This week, we’d like to introduce you to our arts and entertainment intern Tia Trinh. An editor-in-chief in her own right with UC Santa Barbara’s The Bottom Line, she’s been covering community events like the JAMS Summer Rock Camp and the Goleta Lemon Festival, and even written some live music coverage.
How long have you been interning at the Independent? What got you interested in journalism?
I started interning in June 2024 and have had such a great time getting to know the Santa Barbara area and community even more. As I’ve navigated my way through college, I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do with writing, but after taking various writing classes and working with UCSB’s newspaper The Bottom Line, I found myself drawn toward journalism. As I have moved up in position over the years and now serve as editor-in-chief, I’ve had the opportunity to see the different parts of running a newspaper, and I realized that I really enjoy going out to cover stories and be the one to write the content.