Meet Rami Alarian, one of Daylight’s summer interns
Introduce yourself
Hello! My name is Rami Alarian, and I am an Arab-American journalist from California who recently graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in journalism.
Why did you become a journalist
I joined San Diego State University as an undeclared major and in my first couple years I wasn’t sure exactly what called to me. As pressure to find my path in life kept growing, I joined a lot of extracurriculars while in college and began writing for a zine, hosting a radio show and performing improv every week.
Having a conversation with journalists during my junior year made everything click for me: all my interests in life at the time were already a form of multimedia storytelling. Listening to journalists in the field confirmed that journalism was a means to pursue the career values I have had my entire life.
Daylight San Diego
What type of journalism do you like to cover? What topics?
Investigative journalism immediately caught my eye when entering the field. I find myself gravitating toward stories that uncover corruption and help communities better understand the circumstances that impact them the most. Hyper-local and community-focused journalism stands to be the types of journalism I have covered most over my schooling.
For me, journalism is a chance to hold institutions accountable. I find heavy interest in covering local government and politics because just about every topic touches it.
One of the most beautiful things I have come to love about journalism is that every topic is important, holds a lot of weight and should be treated with sensitivity. Throughout my time in local publications across San Diego, it became clear that every topic is one I could imagine myself covering for a long time.
Who’s your favorite musical artist?
My favorite genre is punk, so naturally my favorite musical artist has to follow suit. They’re a punk rock duo consisting of two twins from Orange County called The Garden. I have seen them and their side projects in concert more than six times now over the past five years and their sound is one I have yet to get sick of.
What TV shows or movies are on your mind at the moment?
Other than the Love Island kick I have been finding myself on, my main TV shows in rotation are “How To with John Wilson” and Dropout’s “Game Changer.” If you haven’t checked out either, the best time was years ago but the second best time is today.
Movies are always on my mind and I see one to two a week if I can. “Train Dreams” hasn’t left my brain since I watched it for the first time a couple weeks ago. It’s a 2025 film that received a couple academy award nominations and I find beauty in its simplicity, which is coincidentally the theme of the movie.
A couple recent horror flicks have brought me down a lot of internet rabbit holes in the past week. I watched both “Obsession” and “Backrooms” this month, and the creep factor has still given me nightmares. They both had such developed and well-thought out scripts for horror movies.
What hobbies do you have?
My hobbies cycle out too often to not make this Q&A dated, but currently I have been doing a lot of Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, board games, poetry and scrapbooking.
I collect far too many magazines, and every so often I remember I have a stack so high there's some dedicated real estate on my shelf just for copies of National Geographic.
Board games is a hobby that has never left my side. On my best weekends you can find me trying out a new board game at some of the tabletop stores in town.
Poetry is what made me love writing in the first place. I think words are the most powerful tools humanity has invented and that sentiment is very clear in my choice of profession.
What does living in San Diego mean to you?
My love for San Diego really skyrocketed after becoming a journalist. And it skyrocketed once more after getting a car, something I have noticed is, unfortunately, very crucial for enjoying San Diego properly.
Living here is about understanding the uniqueness of each and every neighborhood. I really started to love San Diego after finding out the personality and history behind every area, every beach and every neighborhood.
Once I understood San Diego had just about everything, I began appreciating it that much more.
If you weren’t a journalist, what would you be doing instead?
If journalism wasn’t a choice for me, I would have loved to pursue some sense of a comedy career. I have always appreciated the creative comedy craft and I think it's a noble venture for any who are willing to manage it.
If you could interview any person, living or dead, who would it be and why?
My answer to this has always been Thomas Sankara. Pushing aside how left field the answer is, I think it’s very clear where my interest in political journalism comes from. There’s some aspects of his policy that I was never 100% sure about and I would love to pick his brain on a couple things happening now.
Do you have a favorite journalist or writer who inspires you?
Being in a few local San Diego newsrooms that have a lot of history behind them has given me the opportunity to work alongside some really inspiring journalists with a lot of vigor. It would be weird to say that any prominent celebrity journalist has inspired me more than those around me.
Some of my favorite stories that I feel I could talk about for hours are ones that have been about San Diego matters and have come from local journalists that I have had the pleasure of working with.
I have learned so much about the journalist I want to be from breaking bread and brushing elbows with some talented journalists just a desk away from me.
What’s the most unexpected or bizarre story you’ve ever covered?
My first time covering education wasn’t bizarre but it sure was unexpected. I was tasked with writing a story about five different schools in the San Diego area during my time as an intern for Voice of San Diego.
As daunting as the task seemed, visiting schools all across San Diego opened my eyes to how important education was as a topic.
Educators are some of the most dedicated people and their job is so impactful, but I didn't expect each school to be so different in methodology. Each campus and each student was a direct reflection of the surrounding community and it showed.
If you could write a headline for your life right now, what would it be?
Beached graduate in need of a rescue in sunny San Diego
