Where Ya At? SDSU's Journalism and Media Studies podcast

Edward Lewis (Class of 2011) always knew he wanted to be a sports journalist, but his current job as Senior Producer at TMZ Sports does not involve attending sporting events and writing about games. Lewis handles tips and covers all court cases involving high-profile celebrities and athletes. Lewis explains his path, how life-changing it was working at The Daily Aztec, the former student newspaper...

Raquel Martin (Class of 2014) initially developed an interest in politics during high school watching cable news with her father. By the time she stepped foot on SDSU’s campus, she knew her goal was to become a political reporter and that’s exactly what she’s doing now. Martin is a Washington, DC correspondent with Nexstar Media Group, where she researches, produces and reports for more than 190 l...

Vince Golangco (Class of 2008) was a high school dropout who joined the military because his friends in Texas did, fell in love in San Diego when stationed in the city, and used the free education from being in the military to attend SDSU because he didn’t want to leave the city.  After college, he wanted to get back to his family roots and travel the world, so he moved to the Philippines and cont...

Tyra Wu is a fairly recent graduate (Class 2020) of San Diego State University, yet has already proven her versatility in a variety of fields. A former student-athlete, Wu has gone from local broadcast news to print journalism and is now the Media and Graphics Supervisor for the City of Carlsbad. Wu gives her advice on what she liked about each of the different disciplines, finding the path that&a...

Dan Hayes (Class of 2002) has covered Major League Baseball for 17 years as a beat writer, and what's interesting is that he's done it for three different organizations that had three different philosophies about news coverage. Hayes explains reporting on baseball for a traditional newspaper, then the website of a regional sports TV network, and now a subscription-based website that focu...

Nick Serrano (Class of 2014) knew from an early age that he wanted to work in public service, starting as a teenager with the District Attorney’s public affairs and community relations team. These days, he's officially the Deputy Chief of Staff for San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, while embracing what it means to be "a gladiator in a suit." In this week's podcast, Nick details why...

Elaina D. Smith (Class of 2011) interviews the biggest stars in country music and shares the inside scoop on what’s happening in Nashville on "Nights with Elaina," which is syndicated on over 150 radio stations internationally. It's a wild journey for a proud Mexican-American girl from Southern California who admittedly knew very little about country music before moving to Nashville...

Greg Risling (Class of 1994) spent over two decades as a news reporter, including three years at the Los Angeles Times and 14 years at The Associated Press. Risling anchored the 9/11 coverage from the LA Bureau, covered multiple natural disasters, the Michael Jackson and other famous celebrity trials, the Academy Awards, and thousands of other local stories. Now he works Media Relations for the LA...

Stormy Buonantony (Class 2014) was originally a Nursing major at San Diego State University. But one Radio-TV elective got her hooked on Journalism, and she fondly recalls a fateful email from a professor -- which she has saved on her phone -- that encouraged her to pursue a sports broadcasting career. In this week's podcast, Buonantony traces getting her start at the Mountain West Conference...

Devin Whatley didn't let graduating at the start of the pandemic impact his pursuit of a Journalism career or making an immediate impact as a News Producer for NBC 7 San Diego. In this week's podcast, Whatley describes how networking with SDSU professors led to a job at NBC 7, the lessons he's learned about work/life balance in a hectic newsroom, and he details his station's wo...

Jessica Yadegaran ('98, Journalism) covers dining culture, restaurants, wine, travel and more for the "Eat Drink Play" section of the Bay Area News Group. Her stories are syndicated throughout the country with an overall circulation exceeding 700,000. In this week's podcast, Jessica discusses how an interest in wine sparked the paper to start a new section that didn't prev...

Raj Mathai is the lead News Anchor for NBC Bay Area, but this path to reaching that seat was unique. He started working public relations for the then-San Diego Chargers football team, before switching to a Journalism career in Sports.  Raj details that transition, his career path in newsrooms from Yuma to Fresno to San Francisco, before ultimately making the huge decision to accept an offer to lea...

Amber Frankhuizen ('09, marketing) is the Founder/CEO and Chief Strategist of award-winning marketing agency AFMKTG, a company she started from an ironing board because she didn't have a desk yet. Recently named a Rising Aztec, she's mentored dozens of SDSU students in SDSU’s Aztec Mentorship Program both personally and through her company’s internship program. Amber reflects on her...

The inaugural edition of the "Where Ya At?" podcast is a trailer, featuring Dr. Temple Northrup, the Director of the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University. Dr. Northrup provides an update on the latest development at JMS, how alumni can get involved to give back to the department, and how to learn about upcoming events. Host Josh Suchon (Class of 1996) prev...