LCI Blog: Meet the Media – Emilie Raguso, senior reporter at Berkeleyside

What’s your top story for today? 
Today, I’m working on a story about a pilot program in Berkeley to change parking behavior by adjusting meter pricing and timing in three busy business districts. We’ve been covering the issue for months and it’s inspired a fair amount of debate since parking is something that affects many residents on a regular basis.
Tell us about your dream assignment.
When I was getting my master’s in journalism, I had hopes of either becoming a foreign correspondent or being a staff writer for the New Yorker. I had no idea that foreign correspondent opportunities were few and far between, and staff writer positions at the New Yorker even less available. The whole industry is changing so quickly that, by the time I finished my first job as a newspaper crime reporter in 2009, it wasn’t clear what kind of jobs would be available. Fortunately, I became connected to a local news website in my own city and from there have gone on to cover several local communities online. Community news may seem like small potatoes compared to a position at The New York Times or a similar publication, but we get to cover a wide range of stories in an in-depth way on a very local level. This can have a big impact on how people experience the community – it’s a very gratifying gig.
Describe the wackiest story you’ve written.
In one of my first articles, I wrote about a house fire involving a person whose late-night munchies got him out of bed for a piece of toast. He discovered that his house was on fire and he was able to get all his family members out. Had he not awakened, this story might have ended very differently. Most of my articles have covered more serious topics… but then there was this one, and the headline says it all: “Pockets full of jewels and panties, suspected Ceres burglar is ‘debriefed.'” Then there was the one about police officers helping deliver a baby on Labor Day.
What is your PR pet peeve?
It drives me crazy when people contact me about stories that have nothing to do with Berkeley. We have a very focused geographic coverage approach, and anything outside the city limits really isn’t for us.
Tell us about a top trend in the industry that you’re currently covering or are interested in.
There’s a huge amount of development going on to make Berkeley’s downtown more dense. There’s a lot of interesting conversation happening around that and a lot of projects to inform the community about.
Tell us a little about yourself. 
I am currently a senior reporter at Berkeleyside, and previously ran the community news website Albany Patch from April 2010 to October 2012. My stories have been featured on The New York Times website, Salon, NPR and in the East Bay Express. I was a crime reporter for The Modesto Bee after receiving my master’s in journalism from UC Berkeley in 2006.
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