Eli's Biography
I have always been a big fan of the entertainment industry. I love movies, television shows, and comic books. As I grew older, I became more interested in how the movie and television business actually functioned. I follow numerous outlets like Indiewire and Cinema Blend that sometimes delve deep into the financial and critical performances both blockbuster and independent films. Since I was eight years old, I have collected a large repertoire of Marvel comics. I am a big fan of anything related to superheroes or Marvel and when the Marvel Studios started to release those movies I was like a kid in the candy store.
I am also interested in other sections of the entertainment industry such as theater and dance. I played every sport imaginable before I turned six years old, but then my mom placed me in an all-boys hip-hop class at a a local dance studio. I learned that I loved to dance and perform in front of big audiences. Soon, the directors of the studio needed more guys in their company, so I started dancing more as I grew older. I danced at Rhythm Dance Center for 12 years where I honed my skills as a dancer and created friendships that will last a lifetime.
I became interested in journalism in high school. I took a broadcast and video production class all four years, which was taught by a former CNN director. We had our own miniature television studio and a control room. We would do the morning announcements two times a week and try to treat it like a real newscast. My teacher taught me the basics of camera operation and video editing. He even brought us on field trips to CNN headquarters in downtown Atlanta. He had a large influence on my interest in the news industry.
When I came to USC, I thought I wanted to get into strictly entertainment news. However, my perspective changed as I started paying attention more to the world around me and worked on projects that made me step out of my comfort zone. In high school, I constantly watched The Daily Show and The Colbert Report because Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert made politics interesting for me. Today, I feel like I am much more aware of the political landscape both nationally and internationally, even if I may not understand everything I read or watch. In my sophomore year of college, I wrote an article about retailers along Broadway in Los Angeles going out of business due to the city revitalizing the street. This experience helped me understand that there are a plethora of stories out there that are just as interesting and newsworthy as any entertainment story I read online. The story also taught me how to balance all sides of a story, which is essential in all forms of journalistic storytelling and makes any story infinitely more interesting.
I am a journalist because I want to be an informed citizen and I want to inform other citizens. I believe the more people are aware of the world around them, the more likely they will understand other people, cultures, and ideas. I am a journalist because I love the adrenaline rush of the news industry. Every day there are new stories just waiting to be uncovered and I just cannot get enough of it. I am a journalist because I represent an oxymoron. I am a skeptical idealist. I am a naturally curious person, so I like to question everything. However, I am also someone who wants to make the world a better place through truth and honesty. Journalists are supposed to be the spokespeople for all individuals, but at the same time they are the watchdogs over those same individuals. The field of journalism allows me to be my skeptical idealistic self.