Notable Alumni

Joshua Fischer, Writer, Teacher, International Traveler

What years you were on staff and which positions did you hold?

1992-1994. I began as a staff reporter, later to take on the role of Projects Editor. I I was editor-in-chief for the 1993-1994 school year.

From which four-year college or university did you graduate?

University of Texas, Austin

I obtained my bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1999. I wrote on a freelance basis for the Daily Texan and the Austin Chronicle. I was also published in the Texas Observer and the San Antonio Express-News.

I was specifically interested in writing about student activism, performance art, alternative media, tenure issues and would eventually spend a semester as an opinion columnist.

The majority of my work centered on the decades-long protests and civil disobedience at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia. I travelled with students, community leaders and filmmakers several times to the annual protests, publishing widely on the subject in all of the papers listed above.

Describe some of your past experiences?

After graduating UT in 1999 with honors and as a flag-bearer for the College of Communication, I spent three months traveling in Chile, Bolivia and Peru. (Since that time, I've spent considerable time in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panamá, Costa Rica and Guatemala.)

The Channels inspired me to want to see and experience the world first-hand, and I was a participant on the SBCC semester abroad at Shandong University in Jinan, China in 1994, with Dr. Peter Haslund, where we also visited Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong, focused on international relations and cultural studies.
In 2001, I moved to San German, Puerto Rico, where I studied linguistics at the Universidad Interamericana at the graduate level, while supervising the English Language Laboratory there and teaching conversational English. When 9-11 occurred, I returned to the mainland, and ended up becoming an 8th grade language arts teacher at C.M. Eppes Middle School in Greenville, North Carolina. I started a volunteer after school Journalism club, where I oversaw the creation of the first online middle school newspaper in the region. This was a career highlight for me, as dozens of students saw their first chance at publication while in grades 6-8.

I would end up teaching for six years, in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Subjects included Language Arts, Creative Writing and Journalism, in both regular and alternative schools. I was selected by the ASNE for a Reynolds Scholarship at Arizona State University in 2008, and was runner-up for Teacher of the Year at the Academy of Academics and Technology in Tallahassee, Florida that year.

I plan to return to teaching and writing in the future, but since 2009 have been involved in restaurant management, international traveling and becoming a sommelier.

Why The Channels?

The Channels changed me forever—and in the best ways. It made SBCC my home. It gave me strength, courage and knowledge that no other class offered. It forced me to think critically about my campus, my city, my world and my core values. It gave me an open road to inquiry and discovery, and taught me both difficult and wonderful lessons. It gave me the chance to make my education matter, to publish on subjects that otherwise no one would ever know about. It informed me of my rights as a citizen, my freedoms granted by the Constitution and my greater responsibilities to always consider more than just my own opinion.

We recorded history during our time on The Channels staff. Imagine....in the early nineties, we were writing articles about the advent of E-mail and the science and development of this new phenomenon called the "Information Superhighway," now known as the Internet.

The Channels is a method of self-discovery. To me that is the mission of higher education.

Let's use a very current news story to illustrate the power and depth of student media and publications. In Pittsburg, Kansas, a team of high school journalism students investigated the woman selected to be their new principal, a job that paid $93,000 a year. They discovered glaring problems in her resume and background, which numerous adults overlooked during her hiring process. When these matters came to light, she resigned.

The press is powerful. It demands inquiry and the diligent search for truth, even when people in power would prefer to lie. This process can now begin at the earliest levels of education. The Channels offers a real world approach to the life and heartbeat of the fantastic institution that is Santa Barbara Community College. It offers the chance to dig into the real issues of both the campus and society at large. It propels young writers and journalists to get to know each other, to talk to other students about critical issues, and to enhance the bond between teachers and learners. It holds those in power accountable, and develops the need to unearth the truth.

 

Anna Logan, Television Sports Reporter, Cheyenne, Wyoming

What years you were on Channels staff and which positions did you hold?

2013-2014. I was on the sports beat, covering football, baseball and soccer games. This was my first time covering sporting events. I was an athlete as an adolescent but had never written about any sport. It was definitely a change and surprisingly it did not come naturally. The Channels helped me understand how to write about sports and created the foundation for my sports reporting career.

From which four-year college or university did you graduate?

California State University, Northridge. I chose CSUN because of its broadcasting program. I knew I wanted to use a microphone instead of a pen to report on sport,  and CSUN’s broadcasting program looked promising and ended up proving me right.

What is your current position and notable past positions?

I’m a sports reporter and weekend sports anchor for a CBS-affiliate in Cheyenne, Wyoming, KGWN, NewsChannel 5.

They say you pay your dues in your first job, and boy, am I paying them! During the week I serve as the station's sports reporter, which means going to Cheyenne’s local high schools and grabbing footage of any prep games (Volleyball, Soccer, Football, Track and Field, Wrestling, and Basketball). I will then cut the footage into highlights and write a script that goes along with it. I also do live shots before and after games.

On the weekend, I do the same thing but I also serve as the weekend sports anchor. So I am doing everything you have read, plus creating a 2:30 to 4 minute show for our 5:30 and 10 program. I write all the content in my own show and have to post at least two web stories per day.

As for past positions, while I was on The Channels, I interned for KSBY in Santa Maria. When I moved to Los Angeles for CSUN, I was an intern for a small news station in Santa Clarita. My last year of college, I was lucky enough to get an internship at CBS Los Angeles (KTLA) in the Sports Department. Internships, internships, internships!!!!! I can’t say it enough. It’s not enough anymore to just go to school; you have to prove to your employers you have real life experience.

Why The Channels?

You know where it all starts? The Channels.
I was an athlete as an adolescent but had never written about any sport. It was definitely a change and surprisingly it did not come naturally. The Channels helped me understand how to write about sports and created the foundation for my sports reporting career.

I may have graduated from CSUN, but I use the writing tools that I learned at The Channels way more than I use anything that I learned at Northridge. I’ll be writing a quick online ports blurb for our website and Patricia will be in my head telling me, “Don’t bury the lead.”

If it weren’t for The Channels, I would have ZERO writing experience and no knowledge of how to write a proper article. I must admit, I was very stubborn at first. I knew I wanted to be a sports reporter who was in front of the camera and didn’t like writing at all. It wasn’t until I started at CSUN that I realized how valuable and important my time was at The Channels. I would sit in class and think, “UGH! This is annoying, I don’t even want to be a writer…why am I doing this.” And it wasn’t until CSUN and my first job that I said, “OMG, thank you thank you thank you, Patricia, for pushing me and molding me into a sports writer.”

The Channels was also the foundation for my very first internships, that eventually lead to the biggest one of them all at CBS in Los Angeles. They saw I was an active writer for The Channels and was working on my reporting. The articles you write (or will write) for SBCC’s newspaper are KEY to your future. Sure, they may not win the Nobel Prize. But they will add up to create a resume.

And I’ll tell you a secret: Not many students around the country in community college can say they write for an active, notable newspaper.

One last thing. I may have graduated from CSUN, but I use the writing tools that I learned at The Channels way more than I use anything that I learned at Northridge. I’ll be writing a quick online ports blurb for our website and Patricia will be in my head telling me, “Don’t bury the lead.”

How can students learn more about you?

On weekends I post web stories to our website:

Kgwn.tv click on “Sports”

 

Chris Cadelago, State Government Reporter, The Sacramento Bee

What years you were on staff and which positions did you hold?

2003 to 2005: ,opinion editor, managing editor, editor in chief

From which four-year college or university did you graduate?

University of California, Berkeley. Class of 2008.

What is your current position and notable past positions?

I cover politics and California Gov. Jerry Brown for The Sacramento Bee. Before that, I covered politics and was a watchdog reporter at The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Why The Channels?

The Channels lit a fire under me. It helped reveal a capacity for curiosity and growth that was unimaginable before walking through those doors. Joining the student newspaper was the most important decision I've ever made.

How can students learn more about you?

Catch up on Twitter at @ccadelago and @CapitolAlert.

 

Elisabeth Haslund, Producer of Good Morning Denmark, a daily television broadcast

What years you were on staff and which positions did you hold?

Fall 2000. I was staff writer, and during my last months there I was also responsible for editing the news briefs page.

From which four-year college or university did you graduate?

University of Southern Denmark in Odense, Denmark. Class of 2006.

Describe your current position and any notable past positions?

I am working at the TV  production company Nordisk Film TV on the production of “Good Morning Denmark,” a daily current events morning show, broadcast on the Danish TV 2. I am responsible for the political content, e.g. interviews with the top politicians in Denmark, party leaders and ministers, or debates between parties on topics on the current political agenda.

Before that, I worked for 11 years at Berlingske, one of the largest daily newspapers in Denmark. First, I was several years at the National Desk, writing about crime, court cases, integration, immigration and terrorism. During that time I covered all terrorist-related cases in Denmark, and I also covered the long trail against Norwegian shooter Anders Behring Breivik in Oslo. Later, I moved on to become political reporter, working out of the Danish parliament Christiansborg. Here I covered several elections, both local, national and European.

Why The Channels?

Working on The Channels was truly a fantastic experience, and it definitely made me realize that journalism was the right path for me. I enjoyed taking classes in journalism, but it was such a reward to be able to work as a real journalist, putting all the things, I had learnt, into use.  I will never forget the feeling, the first time my story ended up on the front page.

One of the advantages of  working for The Channels was the many possibilities—during my short time there, I did both political stories and sport stories, I wrote short news, in-depth features and sharp interviews, and I was able to challenge myself, writing very personal columns. Moreover, we had a lot of fun, all of us working together, spending so many hours in the newsroom. I made some long-lasting friendships at the Channels.

 

Allie Wilcox, Deputy Research Director, Political Opposition Research Firm, Washington, D.C.

What years you were on staff and which positions did you hold?

Staff Writer, Opinion Editor, Managing Editor, Editor In Chief, Online Editor 2007-2008

From which four-year college or university did you graduate?

University of California, Berkeley. Class of 2010.

Why The Channels?

The Channels taught me invaluable skills to think critically, analysis and scrutinize primary sources, leverage public records, write quickly and clearly on deadline, and most importantly: hold public officials accountable.

I owe the Channels my success in thriving in the hectic and competitive political campaign world in Washington, D.C., where I also lead a large political activist organization dedicated to social justice in my spare time.

 

Amanda Jacobs, Marketing Communication Specialist, Santa Barbara City College

What years you were on staff and which positions did you hold?

2008 to 2010.  I held positions of Features Editor and Editor-in-Chief.

From which four-year college or university did you graduate?

California State University, Chico, with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Marketing

What is your current position and notable past positions?

I am the Marketing Communications Specialist at Santa Barbara City College. Under the direction of the Director of Marketing and Publications I organize, plan and implement comprehensive marketing strategies and initiatives to meet established enrollment goals and objectives and enhance community understanding of college programs and services.

In the past, I have held positions of Publicist Assistant, Public Relations and Marketing Manager, Public Relations Coordinator and Marketing Coordinator.

Why The Channels?

The Channels was the most memorable, influential part of my college education. It gave me invaluable, applicable knowledge in journalism, graphic design and videography but more than that, it gave me a sense of purpose.

The Channels honed my writing skills and gave my talents a place to shine, while offering me lifelong friendships and the best of memories. The opportunity to work for this award-winning newspaper challenged me, trained me and made me rise to the occasion. It raised my awareness of the college campus and Santa Barbara community and gave me the drive to succeed. Working on the The Channels newspaper was where I really discovered what I enjoyed doing, and for that, I am forever grateful.