Diana Fuentes (journalist)

Diana R. "DeeDee" Fuentes (September 27, 1958 – March 20, 2026) was an American journalist, editor, and press freedom advocate with more than 35 years of experience in journalism, reporting on stories across Mexico and the United States. She was widely recognized as a champion of investigative reporting, diversity in newsrooms, and freedom of information. In 2021, she became the first person of color to serve as executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), a nonprofit organization dedicated to training journalists in investigative techniques.

Early life and education Fuentes was born on September 27, 1958, in Corpus Christi, Texas, and grew up as the oldest of five children in Laredo, Texas. She had two brothers, Jaime and Marco, and two sisters, Lydia and Sylvia. Fuentes attended Nixon High School in Laredo, where she was an honor roll student and participated in the debate team, student council, and the school newspaper. She also served as managing editor of the Beaumont Enterprise.

She later joined the San Antonio Express-News, where she worked as a reporter and rose to serve as deputy metro editor, a position from which she retired in 2021.

Investigative Reporters and Editors In April 2021, Fuentes was appointed executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors, becoming the first person of color to hold that position. The couple married in 1993 and remained together with their cat, Phoenix, until Gomez's death by pneumonia in 2009.

Death and legacy Fuentes died on March 20, 2026, in Washington, D.C., where she was attending a Freedom of Information conference during Sunshine Week. She sustained an accidental head injury from a fall while visiting a friend and died from her injuries. An autopsy by the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed the cause of death as a blunt force injury to the head due to a fall.