Get to know Jesse Fraga, The Macon Telegraph’s new breaking news reporter
Editor’s note: The Macon Telegraph has recently hired several new staff members, and we want you to get to know them better. This is the first in a series of stories penned by our journalists to tell you about themselves. Want to know more about the new staff? Check out our editor’s column online.
I recently door-knocked through a Macon neighborhood in search of a source to interview. Most doors didn’t open.
Lauraetta Jackson, a 74-year-old woman, finally opened her door and said it was unusual for a white man to come through her neighborhood without the intent to advertise something.
“(The neighbors) think you’re probably trying to do something different and they’re not doing right,” Jackson said. “A lot of times, white people come into the neighborhoods to buy or sell houses.”
It saddened me how she expressed it was uncommon for a reporter to speak with the very neighbors that make up our community. However, that interaction spoke truth to my mission to ensure all Maconites and surrounding communities have their voices heard in local news.
I’m Jesse Fraga, and I’m the breaking news reporter for The Macon Telegraph. I moved to Macon in April from South Florida, where I interned with NBC and Miami New Times – one of the country’s largest alternative news outlets. I also worked as the news editor for my college newspaper at Florida International University, where I studied digital journalism, and women’s and gender studies.
It’s hard to answer typical get-to-know-me questions about my hobbies, personality traits, likes and dislikes, because my answers always lead back to journalism.
Since I can remember, my friends would say I asked too many questions – too personal.
“Good thing there’s a job for that,” I’d tell them.
News reporting is a lifestyle, which took me asking hard-hitting questions to learn.
As I unpacked my cardboard boxes of life belongings in my new Macon home, I felt like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Miami anymore.”
Like Dorothy, I am more curious than ever to understand and tell the stories that make up Macon, especially those that have gone unheard.
Since I started my journalism career in Florida’s Broward and Miami-Dade counties, I’ve investigated issues that often go underreported: impacts of gentrification; LGBTQ nightlife and hate crimes; and Black reparations and health disparities.
I’ve also photographed pivotal moments, such as former President Donald Trump’s arraignment protests, the Black Lives Matter movement, COVID-19 pandemic effects and former President Barack Obama’s endorsement for President Joe Biden.
So why did I go from Miami to Macon?
This position afforded me the opportunity to tell stories about a vibrant community loaded with historic roots on every block. I also wanted a fresh change from the bustling Miami and I thrive off adapting to new environments.
This coverage prepared me to write various stories in just about two months at The Telegraph that held local government and law enforcement accountable.
I covered months-long elections issues for The Telegraph that investigated politicians’ low Hispanic outreach, accessibility issues, voter ballot mix-ups and Macon-Bibb County’s cyber attack. I also reported on how locally-owned businesses stay afloat amid Macon’s downtown revitalization efforts.
Most days, I bounce between breaking news on local crime involving arrests, deaths and serious injuries usually associated with gun violence, drugs, car accidents and fires.
Want to know more about my coverage? Have story ideas I should investigate? Email me at jfraga@macon.com.
