Since joining Cascade PBS and KNKX in Seattle through Washington State University’s Murrow News Fellowship, Western Washington University journalism alum Nate Sanford has built a beat covering the political issues shaping the lives of young adults in Washington.
Just four years after graduating from Western Washington University, Ben Bagley has packed up his Subaru and moved across the country three times — from Texas to Michigan to New York — building a career in professional sports communications along the way.
Now, the 2022 journalism-public relations alum works in public relations and basketball communications for the Brooklyn Nets, combining his passions for storytelling, statistics and sports.
Finn Wendt, a visual journalist at Cascadia Daily News (CDN) and a 2023 Western visual journalism alum, recently completed a season-long, 40-minute documentary about the Lummi Blackhawks’ journey to defend their Division 1B state champion basketball title.
Imogene Eagan, a winter 2025 visual journalism grad, recently concluded a full-season internship with the Seattle Seahawks. As their Visual Production intern, Eagan filmed and edited short videos and created long-form content for the Seahawks.
Jake Parrish, a 2015 visual journalism graduate, combined his editorial expertise with commercial photography to bring his storytelling skills to the marketing industry.
Parrish explained that after working in journalism for a while, he was ready to step back and explore other photography options. He started freelancing for both publications and commercial work, specifically for the hop industry.
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.