiLerner, see my stories at https://www.azcentral.com/staff/4353303001/shanti-lerner/, visit my website at https://shantilerner.com/or email me at shanti.lerner@gannett.com for any story pitches or tips.
