Casey Mendoza is a Culture Reporter for Newsy and is based in Columbia, Missouri. Her biggest areas of focus include popular culture, social justice reporting, explainer writing and creative video editing. Prior to her work at Newsy, Mendoza worked as a freelance photographer, videographer and video editor in Western Illinois. She graduated from Knox College in 2016, where she studied political science and journalism. During her time in school, she also took part in American University's Washington Semester Program for Journalism and New Media.