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Department Advisory Board Welcomes Five New Members

Learn more about the five new members of the Journalism Advisory Board.


Stephanie Finucane, Cal Poly Journalism Alumna

Stephanie Finucane (Journalism, '78)

Opinion Editor at The Tribune, San Luis Obispo

Q: When you are not working, you can be found ...?
A: Running very slowly with my border collie, Archie.

Q: How did Cal Poly Journalism prepare you for your career path?
A: Encouraged (AKA forced) me to do an internship that opened the door to my first job.

Q: What’s your best Cal Poly memory?
A: I have lots of cringy memories but one of the best is probably getting my first stories published in what was then The Mustang Daily.


Paul Harrer, Cal Poly Journalism Alumnus

Paul Harrer (Journalism, '09)

SVP, Strategy, Bay Area at Edelman

Q: When you are not working, you can be found … ?
A: Depends on the day! A combination of good wine, a poorly played round of golf, afternoon of barbecuing with my wife, and of course good friends and lots of laughs. Any mix of those are all good bets.

Q: How did Cal Poly Journalism prepare you for your career path?
A: Majoring in Journalism helped teach me how to be a great storyteller, which is an important skill for any job you have. Whether you’re actually a journalist, a public relations professional, a small business owner, in real estate, you name it… being able to tell compelling stories that capture attention and influence opinion is important.

Q: What’s your best Cal Poly memory?
A: There are a few probably not appropriate for print (does everyone say that?)… but one of my favorite memories from our days in the Journalism Department was a class with the late great George Ramos. It was an investigative assignment where we had to find the home addresses of a handful of folks, one being Arnold Schwarzenegger and one being Mr. Ramos’s own home. We had to go down to the county clerk’s office, hours upon hours of time spent on Google, good ol’ fashioned sleuthing… Anyways, when we came to our last address, it was Mr. Ramos’s house. When we found what we thought was for sure his home we made the trek to Morro Bay and slowly crept up and knocked on a stranger’s door. It was a quiet complex and we were unsure of what would happen next. Well… he answered! SHOCK! We all laughed, he said, “welp, you found me!” and that was that. A bit anticlimactic, but that class taught many of us how to be street smart as well as book smart, and that has been a skill we’ve been thankful for ever since.


Julia Prodis Sulek, Cal Poly Journalism Alumna

Julia Prodis Sulek (Journalism, '86)

General Assignment reporter, San Jose Mercury News

Q: When you are not working, you can be found …?
A: Taking long walks with my dog Buddy and enjoying local art shows with my husband, Chris.

Q: How did Cal Poly Journalism prepare you for your career path?
A: Professor Jim Hayes was a no-nonsense professor who instilled the value of watchdog journalism and to be fearless in the face of power.

Q: What’s your best Cal Poly memory?
A: Writing a story for the Mustang Daily about meeting dates at the grocery store with the headline: "Get Lucky at Lucky's."


Danielle Samaniego, Cal Poly Journalism Alumna

Danielle Samaniego (Journalism, '00)

Senior Manager, Digital & Social Content, Levi Strauss & Co.

Q: When you are not working, you can be found …?
A: In a movie theater or nestled in my newly revamped TV room ingesting a sick amount of television (I consider myself a pop culture-vore). OR, I'm doing dinner or drinks with friends and family OR playing with my dogs. (I swear, I do get out!)

Q: How did Cal Poly Journalism prepare you for your career path?
A: My career path is entirely built on the foundations of my Cal Poly Journalism education. I took the news track at Cal Poly, focusing on a planned career in newspapers, but the lessons I learned go far beyond the newsroom. I did become a newspaper reporter and worked in the industry for years, but I was able to transfer those skill sets into the career I have today. Those critical skills include being able to work on deadline; interview/talk to an array of people to get the story and edit. Frankly, being able to synthesize information and convey it into a cohesive story will get you everywhere!

Q: What’s your best Cal Poly memory?
A: This might sound odd, but from a class perspective, my best Cal Poly memory is slogging through Media Law with a group of us students who decided that we were going to work together to pass that class. We formed this group and studied our @$%&! off and in the end we had a blast quizzing and jamming through our notes and books in preparation for those grueling tests. That, and doing the radio news one quarter!



Dan Watson, Cal Poly Journalism Alumnus

Dan Watson (Journalism, '07)

Deputy Digital Editor, Los Angeles Times

Q: When you are not working, you can be found …?
A: Running 10ks. There’s no better way to clear your head.

Q: How did Cal Poly Journalism prepare you for your career path?
A: Cal Poly gave me a great foundation. I entered a writer, and left a journalist. As editor of the Mustang Daily, I got a rewarding learn-by-doing experience, and a crash course in every role that goes into producing a publication.

Q:  What’s your best Cal Poly memory?
A: The long days and late nights spent working with wonderful colleagues on the Mustang Daily.

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