kate elston: multimedia journalist

2012-01-04T17:42:00.001-08:00

I am a graduate student at UC Berkeley's Journalism School where I'm focusing on long-form television and documentary production. I'm also the education reporter for the hyper-local news site Mission Loc@l.

My favorite stories to report on are poignant, little-known stories that change the way we think about where we live.

photography

2012-01-01T15:14:00.000-08:00

I love telling stories through just a handful of photos. Here is one example, about a non profit's scavenger hunt involving a mentor/mentee pair.

about

2012-01-01T13:18:00.000-08:00

I have worked and interned at numerous media outlets on the West Coast and abroad. A storyteller who loves piecing together audio and visuals to create a powerful narrative, my passion lies in film and multimedia journalism.

You can probably catch me listening to NPR podcasts, watching mostly documentaries on instant Netflix, and browsing through all of San Francisco's used bookstores. A part-time comedienne, I'm also a member of Chinese Ballroom, a San Francisco comedy improv troupe that performs all over the city.

Education

University of California, Berkeley | Master's in Journalism
Expected Graduation Date, May 2013

Universidad Católica de Córdoba | Study Abroad
March 2008 - August 2008

Bachelor of Arts, University of San Francisco | May 2009
Major: Media Studies Minors: Journalism, Spanish

Awards

Father Fred J. Spieler Media Studies Award and Scholarship, May 2009
Presented to a graduating senior in USF's Media Studies department who excels in the field.

Pedro Arrupe Award and Scholarship, May 2009
Presented to a graduating senior at USF who embodies Jesuit ideals and social justice in his/her studies.

Valedictorian Finalist, University of San Francisco, May 2009

multimedia

2011-10-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

All of these pieces were produced for Mission Loc@l.

print

2011-10-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

I'm currently the education reporter for Mission Loc@l, a hyper-local news site that covers the Mission District of San Francisco.

American Indian Kids Fight to Maintain Identity
District Scrambles to Vaccinate Every Student
Thousands Walk to School -- By Choice
Growing Pains at New K-8 Aiming to be One
Three Men Shot Near 16th and Mission
Program Encourages Organized Play

In the Summer of 2007, I interned as a Breaking News Reporter at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Here is a sampling of the 20 articles I wrote over the course of 10 weeks.

How do panhandlers spend your money? This story received over 31,000 hits online and racked up 180 comments. It was also on the front page of the Local section.
Residents urge council panel to ban Styrofoam, end proposed garbage handling site
Camp Blaze sparks girls' interest in firefighting
Boeing sees air tankers in its future

documentaries

2010-04-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

For the last several years I have helped several companies and organizations with various film projects. For one project, I traveled to Lima, Peru with the Not For Sale Campaign to document an amazing organization that helps homeless kids get safely off the streets.

I have worked with several different departments within the University of San Francisco on projects, including this one: an introduction of the University for incoming students.

And here is my favorite piece from my documentary film class in the spring of 2009 about a little-known quirk of San Francisco.

blogs

2010-04-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

About-Face is an awesome organization that equips young women and girls the tools to understand and resist harmful media messages. I have written several blog postings for them, including this one, this one and this one.

I also fervently blogged my travels overseas, like when I studied abroad in Argentina, and when I traveled around South America on my own.

videos

2010-04-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

I continue to do video news reports for Mission Local, like these.

I produced this piece for a documentary production class in college under the famed documentarian Sam Green.

I also produce films for various Bay Area businesses and organization, including for my Alma Matter, USF.

While news director for USFtv for 2 years, I produced many cablecasts and reported on dozens of stories.

public radio

2010-04-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

In the summer of 2009 I was a production intern for Your Call, a live political affairs call-in show on KALW public radio in San Francisco.

I produced two shows on my own, one about student loans, and one about illegal immigration's economic impact.

short film projects

2010-04-08T01:22:00.000-07:00

I film and edit short film projects for organizations such as the Not For Sale Campaign, Leo T. McCarthy Center, Akili Dada and One World Children's Fund.

comedy

2010-04-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

I'm also a jokester.

In college, I was a member of the school's only comedy improv team, Awkward Silence, and I was captain of that clan my senior year. I was also known around USF for doing lots of stand up gigs, and was even a two-time winner of USF's Last Comic Standing. Now I'm on an improv team called Chinese Ballroom. It's a blast, and definitely more than just a weekly stress release--because of improv I've become used to taking risks, thinking on my feet, performing in front a huge group of people, and being plain ol' goofy.

I'm the team videographer, and I make the promotional videos found on our YouTube page, like these.

¡se habla español!

2010-04-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

I am fluent in written and spoken Spanish. I studied abroad in Córdoba, Argentina for 5 months in 2008, and for 3 months in 2009, I traveled around other South American countries on my own. I taught English in Puerto Rico, Ecuador and interned for VmasV, a newspaper in Viña del Mar, Chile. Back in the States, I have tutored Spanish to San Francisco high school students, and I volunteered extensively with Poor Magazine where I translated videos, news articles and poetry.