Leslie Berestein Rojas is an associate professor of professional practice and director of audio news for the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She is a veteran journalist who has worked in radio/audio, digital, and print platforms for more than 30 years. During much of her career, she has focused on immigration and immigrants.

A longtime radio journalist, Berestein Rojas spent close to a decade and a half at Southern California Public Radio (89.3 KPCC) as a reporter and editor, developing award-winning enterprise and complex multi-platform projects, and serving as an in-house immigration expert guiding related coverage and talk segments. Before that, she spent several years reporting on immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border for the San Diego Union-Tribune, working in both countries. 

Berestein Rojas has covered some of the key immigration stories of our time, ranging from the aftermath of 9/11 to DACA to the border asylum crisis. Much of her work has focused on immigrant diasporas, including the Latin American diaspora in the U.S. She has made it her mission to center underrepresented voices and perspectives. 

She has also reported for Time, People, the Orange County Register, and the Los Angeles Times. A native Spanish speaker, she has reported stories in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. She has won numerous awards for her work in broadcast and digital/print media. 

Berestein Rojas was born in Havana, Cuba, and grew up in Los Angeles.

Awards and honors:

Five-time RTNA (Radio and Television News Association) Golden Mike Award winner
Multiple L.A. Press Club Southern California Journalism Awards (broadcast, radio, all platforms) 
National Barlett & Steele Gold Award for investigative business journalism (2023)
CCNMA Most Influential Latina Journalists (2017); two-time CCNMA Ruben Salazar Award winner
National Best in Business Award, Society of American Business Editors and Writers (2004)