Another Fox 10 journalist has made the leap from the Phoenix newsroom to politics.
Ashlie Rodriguez's move is far different from Kari Lake's, however. Lake, of course, left her evening news anchor job in 2021 to run for office as a self-described "Trump in heels," losing the governor's race in 2022 and the U.S. Senate race in 2024.
Rodriguez, who came to Fox 10 in 2024, left the station in May, went to work as Sen. Ruben Gallego's Arizona press secretary in July ― a different path, and a different side of the aisle, to be sure. (Gallego defeated Lake in the 2024 Senate race.)
Ashlie Rodriguez was ready for a change
She was ready, Rodriguez said.
"I've always been interested in politics," Rodriguez said. "I've done news for 16 years, and 10 of those years I covered Trump, and I think I just
hit a wall."
In fact, Rodriguez said, politics was her first interest.
"I started off as a poly-sci major," she said, and she interned with San Diego representatives. "Then I actually got into a really bad car accident and had to be bedridden. And I was just falling into like this deep depression, and I decided to start writing as just a way to pull myself out of the depression. By the time I went back to college, I realized that I love to write. So I added on a journalism degree and I pursued writing.
She planned on working for newspapers, but layoffs in 2010 changed her plans.
"I went to Best Buy and I picked up a handheld camera and shot a resume tape and sent my crappy resume tape all over the country," she said, "until Montana ― Great Falls, Montana ― hired me. And I've been in TV ever since."
As for whether she's going to miss covering big breaking news stories now that she's out of the newsroom — don't count on it.
Rodriguez won't miss covering breaking news
"That was never my thing," Rodriguez said. "I always wanted to go to the city council meetings and the legislative sessions, and I wanted to knock on the doors of the politicians. The big stories, like the Nancy Guthriesor the big fire or the murder scene, I've outgrown it. I am tired. And it's always death and destruction. It's never like a big story because it's so awesome and everybody's happy."
Politics isn't exactly a bed of roses these days, either, but Rodriguez said she is excited about the move.
"It's a good year to get into, at least, democratic politics," she said.
But Rodriguez didn't leave her newsroom job to immediately go to work for Gallego. In fact, she left her job without any plans at all.
"My contract was coming up in May," she said. "And if I resigned, I signed away two years. ... So it was one of those things where it's like, I'm at a wall, I'm at total burnout, and I'm just going to take a leap of faith. So in May was my last day, and I had no job, and I would apply to everything, but my heart was with politics.
"And so the Arizona Democratic Party was hiring. I hadn't gone through a couple of processes with different political groups, and all of a sudden Gallego's office, their position opened up and I just slid in, because I was just ready. Because I had already been interviewing and getting my resume and cover letters together and getting my thoughts together for about two months, and then, yeah, they bit, and it was really quick. We knew right away it was a good fit."
For Rodriguez, journalism has changed since she started
There was a time when leaving a newsroom for a job in politics was a one-way street. You couldn't come back. That rule is not as hard and fast these days.
"I did give it a little thought," Rodriguez said. "One of the reasons I got burned out with news is because the news that I'm in now is not the news that I cut my teeth on. It's these echo chambers and these really opinionated anchors and just biased stories. It's just become so common.
"And I think that's what's dividing our nation so much, is that people can just turn on whatever they want to hear, and that's the truth to them. And so I thought about it, but I think the landscape of journalism needs to change. I think podcasts and alternative media are helping that out. But journalism, this is not the same journalism that I started in."
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com.Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Subscribe to the weekly Watchlist newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Fox 10 reporter tired of covering politics joins Ruben Gallego's team
