When Audra Anderson’s friends have a question about the latest waterfront development or downtown eatery, they ask their personal, local news expert.
As the assistant editor at Cascadia Daily News, Anderson reads every piece of copy that comes through the never-ending news cycle. She said her sense of being “tuned in” to Bellingham’s beating heart is more heightened now than ever before as a student or local reporter.
It goes without saying most journalists are curious and love to learn, but Amy Harder is not your typical journalist. Her love for learning is alive. It’s deeply rooted and grows, branching into all different areas of her life.
If you’ve been involved with Western Washington University’s journalism department at all in the last three years, you’ve probably heard the name Nate Sanford.
Whether it be for his coverage of lead in Western’s drinking water as a JOUR 307 student or for his consecutive two-quarter title as editor-in-chief during The Front’s rebrand, Sanford’s reputation has not faded.
The Pacific Northwest might seem cold in the dark winter months, but “cold’ took on an entirely new meaning for Colton Rasanen-Fryar when they landed a job in North Dakota.
Andy Campbell graduated from Western Washington University in 2008 right as the economy crashed. But due to his time at Western, he had the skills he needed to pursue a career in reporting, and now, as a published author. His book, We Are Proud Boys, How a Right-Wing Street Gang Ushered in a New Era of American Extremism, was published in September by Hachette.
Growing up with the radio on, tuning into authentic conversations and rich stories full of sound, weaving seamless tales on long car rides or while cooking up her next meal, she pictured the coolest people in the world, journalists. Julia Furukawa knew she wanted to be one of them.
Picking up a camera in an elective class as a junior in high school, Connor Jalbert had no idea he was learning the skills that would set him on his future career path. When a local Seattle producer and friend gave Jalbert a call, inviting him to shoot the Sam LaChow show at the Vera Project, Jalbert found his direction in life.
Learning to embrace the chaos of the job field with ‘hope, energy and enthusiasm,’ Western grad Linnea Hoover found success as a visual journalist working in the Peruvian Amazon and at WQAD-TV News 8 in Illinois.
Veteran journalist Ron Judd (Class of 85) is the executive editor of the newly launched Cascadia Daily News. Many of his team of journalists and interns have direct ties to Western’s journalism program.
“Read all about it.”
Mitch Evich, class of 1984, died on Christmas morning 2021 due to complications from Alzheimer’s, six and a half years after being diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer’s in 2015.