Journalist Rios’ legacy lives on with scholarship
When Rosenda Rios died at 62 in 2020, her former colleague felt compelled to celebrate the well-known journalist’s life and work.
“Rosenda was a strong, ethical journalist and a fierce advocate for doing the right thing for her viewers. She will always be part of the San Antonio journalism family,” Shari St. Clair, KLRN-TV director of news and production, told San Antonio College’s news staff.
KLRN-TV and San Antonio College are honoring Rios’ memory by establishing a scholarship for aspiring reporters. The Rosenda Rios Memorial Scholarship Fund offers a six-week paid internship at KLRN to a student in the college’s Radiotelevision-broadcasting program.
Senior Gabriel Rene Gonzalez, the inaugural recipient, is due to start work Feb. 1. Over the spring semester, Gonzalez will have the opportunity to hone the skills necessary for a successful career in broadcast journalism. He’ll try his hand at producing, filming, video editing, writing and interviewing.
“Writing — specifically, local stories — has just always been really important to me because I love my city,” Gonzalez said. “This is where I grew up, and this is where I want to stay, too, so it’s something that really just kind of hits home with me.”
Gonzalez has known he wanted to be a reporter ever since he shadowed KSAT’S Leslie Mouton in eighth grade. His academic trajectory is reflective of his interest in and passion for public service. Before enrolling at San Antonio College, he received a bachelor’s degree in communication from UTSA.
Ultimately, Gonzalez aspires to anchor a KSAT show, just like Rios.
“Being able to be in front of the camera in my city that is like 65 percent Hispanic is a really good opportunity for not only myself, but a lot of the kids who look like me,” Gonzalez said. “So that is also one of the really big aspects that I like reaching for, that I really want to become reality one day — to show that it’s possible for kids who look like me to be able to do it.”
Rios’ death came a year after she was diagnosed with a “rare and aggressive form of uterine cancer,” according to her obituary. The mother of two, the KLRN alumna started her TV career in the early 1990s and went on to anchor shows and conduct investigations for KSAT from 2001 to 2010.
In 2010, she left journalism to work at United Services Automobile Association.