Can’t see the video? Click here. Scroll down for a transcript.
City Times Media is the award-winning, student-produced news organization focused on reporting on San Diego City College and its surrounding community, bringing you stories about issues and topics affecting students.
In this episode of the “Reporters’ Roundtable” podcast, learn how the staff of City Times, including Co-Editor-in-Chief Tresean Osgood and multimedia journalist Rosemary Archer, along with host Yonatan “Yogi” Hernandez, found their way to the program and how the experience impacted them.
Starting with FJMP 132 Multiplatform Journalism Production, find out how journalism can be intertwined with your hobbies and personal interests, and how you can turn that into consumable media.
Can’t access the audio? Click here. Scroll down for a transcript.
Transcript:
Yogi: Good morning, everybody. This is Yonatan “Yogi” Hernandez. I’m here with San Diego City College, City Times Media. We are doing the reporters roundtable. We got Tresean and Rosie. We are talking today about what it is and how does it feel to be in a journalism class, especially this day and age, with all the attacks on what a journalist is, what it’s not, and how it should be. So, with that, Tresean, can you please tell us your concept and your thoughts about what it’s been for the last, what, three years of being a journalist here at San Diego City College.
Tresean: Yeah, so I came into the class not really thinking I was going to be a journalist. I only really wanted to do the videography side and just making 30-second videos, but as I got into the class and I started figuring out that journalism is more than just reporting on the news and politics, you can actually report on things that you’re interested in, like movies or video games, and that kind of got me out of my shell to kind of all right, maybe I want to try this out a little bit more, and so as a 132 I started to more focus on my movie reviews and game reviews, and trying to get that into the space, and as I kept going through the class as a 232 and now EIC, I’m focusing on the stuff that I love to do, so video games, entertainment, other stuff of media, and so that’s how I’ve been in this class, and it’s always an enjoyable ride.
Yogi: And so, just to clarify, real quick, so 132 is what you start off with, and as, and then you move into 232 and then you progress from that area, is that correct? Right?
Tresean: So the class is FJMP 132 and that’s your intro class, where we kind of just get you to build up the skills that you’re going to be needing if you want to continue this career, and from there you’ll become a 232 and if you want to do more classes with the program, you can do 230 2B all the way to 230 2D, I believe, and so that gives you some extra semesters to refine those skills that you’ve learned, and then build your reporting, and get more reps into the class.
Yogi: Wow, and Rosie, thank you for joining us. They can you please share your journey on how you came to City Times Media, why you did it, and what have you thought so far in the program.
Rosemary: Well, when I, when I first got into community college, after I was, after I graduated from high school, I was originally a fine arts major, but I spent a couple years kind of like going around in circles, because I didn’t really know what exactly I wanted to do, but after this is, I tell the story to everyone. After 2024 after the current president was elected, I go, you know what I think. I think I should probably go do something else. I feel like there’s a much better way to my time, and I decided that art was better as a hobby rather than something to go to school for, and so early 2025 I switched my major to journalism. I wanted originally to be like I wanted originally to do broadcasting, but that wasn’t exactly a major that I found, so I instead went to journalism, and first few months was really difficult, especially when I, when I went to City Times, was really complicated. I had to learn and unlearn a bunch of stuff, but once I got the hang of it, I wanted to do more, and I wanted to contribute as much as I possibly could, because I really enjoy feeling like I did something that mattered, and that would help my community, if it’s even if it’s like just City College, or if it’s like San Diego, or nationwide, like what happened last week. I have found a passion that I think has not been.. I don’t think I managed to dig that up for a few years, because I fondly I specifically remember being a little kid and wanting to write for the paper, and I don’t know how I forgot that, but I understood thanks to this paper that this is something I really want to do. I want to report on the things both that I care about and the things that matter. Just like Trae Shawn said.
Yogi: You know, it’s funny hearing this conversation, right, that none of us truly saw this as a viable path, and for myself, my story. So I came here as an engineering student, even though I’ve been doing a podcast, and I’ve been doing other different things, but I never saw myself in the journalism realm, and if it wasn’t for a certain professor called Nicole Vargas, whom I think we would all agree she’s a great influence in everybody’s life. I would have never found the program, and it would have been a huge opportunity, both of growth, comfort, getting out of your comfort zone, and becoming a better person, a better leader, and better communicator, and so with that, I mean, we never wanted it. We never really thought that we were going to do this, and now we’re here all having a conversation, right? And so, what are your thoughts on that, Tresean?
Tresean: I think it’s really amazing, honestly. Like you said, we’re all coming from different backgrounds. We didn’t expect this path to fall in our laps, and once you just take the opportunities that you’re given and do your best at them, yours, you see the fruits of your labor, and definitely we’ve gone through so much as a program and as students, and it’s so awesome to see everybody grow from a 132 and then eventually a 232 and see how they take that experience and they move on in their lives, and we’ve seen with our other students that aren’t here with us anymore, like Danny and Bailey and Kayla, they’re all able to take these skills that they’ve learned with the class and be able to branch out and do their own things and be able to evolve as journalists and as people.
Yogi: Rosie, I want to hear your perspective, right, and I want to hear what you, as a high school student, as an arts major, what would what kind of wording or what kind of structure you would like to hear to talk to someone that’s considering that path and change it from a high school degree or as a dual enrollment student.
Rosemary: Well, I wasn’t dual enrollment, I was, I came straight from high school, but I think I feel like my path was a little bit unique. I started in on camera and broadcasting first, and then I moved to the paper, because my original plan was to do like reporting, like on-camera reporting, like local news style, and then eventually I went to the counselor and I said, well, is there, is there a way for me to like, like get this associate street again, because I, because I learned there was an associate in science for journalism, and then I could transfer to date with these credits, and they said it didn’t need it, but then I was like, well, I mean, I’m already a third through the program, I might as well. And so I spent the next two semesters doing just that, and switching from art to journalism was like a very jarring transition. It was, it was like basically just like two sides of the same coin, but being, but doing this, especially if I haven’t been here too long, but I, but I’ve done a lot, and I’ve seen a lot. There is, there are times where I can find little, little sort of remnants of creativity, or the essence of art in my own, my own writings, other people’s writings, the way that photographs are framed for for images, for the paper, the way that videos are framed for for news clips, there is kind of an art to it, and that makes in that realization made it a whole lot easier for me to stick with this major, because God, the amount, if I had $1 for every time I considered, you know, quitting and switching back to art, I’d be, I’d be a millionaire, like, but making that connection definitely helped me a lot, connecting things, connecting it to things that you are personally interested in helps a lot when you are feeling doubts about certain majors, especially difficult ones like this one, because it really is – it’s terrible, terribly difficult, terribly difficult. It’s terrible in terms of complexities. It’s not – it’s a good major. It’s great. I misspoke. I’m sorry.
Yogi: No, you’re fine. You’re fine. And so, to your point, I think one of the things that terrifies everyone coming into journalism is the amount of writing and technical writing that you have to do, right? And, but as you mentioned, it’s more about just getting more repetitions in, just doing it, and feeling comfortable getting comfortable being uncomfortable, and then going from there.
Tresean: Yeah, yeah, but with that City Times Media, it is a great time to be here.
Yogi: Thank you so much for everything that you do. Thank you for supporting us. Please follow us on all our social medias, website, and or stop by the office and say hi. We are always welcome. If you have some news, if you have any shout outs, or any special events coming up, please feel free to come to City Times Media at San Diego City College. Follow us on social media, we’re here. Thank you. Have a wonderful day.
This story was edited by Nadia Lavin and Chrisdan Peralta.
