By Jonah Silberman

Noe Padilla is a prize-winning journalist whose passion for storytelling was ignited at UC Santa Barbara while studying Philosophy. Padilla, who graduated in 2020, recently won three first-place awards from the Indiana Chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists for his work at the Lafayette Journal & Courier. 

Padilla’s journey began after falling in love with journalism through the Writing Program’s Journalism certificate, which has since become the Journalism track in the university's  Professional Writing Minor. He also went on the 2019 International Reporting course in Berlin, Germany with UCSB faculty member Nomi Morris, an experience which he credits with steering him towards a career in the field.

Padilla has just moved to the larger Indianapolis Star, after writing for the Lafayette Journal & Courier for three years, a local newspaper in Indiana that taught him the importance of local journalism. His award-winning stories — ranging from investigative pieces to feature profiles — highlight his commitment to listening, caring about others, and making the world a better place, which he says drives his journalism.

UCSB philosophy and journalism alum Noe Padilla ‘20 received three first-place awards from the Indiana Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for articles he wrote in 2023 for the Lafayette Journal & Courier. Padilla is now a reporter with the Indianapolis Star.

Q: Could you tell us about the stories you reported and wrote that won three first-place awards?

A: Well, two of them were just stories that needed to be told, right? There was an investigative piece about a Purdue [University] professor who we had found out was an unattentive and unethical landlord here in town… It was just daily reporting, which then turned into this larger piece. This story ended up becoming really important to the community because it became a major issue within the local politics. 

I didn't expect these two other stories to really get any acknowledgment. Indiana's laws regarding water rights are non-existent. I wrote a story that basically talked about, in simple terms, how all these representatives came together to create some legislation to address this. The last story was a feature piece. There is a professor here at Purdue University who received the Medal of Science from President Biden. I got this story because I was just sitting there. I initially went in there just to ask a five-minute question, “How do you feel about this award?” But then we just started talking. We were five minutes into the interview and he said, “I never wanted to be a scientist. I just did it because my mom told me to.” I was like, well, gosh, dang, same here, tell me about it… All of these stories though, I never once was like, ‘this is an award-winning story.’ It was just me telling people's stories or writing stuff. 

Q: Can you describe your journey from UCSB to your current job?

A: When I initially transferred to the university [from Ventura College] I was pretty dead set on being an environmental lawyer. But then I had a professor who said “I don't think you could make it as a lawyer… I think you'd be better off in something where you could actually help people and change things.” As I'm trying to figure out what to do with my life, I stumble upon my school newspaper, The Bottom Line, and I just really got drawn to the idea of journalism. But it wasn't until I started taking classes within the university's professional writing department for journalism. Through those classes, I had the opportunity to go to Germany to continue really honing in on my journalism. I was following up on housing issues that were happening in Berlin, and it was through that trip that I really fell in love with journalism. That's really where I developed a lot of my current style of reporting, which is this idea of, I just talk to people.

After Berlin, I became the news editor at The Bottom Line, where I really honed in on news. After that I basically had a job lined up after graduation. And then COVID happened. I went home and I was trying my hardest to find work after UCSB. Then after that, I had the opportunity to go to Indiana, and I applied for this small newspaper in Lafayette, Indiana. And I just happened to get the job. 

Noe Padilla ‘20, front right, an alum of UCSB Writing’s journalism program, in front of the Brandenburg Gate on a 2019 summer course in Berlin, which he says impacted how he works now as a journalist.

Q: What distinguishes exceptional journalism, and how do you strive to embody these qualities in your work?

A: It's a mixture of two things, the style of writing and the way I operate with my stories: any question you have, I'm going to try my best to answer it. And I’m not trying to persuade people with my stories. When it comes to information, it's very straightforward. I think the other main thing is the way I write. I don't write like a traditional journalist…I've been told by many people, I write very strange, I write very conversationally. My whole philosophy when it comes to writing is I want to write in a style in which my grandmother can read it and find it interesting and understand what's happening…When she would pick up the newspaper, she would always put it down because she's like, they're writing in a way I don't understand and I always have that picture in mind. I'm not writing for the educated in town. I know they'll appreciate what I'm writing about, but the way I write, the language, the vocabulary, it’s very rare when I actually use a big word. 

Q: Based on your experiences, what is the most important advice would you offer to aspiring journalists just starting out in the industry?

A: The number one thing I would say as a journalist and the biggest and the most important skill to have is really just listening. Your job is to be the voice for the people. And the way you do that is by listening, and listening carefully and being patient. There are many moments when you're going to be listening to people who have different beliefs or say something that is just overtly upsetting, but you need to listen. You need to listen to why they're saying it. You need to listen to why other people want to be upset by it. Another thing, too, is going outside of your comfort zone. Every story I write, I write as if this is my hometown. Because if you would be upset that your newspaper wasn't covering something, the community is upset. Every story I cover is, ‘this is my home, I'm going to treat it that way.’

UCSB Writing Program alum Noe Padilla, left, when he, as a student reporter, interviewed actor Brad Pitt in January, 2020 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Q: Is there any advice you would like to share with current UCSB students who are considering a career in journalism or a related field?

A: You might question if you're good enough to get the job or you're good enough to be in an industry. But something I had always told myself was, ‘I know I'm good enough.’ I went to UCSB, I got the job, I got the awards. It's easy to hold doubt in oneself, but when reflecting on where you're at or how you got there, those achievements are things that you should find value in and tell yourself that you are good enough to continue the job or be there. Specifically for journalists, it's a hard industry, but it's an important industry. You're in this role to serve the people, take pride in that. You're the first and last line of defense for the public. When I saw the community calling on action for the city to address housing issues, I took pride in those moments, because although I helped give them the information they needed, they took it and ran with it. 

Q: What are your future aspirations or goals for your journalism career?

A: My goal was to be able to put food on the table, pay the rent, and hopefully help make my community better. My goal as a reporter would be to help bring love back to local journalism. I think local journalism is so important…I'll go to events and people will be like, “we don't want to speak to the media, you're not even from here.” And, actually I'm from two streets away. Over the last three years, I have seen the community change, at least towards me, towards the newspaper that I work at, because I always make sure to emphasize we're here and we care…My long-term goal, would be to continue that message throughout the country, whether that's a bigger paper, or my hometown paper, I just want to make sure that local news is appreciated again. 

Jonah Silberman is a third-year UC Santa Barbara student majoring in Communication. He wrote this profile for his course Digital Journalism.