Our Team

Sam Barney-Gibbs (he/they) is a journalist with a strong drive to cover political stories (because everything is political!). He is a member of the Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists and previously worked with CNN's Michael Smerconish, The News Movement/The Recount and the United Nations. He became an award-winning editor in chief of Lehigh University's 150-person newsroom, acting as the only news source representing the South Bethlehem community. As a 14-year-old, he initiated staunch fact-checking policies and community engagement practices with his high school newspaper.

Barney-Gibbs is excited and committed to bringing his passion for multimedia and solutions journalism to connect with underserved/underrepresented communities in San Diego. He plans to highlight mental health and LGBTQ+ care in addition to making political news more accessible and meaningful for San Diego's diverse communities.

Email: sam@daylightsandiego.org

Lauren J. Mapp (She/her/akaónha) is a reporter who has covered Indigenous communities, caregiving, senior care, art, music, travel, the restaurant industry and culinary traditions since 2005. Most recently, she was a staff reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune, but previously worked for several other newsrooms in San Diego County, including inewsource, Times of San Diego and the North Coast Current. Mapp is Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk), and started her career as a reporter for Indian Time and The People's Voice, two newspapers on the Akwesasne reservation that straddles the border of Upstate New York and Ontario.

Since 2008, she has maintained a food, beverage and travel blog called Off the Mapp. She previously served two terms as a board member of the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists, and is a current member of SPJ, the San Diego Association of Black Journalists, Indigenous Journalists Association and San Diego Press Club.

Email: lauren@daylightsandiego.org

Kate Morrissey (she/her/hers) has been a journalist covering immigration issues at the San Diego-Tijuana border since 2016. She worked at The San Diego Union-Tribune for more than seven years, and she is known nationally for her work on the U.S. asylum system and border policies.

In 2020, Morrissey published "Returned," an award-winning, four-part series investigating the U.S. asylum system. Beyond her reporting in California and Tijuana, she has traveled to Nicaragua, Honduras and the Mexico-Guatemala border to help her audiences better understand the reality of migration in the Western Hemisphere. She recently received a scholarship to attend City University of New York's Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program.

Email: kate@daylightsandiego.org

Rami Alarian (they/he) is a recent graduate of San Diego State University, where they studied journalism. With a passion for investigative work, they often cover corruption and accountability stories. They are also particularly drawn to cultural and hyper-local community reporting. For Rami, reporting is a chance to bring media representation to communities that don’t often see their stories told. They have also had the pleasure of reporting with local San Diego publications like Voice of San Diego and inewsource.

Jenna Ramiscal (she/her/hers) is a Filipino American journalist passionate about covering culture, race and identity. In particular, she loves to cover stories about the Filipino and Asian American Pacific Islander communities. She is a rising senior at San Diego State University, double majoring in journalism and Asian American studies. She is vice president of SDSU’s Asian American Journalists Association and managing editor of the university's newspaper, The Daily Aztec. She has previously interned with EdSource, Voice of San Diego and inewsource.