Latest news with #Annie
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Britain's Got Talent TikTok stars who got engaged during live semifinals hit back at ‘fix' rumours
Keep scrolling to find out how they responded to the rumours fix row Britain's Got Talent TikTok stars who got engaged during live semifinals hit back at 'fix' rumours TIKTOK stars who got engaged during Britain's Got Talent's live semifinals have hit back at 'fix' rumours. It came as the last remaining semi-finalists performed for a place in next week's final. 4 TikTok stars who got engaged on BGT have addressed "fix" rumours Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 4 Jess' boyfriend Harry appeared in a VT with magician Harry Moulding Credit: ITV 4 He then proceeded to propose in an emotional moment Credit: ITV Viewers called out a "fix" as Harry Moulding pulled off an elaborate wedding proposal - resulting in a Golden Buzzer from KSI. Not all viewers were convinced of the moment's authenticity - and shared their thoughts online. Jess, who was proposed to, is a TikTok star with more than 80,000 followers on the platform. A fan wrote under one of her recent posts: "Hope you're ok after the backlash. "Hope you both know the general public just hate on everything." To which Jess replied: "Some comments have really made me laugh. I was in on my own proposal apparently, madness. "I'm in a complete bubble of shock and happiness and nothing can bring me down from cloud 9." A pre-recorded VT in Paris saw Harry Moulding predict a proposal - and he met another lad named Harry. Jess - the other Harry's girlfriend - was sat in the BGT audience and was "randomly" chosen to get up on stage and play the pre-recorded video. Her partner then appeared on stage in the Hammersmith auditorium andgot down on one knee. Britain's Got Talent fix row erupts as magic act is called 'biggest set up ever' after live marriage proposal Jess was left in tears as she said 'yes', leaving the judges and the presenters on their feet. But people at home were very suspicious over the "trick" and branded it a "set up". One said: "It was very obvious that the fiancee was in on the trick. He did not bring in an engagement ring randomly. So this seat number was forced. "Was Jessie also in on it? I'd like to believe she was set up for a romantic surprise, but she specified Paris, so I think she was a plant. The other seat numbers appear to also be plants." Another wrote: "There were no tricks in that performance, every single aspect was clearly staged, no talent or skill involved in any of it. "It was a complete set up by the show pretending to be an original act from a magician. Britain's Got Talent's biggest 'fix' rows Britain's Got Talent has been plagued with 'fix' rows over the years. How many of these do you remember? Jasmine Elcock - 2016: Teenage singer Jasmine Elcock stunned the nation with her version of Cher's Believe. But it then transpired she had already performed professionally in London's West End. Jasmine, 14, admitted: "I've performed in Annie in the West End at about the age of nine or 10, but I really get nervous." IrShad Shaikh - 2017: BGT fans were left questioning the rule book when IrShad Shaikh auditioned. He got four red buzzers from the judges, which would usually mean an instant dismissal. Yet in a strange turn of events, they let him continue with his put him through to the next round. Colin Thackery - 2019: Elderly war veteran Colin won BGT in 2019, but there was an outcry over the final. He warbled his place to win with a version of We'll Meet Again but fans were furious that escapologist Jonathan Goodwin didn't even rank in the top three. Viewers felt Jonathan - who almost suffocated while being buried alive in a gravel pit - should have won. Axel Blake - 2022: Comedian Axel Blake was given a Golden Buzzer in 2022 after making the judges laugh. But fans were fuming when they discovered Axel already had a show on worldwide streaming platform Amazon Prime. Despite this, Axel still went on to win the series. Taryn Charles - 2024: Singer Taryn Charles is one of this year's hopefuls lucky enough to receive the Golden Buzzer. Bruno Tonilio put her straight through to the semi-finals following her performance of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin, but it has now come to light that she is no stranger to TV. Viewers recognised Taryn from an episode of ITV1's Starstruck, where she impersonated Whitney Houston for judges Olly Murs, Sheridan Smith, Adam Lambert and Beverley Knight. "I know the show takes the p*** a lot but come on, that was complete b******s." It comes as another BGT star fuelled fix claims after suggesting he was told what to perform in the semi-final. Meanwhile, fans thought another act should have received KSI's Golden Buzzer instead of Harry Moulding. Britain's Got Talent airs on ITV1 and ITVX.
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Britain's Got Talent TikTok stars who got engaged during live semifinals hit back at ‘fix' rumours
TIKTOK stars who got engaged during Britain's Got Talent's live semifinals have hit back at 'fix' rumours. It came as the last remaining semi-finalists performed for a place in next week's final. 4 TikTok stars who got engaged on BGT have addressed "fix" rumours Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 4 Jess' boyfriend Harry appeared in a VT with magician Harry Moulding Credit: ITV 4 He then proceeded to propose in an emotional moment Credit: ITV Viewers called out a "fix" as Harry Moulding pulled off an KSI . Not all viewers were convinced of the moment's authenticity - and shared their thoughts online. Jess, who was proposed to, is a TikTok star with more than 80,000 followers on the platform. A fan wrote under one of her recent posts: "Hope you're ok after the backlash. Read more on BGT "Hope you both know the general public just hate on everything." To which Jess replied: "Some comments have really made me laugh. I was in on my own proposal apparently, madness. "I'm in a complete bubble of shock and happiness and nothing can bring me down from cloud 9." A pre-recorded VT in Paris saw Harry Moulding predict a proposal - and he met another lad named Harry. Most read in Reality Jess - the other Harry's girlfriend - was sat in the BGT audience and was "randomly" chosen to get up on stage and play the pre-recorded video. Her partner then appeared on stage in the Hammersmith auditorium andgot down on one knee. Britain's Got Talent fix row erupts as magic act is called 'biggest set up ever' after live marriage proposal Jess was left in tears as she said 'yes', leaving the judges and the presenters on their feet. But people at home were very suspicious over the "trick" and branded it a "set up". One said: "It was very obvious that the fiancee was in on the trick. He did not bring in an engagement ring randomly. So this seat number was forced. "Was Jessie also in on it? I'd like to believe she was set up for a romantic surprise, but she specified Paris , so I think she was a plant. The other seat numbers appear to also be plants ." Another wrote: "There were no tricks in that performance, every single aspect was clearly staged, no talent or skill involved in any of it. "It was a complete set up by the show pretending to be an original act from a magician. Britain's Got Talent's biggest 'fix' rows Britain's Got Talent has been plagued with 'fix' rows over the years. How many of these do you remember? Jasmine Elcock - 2016: Teenage singer Jasmine Elcock stunned the nation with her version of Cher's Believe. But it then transpired she had already performed professionally in London's West End. Jasmine, 14, admitted: "I've performed in Annie in the West End at about the age of nine or 10, but I really get nervous." IrShad Shaikh - 2017: BGT fans were left questioning the rule book when IrShad Shaikh auditioned. Colin Thackery - 2019: Elderly war veteran Colin won BGT in 2019, but Axel Blake - 2022: Comedian Axel Blake was given a Golden Buzzer in 2022 after making the judges laugh. But fans were fuming when they discovered Singer Taryn Charles is one of this year's hopefuls lucky enough to receive the Golden Buzzer. Bruno Tonilio put her straight through to the semi-finals following her performance of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by "I know the show takes the p*** a lot but come on, that was complete b******s." It comes as another BGT star Meanwhile, fans thought Britain's Got Talent airs on ITV1 and ITVX. 4 Semi-finalist Harry Moulding received a Golden Buzzer for the act Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Charles Strouse obituary
Like his fellow Broadway composers Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, Charles Strouse, who has died aged 96, had a classical music education. But his breakthrough hit – for which he won his first Tony award – with lyrics by his early career collaborator, Lee Adams, was Bye Bye Birdie (1960), a satirical take on the new teenage culture of rock'n'roll, with reference to the kerfuffle surrounding Elvis Presley's call up to the US army. His biggest hit of all, though, and the first without lyrics by Adams, was the uplifting Depression-era musical Annie (1977), based on the cartoon strip little orphan girl melting the heart of billionaire Daddy Warbucks. The show ran on Broadway for over 2,300 performances, and for more than three-and-a-half years at the Victoria Palace in London, and was made into a film in 1982. Mike Nichols's production of Annie had lyrics (and direction) by Martin Charnin and book by Thomas Meehan. Strouse's punchy, irresistible score, for which he won his third Tony award, included several songs that have entered the musical theatre pantheon: Annie's indomitably optimistic Tomorrow, the upbeat, rhythmic orphanage lament It's the Hard-Knock Life (later sampled by Jay-Z for a single in 1998) and the equally upbeat suggestion that You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile, an appropriate placebo – in musical theatre terms, at least – for child poverty and misery. The whole was feelgood to an extent that would be unbearable without Strouse's sly, plangently melodic, beautifully crafted songs and the occasional high-quality belter. As in the standout song of Bye Bye Birdie (the 'Elvis' hero was named Conrad Birdie, played on the London stage in 1961 by Marty Wilde), Put on a Happy Face (sung by Birdie's promoter and played on Broadway and in the 1963 movie by Dick Van Dyke), Strouse operated in a pre-Sondheim non-ironic world of musical theatre escapism. Birdie won him his first Tony. He was born in New York, growing up on the Upper West Side, the son of Ira Strouse, a travelling salesman, and his wife, Ethel (nee Newman), and was educated at a Manhattan prep school, Townsend Harris Hall in the city, and the Eastman School of Music, in Rochester, New York, graduating in 1947. He won two scholarships to the Tanglewood summer festival and music centre in Massachusetts, where he studied with Aaron Copland. Copland then arranged a further scholarship for him with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Although he wrote many orchestral works, including a piano concerto and an opera for children, Nightingale (seen at the Lyric Hammersmith in London in 1982, with Sarah Brightman, fresh from Cats, delivering an astonishing vocal performance of coloratura trills and soaring melodic lines) based on a moral fable by Hans Christian Andersen, he found his musical theatre groove after meeting Adams at a New York party in 1949. The duo started by writing songs for summer revues in the lakeside resorts of the Adirondacks and developed this work through the 50s in off-Broadway revues and cabarets with writers including Neil Simon, Vernon Duke and Ogden Nash. Their second musical, All American (1962), was a flop, though it contained a poignant, lyrical ballad about lost love, Once Upon a Time, which was recorded by Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett and sung by Bob Dylan among others. The show had a book by Mel Brooks, who took from the debacle the germ of an idea for an intentionally disastrous musical that is a fluke triumph. His movie masterpiece The Producers, containing the calculatedly tasteless-as-possible hit show Springtime for Hitler, appeared in 1967. After Annie, there was a string of flops and a misguided sequel to the first hit. Bring Back Birdie (1981) closed after just four performances on Broadway. It should have been called 'Bye Bye, Bye Bye Birdie'. Similarly, a famous flop with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, Dance a Little Closer (1983), shuttered on the same night as it opened, having been dubbed during previews 'Close a Little Sooner'. That followed on the heels of another failure, Charlie and Algernon (1980, lyrics by David Rogers) which was presented – as Flowers for Algernon – in the West End by the producer Michael White in the previous year. It lasted barely three weeks at the Queen's (now Sondheim). Despite these setbacks, Strouse's reputation remained, and remains, secure. He and Adams provided Sammy Davis Jr with a spectacular leading role as a prize-fighting boxer escaping from the Harlem ghetto in Golden Boy (1964) – best song, This Is the Life – directed by Arthur Penn and based on a 1937 play by Clifford Odets. It ran for nearly two years on Broadway and was the first musical produced at the London Palladium (in 1968) when Davis Jr reprised the role for a three-month run. In 1965, Strouse provided a clever, quasi-rocky score for Hal Prince's production of It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman! (lyrics by Adams, book by David Newman and the film director Robert Benton – who later wrote the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie). And in 1970, Lauren Bacall headed the duo's Applause, accurately based on the movie All About Eve, with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, for which Strouse won his second Tony. Bacall was younger and more supple as Margo Channing than Bette Davis in the movie, and in London, at the Her (now His) Majesty's in 1972, the show had a solid 11-month run with Angela Richards superb as the aspirant, dethroning lead Eve Harrington. In the same year, in London, Strouse and Adams launched a spectacular musical starring Polly James as Queen Victoria, I and Albert, at the Piccadilly, directed by John Schlesinger, but this was a seriously skewed fiasco, managing just 120 performances, though Adams remains proud of his lyrics. The New York Times critic Frank Rich averred that Strouse often wrote rousing scores for frail shows, citing both Rags (1986) – lyrics by Rogers, book by Joseph Stein, librettist of Fiddler on the Roof – about Jewish immigrants in early 20th-century New York, starring the opera singer Teresa Stratas; and the misfired Nick & Nora (1991), based on the sleuthing married couple in Dashiel Hammett's novel The Thin Man, lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr, book by Arthur Laurents. The first lasted four performances, the second – also known as 'Nick & Snora' – doubled up with just nine. Strouse wrote several notable film scores: for Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968), There Was a Crooked Man (1970), starring Henry Fonda and Kirk Douglas, and Sidney Lumet's Just Tell Me What You Want (1980), which featured a hilarious romantic punch-up in a department store between Ali MacGraw and her feckless millionaire lover, played by the hangdog comedian Alan King. As Lerner nearly once observed, the lyrics of any show tune are only as good as the music lets them be, and for one glorious decade the lyrics of Adams flourished thanks to Strouse, who subsequently flattered the efforts of less ideal creative partners. Strouse is right up there with the best of the old Broadway musical theatre greats before Sondheim broadened the genre's horizons while, according to the critic Mark Steyn, reducing the popular audience to a sophisticated metropolitan elite. He married the actor and choreographer Barbara Simon in 1962; she died in 2023. He is survived by their four children, Benjamin, Nicholas, Victoria and William, and by eight grandchildren. Charles Louis Strouse, composer, born 7 June 1928; died 15 May 2025
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Los Angeles Times welcomes Class of 2025 summer interns
The Los Angeles Times is excited to introduce the Class of 2025 summer interns, continuing a time-honored tradition of training the next generation of multimedia journalists. The 26 college students and recent graduates arrive to the El Segundo newsroom, starting Tuesday, armed with ideas and vigor. They join The Times from colleges and university across the nation and from here in California. Among the cohort, some have told stories abroad and others have applied their talent to tackle coverage in closer arenas, including in the arts, education, innovation and migration. They are diverse thinkers and doers. Their background showcases work with policymakers, cancer researchers, entrepreneurs and illustrators. Their assignments now will bring them to all corners of our newsroom, from breaking news to data reporting, from design and photography to arts and entertainment writing. The interns were selected from nearly 1,000 applications and through partnerships with Cal State Los Angeles, the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, the NAACP, the Dow Jones News Fund, the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science, and the Asian American Journalists Assn. Journalism is what binds them. Storytelling in its many forms is what drives them. Please meet them below: Annie Goodykoontz was born and raised in Phoenix. She is a rising junior at the University of Missouri-Columbia, studying journalism. This past year, she was the editor-in-chief of the school's student newspaper, the Maneater. Last summer, she worked as a breaking news intern at the Arizona Republic, where she discovered her love for community journalism, along with writing about fires, rattlesnake bites, drowning deaths, the monitor lizard and whether it's OK to pick fruit off a neighbor's tree. She's excited to continue this passion as a Fast Break intern this summer at the Los Angeles Times. In her free time, Annie loves to make random playlists, doodle in her reporter's notebook and go antiquing. Aspen Anderson recently graduated from the University of Washington, where she studied journalism and psychology. In college, she was a news reporter for the Daily and served as a legislative reporter during the 2024 Washington session, contributing stories to newspapers across the state. She spent last summer reporting for the Bangkok Post, covering same-sex marriage legalization and related policy gaps. Last fall, she interned at the Vashon Beachcomber — one of her hometown papers — covering everything from a thrift store's role in the global supply chain to a paddleboarding witch parade. Aspen is now a freelancer for the Seattle Times features section, where she writes the How-to-Seattle beat. She's thrilled to join the features desk on June 24, doing what she loves most: human-centered, impactful reporting. Avery Fox is a spring 2025 design graduate at the University of Texas at Austin and grew up in Arlington, Texas, as the daughter of two journalists. She has worked previously with the Dallas Morning News as a summer mentee and freelance illustrator, and more recently with Texas Monthly magazine as an art intern. In school, she pursued editorial layout design and printmaking, as well as minors in sociology and arts management and administration. In her free time, she enjoys crafting, exploring nature and escaping into reality TV. She is passionate about enlisting the style and structure of magazine design to better engage and communicate with the reader and is excited to explore this at The Times as a design intern. Cate Burtner is a recent graduate of Stanford University, where she studied English literature and fell in love with books and storytelling. She wrote and edited for the Stanford Daily and Stanford's literary magazine, and tutored high school students in humanities classrooms across the bay. Cate has previously interned at San Francisco's literary festival and a policy nonprofit in Chicago. She is from the Pacific Northwest and is excited to find the best hikes in the L.A. area. In her free time, Cate loves reading, drawing and listening to music. She will be joining the L.A. Times as the entertainment and arts intern in June. @cateburtner Christopher Buchanan is a recent graduate of UCLA, where he studied English literature. While in college, he worked as a senior reporter for the Daily Bruin where he covered national and state politics, protests and university bureaucracy. Buchanan most recently served as a special projects intern at NBC, following stints at CalMatters and American Banker; the latter as a member of the Dow Jones News Fund. His work has also been featured in Politico and NPR-affiliate stations. He co-founded and serves as editor-in-chief of an online magazine, Bum Diary, which covers a range of mainstream and alternative topics and has been featured in the Riverside Art Museum. He will join The Times as a Fast Break intern. Diamy Wang is a San Gabriel Valley native and rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania. She is pursuing majors in political science and gender, sexuality and women's studies, and a minor in Asian American studies. At Penn, she is the executive editor of the Daily Pennsylvanian, the university's independent student media organization where she worked as a deputy copy editor and the politics desk editor — reporting on the 2024 election, campus activism and federal scrutiny on the school. She was previously an audience engagement intern at the Detroit Free Press through the Dow Jones News Fund. When she's not in the DP office, she enjoys browsing through stationery stores or looking for a new iced latte flavor. She is excited to join The Times, her hometown paper, as a homepage intern on June 9. @diamywang Elisha Williams, a natural-born storyteller, is a media enthusiast majoring in digital journalism and communication at the University of Southern Mississippi. Known as "Big Lish," she is the charismatic host of Southern Miss Says, a man-on-the-street interview show that spotlights student voices with humor and heart. Elisha also writes for the Student Printz, covering campus culture and student life, and serves as chairman of the communications committee within the Student Government Assn., where she advocates for student engagement and campus initiatives. With a passion for audience engagement and creating impactful content, Elisha is thrilled to bring her creativity to The Times' audience team. @elisha__williams Fazlur Rahman was a business journalist at the Daily Star, the most widely circulated English-language daily in Bangladesh, before moving to Nevada in fall 2024 to pursue a master's degree in journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is expected to graduate in May 2026. He spent a decade covering topics such as macroeconomy, finance, telecommunications, energy, and small and medium-sized enterprises. Between 2021, when he became deputy business editor, and 2024, he edited major stories for both online and print editions, wrote breaking news, and produced news analysis pieces. He enjoys playing cricket and soccer. He is thrilled to have the opportunity to intern with the business desk at The Times. Hailey Wang was born and raised in Taiwan and recently earned her master's degree from UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Before graduate school, she worked as a reporter for a financial magazine in Taiwan for three years, earning two reporting awards. Her beats included business, politics, climate change and culture. She has interned with Bloomberg News and Lookout Santa Cruz, where she told stories through data and interactive maps. Hailey is passionate about uncovering hidden narratives in data sets, especially those tied to underrepresented communities. When she's not in front of her laptop, you can find her at a local coffee shop or catching the latest film. She is excited to join the data and graphics team on July 7. Ira Gorawara is a junior at UCLA double majoring in economics and communication with a minor in professional writing. She helmed the Daily Bruin's award-winning sports section, and reported across Asia for outlets including the South China Morning Post, NDTV, Cricket Hong Kong and Emerging Cricket. She is also the author of "The ABCs of Life," a short story collection, and is an author for UCLA Blueprint, where she writes on regional and societal issues in Los Angeles. As an Indian born and raised in Hong Kong, she brings a global lens to her storytelling and is thrilled to continue growing her craft with The Times' sports department starting June 23. Isabelle Nunes is a rising senior at UC Berkeley, where they study media studies and political science. At the Daily Californian, they served as a deputy news editor and social media editor before being elected as the 2025-2026 staff representative. Last summer, they worked at the Public Policy Institute of California as a digital marketing intern and are now completing their term as an audience development intern for KQED. Outside of the newsroom, Nunes enjoys taking public transportation, reading and scrolling through Pinterest for design inspiration. They are excited to continue their journey in the journalism industry as an audience intern for The Times. June Hsu is a recent graduate of Pomona College, where she studied public policy analysis and politics. Originally from Kauai, Hawaii, she served as editor-in-chief of the Student Life, the oldest college newspaper in Southern California, after holding roles as managing editor, news editor and news writer. She is a fellow with CalMatters' College Journalism Network and has interned with Voice of America. June also participated in the Politico Journalism Institute in Washington, D.C. When she's not editing, you can find her working in a coffee shop, rewatching "Friends" for the 10th time or exploring California beaches — trying not to miss home too much. She's thrilled to join The Times' copy desk as a multiplatform editing intern with the Dow Jones News Fund. Kara Alexander is a rising senior majoring in journalism at Cal State L.A. She works as a multimedia reporter for the University Times, uncovering budget cuts affecting the CSU system — particularly at her campus — analyzing data on food deserts in South Los Angeles and building sources across the city. She has covered Cal State L.A. sports teams during the regular season and postseason, focusing on women's tennis, men's baseball and men's basketball. Most recently, she participated in the news conference for the LAFC game against the San Jose Earthquakes. Kara's work reflects a strong passion for telling impactful, community-driven stories. In her free time, she enjoys going to the gym, hiking, roller skating and thrifting. Originally from Hawthorne, she's excited to stay local — and even more thrilled to sharpen her skills as a sports intern at The Times. Katerina Portela, raised in Florida and Hawaii, recently graduated from San Diego State University where she was honored as the school's top journalism undergraduate. She contributed award-winning features coverage to her university newspaper and led the creation of a student-made mini-magazine named Dead Air for the campus radio station. Portela also worked as an investigative news assistant at KPBS, a PBS and NPR affiliate, where she edited audio, researched public databases, handled social media content and wrote investigative articles on regional issues. She enjoys exploring museums, hearing live music, and finding new favorite restaurants. She can't wait to join The Times as the Image intern and looks forward to diving into L.A.'s vibrant city culture (and its street tacos, of course). Lauren Harvey is a graduate student at USC studying communication data science. Born and raised in Huntington Beach, she graduated from UC Berkeley in 2024 with degrees in English and public health. Her work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, uDiscover Music and Fifty Grande magazine. When she's not writing, she's teaching yoga sculpt and strength training classes at CorePower Yoga or taking care of her dogs, Odin and Hash Brown. She's excited to join The Times on the Entertainment and Arts team. Lauren Ng is a Torrance native and rising junior at New York University studying journalism, food studies, public policy and data science. She's thrilled to join the Food section at The Times, where she hopes to explore the intersections between food, culture and politics. This fall, Lauren will be the managing editor at the Washington Square News, NYU's independent student-run newspaper, where she formerly served as the culture editor and dining editor. Lauren has also worked as an editorial assistant at Food Fix, a biweekly newsletter that covers American food policy. When she isn't writing about good eats, you can find her trying new restaurants around L.A., cooking with her family or shopping at her local Whole Foods. Luke Johnson is a documentary photojournalist originally from San Diego currently based in Washington, D.C., while he pursues his M.A. in new media and photojournalism at George Washington University. In 2023, he graduated from Elon University with a B.A. in journalism, a B.A. in cinema and television arts and minors in photography and psychology. Previously he has interned for the Gillette News Record, the Seattle Times, the Indianapolis Star, the Kansas City Star and San Diego Magazine. His work has been featured in the Washington Post, the Associated Press, the New York Times, USA Today and Sports Illustrated, among others. He is excited to be back home in Southern California, joining the team as a photojournalism intern. Lupita Fernandez Garcia is a rising senior at UCLA completing her bachelor's degree in English while minoring in professional writing. From the Bay Area, her passion for journalism and community representation was unraveled in high school through Mosaic Journalism, where she would go on to publish articles for the Mercury News. Her passion for community building is showcased through her commitment to her Latina-based sorority, Phi Lambda Rho Sorority Inc., aiming to preserve the retention of Latinas in higher education. Her love for creative and communal spaces has manifested into joining The Times as a community engagement intern. Also a fashion and music enthusiast, she is likely to be spotted at any local thrift store listening to rock en Español. Marcos Magaña was born and raised in the eastern Coachella Valley, a predominantly agricultural desert region in Southern California. He holds a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees from UCLA in urban and regional planning and geospatial information systems, where he focused on issues closely affecting his home community, including environmental justice, spatial inequality and climate vulnerability. He is now pursuing a PhD in environment and sustainability at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, where he investigates the biosocial dimensions of extreme heat exposure in low-income and racialized communities, with a focus on desert geographies. By interning with the environment and health desk, he aims to develop the skills to effectively communicate his research to broader audiences, to make his work more accessible and impactful beyond academic settings. Niamh Ordner is a senior at Rice University majoring in integrative biology, with research experience in plant molecular biology and computational cancer genomics. She currently works as a science writing intern for Rice's School of Natural Sciences and serves as a writer and editor for Catalyst, the university's undergraduate research journal. Whether she's explaining the purpose of peroxisomal targeting signals or the science behind her favorite sci-fi novels, she is always the happiest when she using her knowledge to spark curiosity in others. This summer, she's beyond excited to join the Los Angeles Times as a mass media fellow through the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science, sponsored by the American Statistical Assn. Nicole Macias Garibay is a transborder storyteller and bilingual journalist from the U.S.-Mexico border. She is a recent graduate of Arizona State University in her home state, where she studied journalism. Nicole grew up crossing the border every day to attend school in the U.S. — an experience that fuels her drive to report on migration, Latino culture and the Hispanic community. She wrote for La Voz — The Arizona Republic, interned at Telemundo Arizona and launched VOCES, a bilingual magazine dedicated to telling stories para la comunidad, por la comunidad. The first time she drove into L.A., Nicole told her parents she would work at The Times one day. She's excited to begin that chapter on June 23 as a De Los intern. Piper Heath is a soon-to-be graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, completing dual degrees in journalism and political science. Currently a lobbying intern at the Nevada Legislature, she previously worked at the Nevadan where she developed expertise in social media strategy and community-focused reporting. She contributed to the New York Times as an election stringer during the 2024 presidential election and reported on culture and politics at the Paris Olympics. Her work includes publishing in the North American Congress on Latin America and interviewing acclaimed author George Saunders. A cold brew connoisseur in her own right, she is beyond excited to start as a business intern on June 9 through a partnership with her university. Quinae Austin is a first-generation college student and mother from South Central Los Angeles. She holds an associate degree in journalism from Cerritos College and is pursuing a broadcast journalism degree at Cal State L.A. Her experience includes writing for the University Times, the campus student-run newspaper and working at the campus radio station. Passionate about amplifying marginalized voices through various media, Quinae recently self-published a poetry book, 'Welcome to my Naeborhood,' exploring themes of identity, resilience and transformation. Her love for writing has also taken her abroad, where she wrote about her time at the University of Durham in England. Through her journalism and creative writing, Quinae aims to elevate underrepresented voices and create meaningful connections. She is excited to join The Times as a community engagement intern on July 7. Quincy Bowie Jr. is a passionate multimedia journalist and creative nonfiction artist who most often explores the intersections of identity, culture and media in his work. A proud Alabama native, he recently graduated from USC, where he studied journalism and documentary. In his time there, he contributed to the Daily Trojan, USC Annenberg Media and produced multiple documentaries and short films. You can find his previous work at CNN, Spectrum News and Memorías de Nomada. Outside of work, he spends his time looking for good books, honing his craft, and searching for L.A.'s best soul food spot. Samantha H. Chung is an Angeleno and a recent graduate of Harvard College, where she studied English and East Asian studies. She served as the books executive and editor-at-large for the arts section of the Harvard Crimson, where she developed a passion for cultural criticism and arts reporting. She is also an avid fiction writer and her work has been published in magazines such as Strange Horizons, F&SF and Fusion Fragment. When not writing, Chung can be found figure skating, watching horror movies, or looking at pictures of weird fish. She is thrilled to join The Times as a multiplatform editing intern starting June 9. @samhchung Zurie Pope was born and raised in southwest Ohio. A former student of the University of Cincinnati, Zurie studied journalism and political science. Zurie's journalism career started with writing for his high school newspaper. Since then, he has worked for the Nation magazine, the Washington Blade, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Ohio Capital Journal and the university's student newspaper, the News Record. Throughout his experiences, he has maintained an interest in long-form investigative journalism, focused on money in politics, LGBTQ+ rights and extremism. When he's not working, Zurie likes to go on long walks, memorize poetry and discover new bookstores. Zurie will be joining The Times on June 9 as an Ida B. Wells Society intern. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times welcomes Class of 2025 summer interns
The Los Angeles Times is excited to introduce the Class of 2025 summer interns, continuing a time-honored tradition of training the next generation of multimedia journalists. The 26 college students and recent graduates arrive to the El Segundo newsroom, starting Tuesday, armed with ideas and vigor. They join The Times from colleges and university across the nation and from here in California. Among the cohort, some have told stories abroad and others have applied their talent to tackle coverage in closer arenas, including in the arts, education, innovation and migration. They are diverse thinkers and doers. Their background showcases work with policymakers, cancer researchers, entrepreneurs and illustrators. Their assignments now will bring them to all corners of our newsroom, from breaking news to data reporting, from design and photography to arts and entertainment writing. The interns were selected from nearly 1,000 applications and through partnerships with Cal State Los Angeles, the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, the NAACP, the Dow Jones News Fund, the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science, and the Asian American Journalists Assn. Journalism is what binds them. Storytelling in its many forms is what drives them. Please meet them below: Annie Goodykoontz was born and raised in Phoenix. She is a rising junior at the University of Missouri-Columbia, studying journalism. This past year, she was the editor-in-chief of the school's student newspaper, the Maneater. Last summer, she worked as a breaking news intern at the Arizona Republic, where she discovered her love for community journalism, along with writing about fires, rattlesnake bites, drowning deaths, the monitor lizard and whether it's OK to pick fruit off a neighbor's tree. She's excited to continue this passion as a Fast Break intern this summer at the Los Angeles Times. In her free time, Annie loves to make random playlists, doodle in her reporter's notebook and go antiquing. Aspen Anderson recently graduated from the University of Washington, where she studied journalism and psychology. In college, she was a news reporter for the Daily and served as a legislative reporter during the 2024 Washington session, contributing stories to newspapers across the state. She spent last summer reporting for the Bangkok Post, covering same-sex marriage legalization and related policy gaps. Last fall, she interned at the Vashon Beachcomber — one of her hometown papers — covering everything from a thrift store's role in the global supply chain to a paddleboarding witch parade. Aspen is now a freelancer for the Seattle Times features section, where she writes the How-to-Seattle beat. She's thrilled to join the features desk on June 24, doing what she loves most: human-centered, impactful reporting. Avery Fox is a spring 2025 design graduate at the University of Texas at Austin and grew up in Arlington, Texas, as the daughter of two journalists. She has worked previously with the Dallas Morning News as a summer mentee and freelance illustrator, and more recently with Texas Monthly magazine as an art intern. In school, she pursued editorial layout design and printmaking, as well as minors in sociology and arts management and administration. In her free time, she enjoys crafting, exploring nature and escaping into reality TV. She is passionate about enlisting the style and structure of magazine design to better engage and communicate with the reader and is excited to explore this at The Times as a design intern. Cate Burtner is a recent graduate of Stanford University, where she studied English literature and fell in love with books and storytelling. She wrote and edited for the Stanford Daily and Stanford's literary magazine, and tutored high school students in humanities classrooms across the bay. Cate has previously interned at San Francisco's literary festival and a policy nonprofit in Chicago. She is from the Pacific Northwest and is excited to find the best hikes in the L.A. area. In her free time, Cate loves reading, drawing and listening to music. She will be joining the L.A. Times as the entertainment and arts intern in June. @cateburtner Christopher Buchanan is a recent graduate of UCLA, where he studied English literature. While in college, he worked as a senior reporter for the Daily Bruin where he covered national and state politics, protests and university bureaucracy. Buchanan most recently served as a special projects intern at NBC, following stints at CalMatters and American Banker; the latter as a member of the Dow Jones News Fund. His work has also been featured in Politico and NPR-affiliate stations. He co-founded and serves as editor-in-chief of an online magazine, Bum Diary, which covers a range of mainstream and alternative topics and has been featured in the Riverside Art Museum. He will join The Times as a Fast Break intern. Diamy Wang is a San Gabriel Valley native and rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania. She is pursuing majors in political science and gender, sexuality and women's studies, and a minor in Asian American studies. At Penn, she is the executive editor of the Daily Pennsylvanian, the university's independent student media organization where she worked as a deputy copy editor and the politics desk editor — reporting on the 2024 election, campus activism and federal scrutiny on the school. She was previously an audience engagement intern at the Detroit Free Press through the Dow Jones News Fund. When she's not in the DP office, she enjoys browsing through stationery stores or looking for a new iced latte flavor. She is excited to join The Times, her hometown paper, as a homepage intern on June 9. @diamywang Elisha Williams, a natural-born storyteller, is a media enthusiast majoring in digital journalism and communication at the University of Southern Mississippi. Known as 'Big Lish,' she is the charismatic host of Southern Miss Says, a man-on-the-street interview show that spotlights student voices with humor and heart. Elisha also writes for the Student Printz, covering campus culture and student life, and serves as chairman of the communications committee within the Student Government Assn., where she advocates for student engagement and campus initiatives. With a passion for audience engagement and creating impactful content, Elisha is thrilled to bring her creativity to The Times' audience team. @elisha__williams Fazlur Rahman was a business journalist at the Daily Star, the most widely circulated English-language daily in Bangladesh, before moving to Nevada in fall 2024 to pursue a master's degree in journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is expected to graduate in May 2026. He spent a decade covering topics such as macroeconomy, finance, telecommunications, energy, and small and medium-sized enterprises. Between 2021, when he became deputy business editor, and 2024, he edited major stories for both online and print editions, wrote breaking news, and produced news analysis pieces. He enjoys playing cricket and soccer. He is thrilled to have the opportunity to intern with the business desk at The Times. Hailey Wang was born and raised in Taiwan and recently earned her master's degree from UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Before graduate school, she worked as a reporter for a financial magazine in Taiwan for three years, earning two reporting awards. Her beats included business, politics, climate change and culture. She has interned with Bloomberg News and Lookout Santa Cruz, where she told stories through data and interactive maps. Hailey is passionate about uncovering hidden narratives in data sets, especially those tied to underrepresented communities. When she's not in front of her laptop, you can find her at a local coffee shop or catching the latest film. She is excited to join the data and graphics team on July 7. Ira Gorawara is a junior at UCLA double majoring in economics and communication with a minor in professional writing. She helmed the Daily Bruin's award-winning sports section, and reported across Asia for outlets including the South China Morning Post, NDTV, Cricket Hong Kong and Emerging Cricket. She is also the author of 'The ABCs of Life,' a short story collection, and is an author for UCLA Blueprint, where she writes on regional and societal issues in Los Angeles. As an Indian born and raised in Hong Kong, she brings a global lens to her storytelling and is thrilled to continue growing her craft with The Times' sports department starting June 23. Isabelle Nunes is a rising senior at UC Berkeley, where they study media studies and political science. At the Daily Californian, they served as a deputy news editor and social media editor before being elected as the 2025-2026 staff representative. Last summer, they worked at the Public Policy Institute of California as a digital marketing intern and are now completing their term as an audience development intern for KQED. Outside of the newsroom, Nunes enjoys taking public transportation, reading and scrolling through Pinterest for design inspiration. They are excited to continue their journey in the journalism industry as an audience intern for The Times. June Hsu is a recent graduate of Pomona College, where she studied public policy analysis and politics. Originally from Kauai, Hawaii, she served as editor-in-chief of the Student Life, the oldest college newspaper in Southern California, after holding roles as managing editor, news editor and news writer. She is a fellow with CalMatters' College Journalism Network and has interned with Voice of America. June also participated in the Politico Journalism Institute in Washington, D.C. When she's not editing, you can find her working in a coffee shop, rewatching 'Friends' for the 10th time or exploring California beaches — trying not to miss home too much. She's thrilled to join The Times' copy desk as a multiplatform editing intern with the Dow Jones News Fund. Kara Alexander is a rising senior majoring in journalism at Cal State L.A. She works as a multimedia reporter for the University Times, uncovering budget cuts affecting the CSU system — particularly at her campus — analyzing data on food deserts in South Los Angeles and building sources across the city. She has covered Cal State L.A. sports teams during the regular season and postseason, focusing on women's tennis, men's baseball and men's basketball. Most recently, she participated in the news conference for the LAFC game against the San Jose Earthquakes. Kara's work reflects a strong passion for telling impactful, community-driven stories. In her free time, she enjoys going to the gym, hiking, roller skating and thrifting. Originally from Hawthorne, she's excited to stay local — and even more thrilled to sharpen her skills as a sports intern at The Times. Katerina Portela, raised in Florida and Hawaii, recently graduated from San Diego State University where she was honored as the school's top journalism undergraduate. She contributed award-winning features coverage to her university newspaper and led the creation of a student-made mini-magazine named Dead Air for the campus radio station. Portela also worked as an investigative news assistant at KPBS, a PBS and NPR affiliate, where she edited audio, researched public databases, handled social media content and wrote investigative articles on regional issues. She enjoys exploring museums, hearing live music, and finding new favorite restaurants. She can't wait to join The Times as the Image intern and looks forward to diving into L.A.'s vibrant city culture (and its street tacos, of course). Lauren Harvey is a graduate student at USC studying communication data science. Born and raised in Huntington Beach, she graduated from UC Berkeley in 2024 with degrees in English and public health. Her work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, uDiscover Music and Fifty Grande magazine. When she's not writing, she's teaching yoga sculpt and strength training classes at CorePower Yoga or taking care of her dogs, Odin and Hash Brown. She's excited to join The Times on the Entertainment and Arts team. Lauren Ng is a Torrance native and rising junior at New York University studying journalism, food studies, public policy and data science. She's thrilled to join the Food section at The Times, where she hopes to explore the intersections between food, culture and politics. This fall, Lauren will be the managing editor at the Washington Square News, NYU's independent student-run newspaper, where she formerly served as the culture editor and dining editor. Lauren has also worked as an editorial assistant at Food Fix, a biweekly newsletter that covers American food policy. When she isn't writing about good eats, you can find her trying new restaurants around L.A., cooking with her family or shopping at her local Whole Foods. Luke Johnson is a documentary photojournalist originally from San Diego currently based in Washington, D.C., while he pursues his M.A. in new media and photojournalism at George Washington University. In 2023, he graduated from Elon University with a B.A. in journalism, a B.A. in cinema and television arts and minors in photography and psychology. Previously he has interned for the Gillette News Record, the Seattle Times, the Indianapolis Star, the Kansas City Star and San Diego Magazine. His work has been featured in the Washington Post, the Associated Press, the New York Times, USA Today and Sports Illustrated, among others. He is excited to be back home in Southern California, joining the team as a photojournalism intern. Lupita Fernandez Garcia is a rising senior at UCLA completing her bachelor's degree in English while minoring in professional writing. From the Bay Area, her passion for journalism and community representation was unraveled in high school through Mosaic Journalism, where she would go on to publish articles for the Mercury News. Her passion for community building is showcased through her commitment to her Latina-based sorority, Phi Lambda Rho Sorority Inc., aiming to preserve the retention of Latinas in higher education. Her love for creative and communal spaces has manifested into joining The Times as a community engagement intern. Also a fashion and music enthusiast, she is likely to be spotted at any local thrift store listening to rock en Español. Marcos Magaña was born and raised in the eastern Coachella Valley, a predominantly agricultural desert region in Southern California. He holds a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees from UCLA in urban and regional planning and geospatial information systems, where he focused on issues closely affecting his home community, including environmental justice, spatial inequality and climate vulnerability. He is now pursuing a PhD in environment and sustainability at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, where he investigates the biosocial dimensions of extreme heat exposure in low-income and racialized communities, with a focus on desert geographies. By interning with the environment and health desk, he aims to develop the skills to effectively communicate his research to broader audiences, to make his work more accessible and impactful beyond academic settings. Niamh Ordner is a senior at Rice University majoring in integrative biology, with research experience in plant molecular biology and computational cancer genomics. She currently works as a science writing intern for Rice's School of Natural Sciences and serves as a writer and editor for Catalyst, the university's undergraduate research journal. Whether she's explaining the purpose of peroxisomal targeting signals or the science behind her favorite sci-fi novels, she is always the happiest when she using her knowledge to spark curiosity in others. This summer, she's beyond excited to join the Los Angeles Times as a mass media fellow through the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science, sponsored by the American Statistical Assn. Nicole Macias Garibay is a transborder storyteller and bilingual journalist from the U.S.-Mexico border. She is a recent graduate of Arizona State University in her home state, where she studied journalism. Nicole grew up crossing the border every day to attend school in the U.S. — an experience that fuels her drive to report on migration, Latino culture and the Hispanic community. She wrote for La Voz — The Arizona Republic, interned at Telemundo Arizona and launched VOCES, a bilingual magazine dedicated to telling stories para la comunidad, por la comunidad. The first time she drove into L.A., Nicole told her parents she would work at The Times one day. She's excited to begin that chapter on June 23 as a De Los intern. Piper Heath is a soon-to-be graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, completing dual degrees in journalism and political science. Currently a lobbying intern at the Nevada Legislature, she previously worked at the Nevadan where she developed expertise in social media strategy and community-focused reporting. She contributed to the New York Times as an election stringer during the 2024 presidential election and reported on culture and politics at the Paris Olympics. Her work includes publishing in the North American Congress on Latin America and interviewing acclaimed author George Saunders. A cold brew connoisseur in her own right, she is beyond excited to start as a business intern on June 9 through a partnership with her university. Quinae Austin is a first-generation college student and mother from South Central Los Angeles. She holds an associate degree in journalism from Cerritos College and is pursuing a broadcast journalism degree at Cal State L.A. Her experience includes writing for the University Times, the campus student-run newspaper and working at the campus radio station. Passionate about amplifying marginalized voices through various media, Quinae recently self-published a poetry book, 'Welcome to my Naeborhood,' exploring themes of identity, resilience and transformation. Her love for writing has also taken her abroad, where she wrote about her time at the University of Durham in England. Through her journalism and creative writing, Quinae aims to elevate underrepresented voices and create meaningful connections. She is excited to join The Times as a community engagement intern on July 7. Quincy Bowie Jr. is a passionate multimedia journalist and creative nonfiction artist who most often explores the intersections of identity, culture and media in his work. A proud Alabama native, he recently graduated from USC, where he studied journalism and documentary. In his time there, he contributed to the Daily Trojan, USC Annenberg Media and produced multiple documentaries and short films. You can find his previous work at CNN, Spectrum News and Memorías de Nomada. Outside of work, he spends his time looking for good books, honing his craft, and searching for L.A.'s best soul food spot. Samantha H. Chung is an Angeleno and a recent graduate of Harvard College, where she studied English and East Asian studies. She served as the books executive and editor-at-large for the arts section of the Harvard Crimson, where she developed a passion for cultural criticism and arts reporting. She is also an avid fiction writer and her work has been published in magazines such as Strange Horizons, F&SF and Fusion Fragment. When not writing, Chung can be found figure skating, watching horror movies, or looking at pictures of weird fish. She is thrilled to join The Times as a multiplatform editing intern starting June 9. @samhchung Zurie Pope was born and raised in southwest Ohio. A former student of the University of Cincinnati, Zurie studied journalism and political science. Zurie's journalism career started with writing for his high school newspaper. Since then, he has worked for the Nation magazine, the Washington Blade, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Ohio Capital Journal and the university's student newspaper, the News Record. Throughout his experiences, he has maintained an interest in long-form investigative journalism, focused on money in politics, LGBTQ+ rights and extremism. When he's not working, Zurie likes to go on long walks, memorize poetry and discover new bookstores. Zurie will be joining The Times on June 9 as an Ida B. Wells Society intern.
