Charlotte’s Crack at Journalism

Charlotte Smith is our newest Indy intern! She hails from San Juan Capistrano and is brought to us by our very own Anika Duncan (former Indy intern and current web content manager).

Tell us about yourself. What brings you to the Independent?  I spent my youth with my two sisters in the oak-covered hillsides, exploring, and  at the beaches nearby, surfing and snorkeling. I came to the Independent because of my friend Anika, who I used to live with in college. She mentioned her internship while I was traveling, and I thought I would reach out. I love Santa Barbara; the community here is one of a kind. I thrive in the mountains and oceans, and Santa Barbara is a perfect home away from home.

What got you interested in journalism? What do you hope to gain from your experience here?  I have always had a passion for investigation and history, and I got my BA in Political Science at UC Santa Barbara. Then I traveled to South America, where I studied and worked tirelessly with local Indigenous farmers from Southern Chile to Western Colombia. I carried on with consistent journals about my experiences and realized the passion I had for writing outside of the school setting. I hope one day this experience can set me up for the type of journalism I wish to dig into: criticizing the system that feeds off of corruption, elites, and big corporations (sub platforms) and suppresses communities that have little money or time to defend their land. People that care for Mother Earth like a friend would care for a friend are the people I want to write for and defend against the system of oppression.