Charmaine Riley has spent four of her 11 years in the public relations industry as a member of WWPR. During her first two years with the organization, she served as the co-chair of the Emerging Leaders Awards, which celebrates women ages 25 to 35 as they climb in the PR world. In 2025, the incoming president asked Riley to become vice president, which led to her accepting the role as president this year.
This past spring, Department of Journalism graduate Eli Voorhies presented innovative research at a leading scholarly conference, examining how global news media differ in how visuals are used within human rights reporting. The media research was presented at the Association of Borderlands Studies annual conference, held in Seattle. Eli’s study, titled “Shadows on the Wall: How The New York Times and Al Jazeera visually frame the Uyghur oppression,” was presented in the Community Borderlands panel alongside border policy and communication researchers.
2023 graduate Sam Kristofferson became the EIC of My Bellingham Now. He uses the storytelling skills he learned at WWU to provide free news to Whatcom County.
Western journalism alumni accomplishments can be seen in papers, stations and organizations nationwide. In this post we highlight a few recent accolades and and career updates.
Western journalism alumni lead the selection of Murrow News Fellows in a new state program designed to boost reporting in underserved communities.
Genevieve Carrillo is a community specialist at Whatcom Transportation Authority and assistant coach for the Western men’s rowing team. The 2016 public relations grad discusses how her experiences in the journalism department and on the water as a coxswain influenced her career.
In April 2024, Questen Inghram, a 2019 news-ed alum, started a two-year Murrow News Fellowship covering local government in the Lower Yakima Valley for the Yakima Herald-Republic.
David Cuillier, class of 1990, is the Director of the University of Florida Brechner Freedom of Information Project. WWU honored him with the 2024 Alumni Achievement Award in May 2024.
After finding a way to creatively tell stories in the visual journalism major, Bailey Jo Josie continued her journey with writing while living in Japan. Now, she’s back in Washington and ready to fully embrace her identity as a local reporter.
Visual journalism alumni Jesse Nichols has worked at Grist since leaving Western in 2017 as an Outstanding Graduate. His current work combines his lifelong love for videography and the lessons he learned from his tenure at The Planet Magazine.