College of Arts & Sciences Highlights Communication & Media Student in New Spotlight Series

A note from the College of Arts & Sciences: One of ArtSci Senator Ryley Cottrell’s objectives this year is to highlight students from the College of Arts & Sciences through monthly spotlights. For October, we spoke with Communication & Media student Aliciana Archibald, whose unique and busy Aggie experience stands out.

Now a senior, Aliciana Archibald has participated in multiple internships and hands-on opportunities in the journalism field. She is currently enrolled in the newscast class, where students run Aggie TV each week and produce their own stories from start to finish.

Archibald earned her associate’s degree while still in high school and started at USU as an engineering major.

“I switched around a couple of times, and I honestly don’t know how I ended up here,” Archibald said. “At one point, I was thinking maybe political science because I thought that was interesting. But when I started in journalism, it just felt like the right place for me.”

Her first job in journalism was as a writer for The Utah Statesman, followed by an internship with KSL in Salt Lake City, where she helped write morning and breaking news stories. She now works part-time for KSL as an associate producer.

“I help find and pitch stories, especially on the morning shift. It’s a little different because they only have one live reporter,” Archibald said. “So, it’s either covering things that happened overnight or pulling a lot of national material.”

Archibald credits her growth to the mentorship of professors Brian Champagne and Erin Cox, who not only provide hands-on learning opportunities in the classroom but also connect students with Utah’s leading broadcast news outlets.

Being in the news field, Archibald has found it rewarding to contribute to national coverage. For a recent class assignment, she helped cover a local Turning Point event that unexpectedly became a national breaking news story: Bomb squads responded to reports of a suspicious object near Old Main and disposed of what was later determined to be a wildlife tracking collar being used in a class demonstration.

“I’ve been able to contribute to something that has affected so many people,” she said. “It’s neat to see when something impacts the whole nation, it gets covered by every outlet.”

Now with meaningful experience in the news field, Archibald looks forward to continuing her journalism career after graduation.

“I’m hoping to graduate this spring,” she said. “Even just looking back at where I was a year ago, I’m excited to see where I’ll be a year from now. I want to stay in news, and it’s nice to know I already have my foot in the door.”