Communication Alumnus News

Release date: April 29, 2007 |

 Robin Yasinow ’89 attended graduate school in Leeds, England and returned to Baltimore to work in public relations at nonprofit organizations and some of the city’s biggest ad agencies. Twelve years ago, when Goucher alum and professor Gayle Economos started her own public relations business, Robin advised her one-time professor in matters of best practices. Robin also takes mentoring seriously. While working for the now-defunct Eisner Communications, she advised another student, Erin Howe Haines ’00.

Will Vought ’99 interned at the White House and for NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”. He could then be heard overnights at a commercial radio station in Baltimore. After graduation, a radio station in Savannah, GA, hired him for its evening show. A year later, he landed a position in a major market that most broadcast professionals take years to achieve: morning-show host at a top-rated station in Buffalo, NY. All the while, Will was building a reputation as a stand-up comic and actor, which he is now pursuing full time. His recent gigs include a role in Robert DeNiro’s The Good Shepherd and voicing celebrities such as Chad Lowe on Starveillance (Fridays on E!). 

Belinda Johnson ’99 is another student who comes back to campus to lend her expertise to Goucher professor Gayle Economos’ Media Management students. As the public affairs producer/coordinator at WNUV-TV, Baltimore’s CW affiliate, Belinda is responsible for many of the station’s partnerships with nonprofit organizations. Among her duties is the writing and production of public service announcements for charities such as the Fuel Fund of Maryland. 

Oliver “O.J.” Janney ’03 is a standout when it comes to initiative. At the onset of a hostage-situation siege in Baltimore County, OJ (then a freshman) and a friend grabbed a camera from the Goucher TV studio and hot-footed it to the site, becoming the first camera crew on the scene. A bidding war for their footage ensued among the TV stations of Baltimore, with the winner (Fox 45) providing O.J. with a practicum in photojournalism and a subsequent part-time job. In addition O.J. served as executive producer of the news program on Goucher’s on-campus television station, and he founded Goucher Student Radio. Upon graduation, he was hired by WJZ-TV where he now works full-time job as a news photographer and was recently awarded an Emmy. And he finds the time to teach part time at Goucher, too, passing on his experience to others.

Katherine Dietrict ‘04 and Emily Barrueco ‘04 are graduates of the department. Katherine is now an account executive at WIYY-FM 98Rock, and Emily is a media buyer at MGH Advertising. Account executives do business with media buyers, with whom they negotiate on ratings and advertising costs. Emily and Katherine have visited Goucher professor Gayle Economos’ Media Management class together, passing on work experiences as well as career advice.

Dominic Luciano ’07, a current Goucher senior, produces “Dead Air” on Goucher Radio Fridays from 10 p.m. to midnight. Dominic hopes to work as an on-air radio personality. After interning at WNST SportsTalk 1570 in Baltimore, he recently got a little closer to fulfilling his dream when 98 Rock's Mickey and Amelia gave him the controls one morning during their wildly popular show. And current junior Samantha Solomon ’08 turned a chance meeting with Maryland’s secretary of state into a valuable internship. After it was finished, she was offered a job.