Offering several hundred academic programs, the University of New Mexico produces graduates that enter all sorts of different fields — but what do students who have worked at the Daily Lobo go on to do?
Not all journalists at the Daily Lobo go on to pursue careers in journalism. And those who do don’t always know where they might end up or what they might cover. Although still in the budding stages of her career, 2017 UNM graduate Isabel Gonzalez could not have imagined being where she is now. Gonzalez majored in multimedia through the Interdisciplinary Film and Digital Media program (IFDM), and is now the digital media coordinator for the Lobo Lair.
The Lobo Lair is a website that allows UNM sports fans to interact with one another and connect with Lobo athletics. The website is essentially a group of forums — monitored by modulators — for UNM’s most popular sports, including men’s and women’s basketball.
“Right now I’m working with the modulators to help them update their forums,” Gonzalez said. “I help them upload images, do graphics, and even video. The website also has some products in mind that I’m going to help them plan and execute.”
Gonzalez says her focus right now is men’s basketball, but that she is helping the website modernize and become more accessible—mainly through social media like Twitter and Snapchat.
Before working for the Lobo Lair, Gonzalez said she worked as a sideline reporter for the Albuquerque Sol, Albuquerque’s semi-professional soccer team. She said she then went on to host the UNM men’s soccer show “Fish Off the Pitch” for the 2017 fall season.
“They had the show two years ago, but it was mostly just a set of interviews,” Gonzalez said. “I brought in a kind of new style — I had more graphics and fun clips — and Fish[bein] really wanted it back.”
Gonzalez has also freelanced for ESPN Albuquerque and the Racing Experts. Although taking some work from them in college, the two sports outlets most recently sent her to several Nascar events during the month of November. She said they sent her out to Phoenix, Las Vegas, and even as far as the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.
“I covered my first race in Sonoma in 2016, and one in Phoenix last year,” Gonzalez said. “But it was the entire month of this November that I was traveling for them.”
Gonzalez wrote previews, recaps, and feature pieces for the events and she even had some of her articles picked up for publication on ESPN’s main website.
“It gave me a lot of exposure,” Gonzalez said. “And of course it’s really cool to see your name there, on ESPN.com.”
Gonzalez said her options are open when it comes to the future. Based on her experiences in recent years, she said she knows the future is likely to present unexpected opportunities and challenges.
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“I haven’t figured out one specific thing I want to do later on, so I’m leaving my options open,” Gonzalez said. “But I would love to work with a professional team, maybe an NBA team and do what I do now for them...I think it would also be cool to work full-time for a big sports outlet like ESPN.”
Matthieu Cartron is a sports beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women’s soccer and men’s tennis. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cartron_matt.
