This summer, you might have noticed a new name on some of our stories: Elaine Sanders. Working as our news intern, Sanders has helped bring multiple stories to the community with her writing and photography, and though she heads back to school this week, we wanted to highlight her achievements as she goes!
What brought you to Santa Barbara for the summer? How did you learn about the Independent and what made you want to start interning here? I was born and raised in Ventura, so I have frequented Santa Barbara for day trips with friends; to the harbor for whale watching on the Condor Express; or to the beaches up the coastline on intertidal surveys, playing in the tidepools as my dad, a marine biologist, worked to catalog sea creatures. As my parents like to tell me, one of my first outings as an infant was to the Santa Barbara Zoo!
When I was last home for winter break, I had taken one of said day trips with one of my closest friends. We were sipping wine on a patio, my pale skin from a winter in New York soaking up the California sun, talking about life and goals. Next door was the old News-Press building. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to spend the summer working in Santa Barbara?”
I looked up the News-Press, unaware of the drama that preceded my google search, and saw that it was no longer operational. But then, the Independent popped up. I read some of the work and learned the history of the paper and decided that the Indy would be a great place for me to learn and gain confidence as a journalist.
What are some of your favorite stories you’ve written and/or photographed during your time here? What are some of the skills you’ve picked up along the way that you’ll take with you? I think my favorite has been the story on the final AIDs/Life Cycle bike ride that passed through Santa Barbara back in June. I have ridden up the coast from Ventura to Santa Barbara and back, so I know how beautiful that route is. It was so rewarding, and sentimental, to talk to the riders and the whole community of roadies about the impact that this ride has had on their lives. I felt honored to be able to share their stories through both photos and text.
During my internship, the ICE raids in Carpinteria and Camarillo shook both the Santa Barbara and Ventura communities. Moments like these are why I chose to pursue journalism. Instead of feeling helpless, I knew that as a journalist, it was time to get to work. It was amazing to see the whole newsroom leap into action, each one of us adding to the Smoke and Mirrors cover story in any way we could. Being a part of that moment, despite the pain for the entire community, was both invigorating and exhausting.
What is your journalism graduate school in New York City like? Do you have any idea of what you’d like to do after you finish with school? I am so lucky to have found the program I am in at Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, which is a part of the City University of New York. Our campus is two floors in a high-rise on 40th street, right next to Times Square. It is an intense, three semester crash course in all things journalism: ethics, feature writing, photo essays, audio production, video reporting — we do it all.
Personally, I am focused on photojournalism with my concentration being in international reporting. If all goes to plan, I will be graduating in December. I picked an interesting time to choose journalism, let alone the international focus, with Trump being re-elected in my first semester of j-school.
My goal is to be able to report thoughtfully and accurately at a news organization who aims to build trust with the community, through showcasing humanity rather than fanning the flames of division. And, ideally, pays the bills.
What is one thing you’re looking forward to doing in New York City again? What’s one thing you’ll miss about Santa Barbara? What I am most looking forward to going back to NYC is to see all my friends and colleagues and share our summer internship stories. I have gained so much confidence in myself and work as a journalist through my time at the S.B. Indy, and I am excited to see just how much we all have grown. Also, I am looking forward to being back in my apartment in Brooklyn, hanging out with my good friend and roommate, sharing a drink on our rooftop with the Manhattan skyline glinting in the sunset.
Honestly, as cheesy as it sounds, the thing I am going to miss the most is the newsroom crew. I have had such a blast running all around Santa Barbara this summer, peeking behind the curtain of the paper, and collaborating with the team and seeing everyone’s work shine.
What was it like collaborating on the digital page for the Carpinteria Ice Raids timeline and putting together all of those multimedia elements? What are some other digital media elements you hope to include in your work now and in the future? For some reason, I got it in my head that it would be really cool to do a “scroll through” story like some of the features The New York Times puts out — integrating text and video and images — and I had no idea how complicated it would become.
It was a team effort: Ryan Cruz wrote out a detailed series of events; I spent quite a few hours putting together a video timeline of events for the Carpinteria ICE raid using footage I got from people on the scene and from social media; and Maya Johnson (Social Media Manager) figured out how to make the vision a reality, battling the confines of WordPress.
For a good while, the only thing the backend web team could see was a video saying “let’s see if this works …” And eventually, it did.
As someone who thinks photography first, I would love to tell stories in an integrated text and image way. I also have a huge fondness for audio, and I am enamored with soundscapes that make you feel like you are in a specific place. I would love to create a multimedia package incorporating text and a photo gallery of portraits that when you scroll through you actually hear the voices of the people in the story.
From your time here, what stands out to you about local news and reporting? How does reporting here in Santa Barbara differ from other places you’ve worked? The first thing I noticed when I started my internship was just how friendly Santa Barbarans are. When I am sent to go out and report in NYC, I have to prepare myself for constant rejection; for every ten people you ask to talk, you might get one person to stop and chat. Here, I can walk up to almost anyone and we will have a lovely conversation as complete strangers.
The thing that stands out most to me is how quickly you build familiarity with people in the community. Journalism is a service job — just like I knew my regulars when I was a barista, I know the people that are in my stories. I haven’t been here long, but I can see just how integrated you become in the community as a local reporter. At the end of the day, it is all about integrity and building trust.
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