Thank you for your interest in the San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. For more information about our organization and our activities, please email spjsandiego@gmail.com. You can write to us at:  San Diego SPJ, P.O. Box 880482, San Diego, CA  92168.

The SPJ San Diego Pro Chapter Board meets on the first Tuesday of each month.

SPJ San Diego Pro Chapter Board of Directors:

President
Elizabeth Marie Himchak
Editor, PB Monthly
@EMHimchak
Elizabeth Marie Himchak is the editor of PB Monthly and former editor of the Rancho Bernardo News Journal and Poway News Chieftain, all part of U-T Community Press. She has also been the staff reporter for the Rancho Bernardo News Journal since 2006. Her articles occasionally appear in The San Diego Union-Tribune and other U-T Community Press newspapers. Elizabeth has covered community news and events, politics, community government, schools, crime and the Palomar Health district. She also has written features, theater reviews and entertainment stories. The University of San Diego graduate started in journalism at The Vista, USD’s campus newspaper. Her professional career began as a freelance writer for The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Southern Cross and Pomerado Newspapers.

Vice President
Wendy Fry
Reporter, CalMatters
@WendyFry_
Wendy Fry is an investigative reporter currently covering immigration at CalMatters through in-depth and investigative reporting, local storytelling, and community outreach. Previously, Fry covered Tijuana, Baja California, and the greater border region for the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. During the coronavirus pandemic, she lived in Mexico to continue her reporting on cross-border topics. Fry has worked as an on-air reporter at NBC7. She graduated from San Diego State University. Her passion for journalism developed at a young age, and she worked on both her high school and college newspapers. Fry won SPJ’s Sol Price Award for Responsible Journalism in 2012 for her coverage of corruption at the Sweetwater schools, and she won the Grand Golden Watchdog Award from the San Diego County Taxpayers Association in 2017 for her coverage of lead in water at San Diego area schools.

Secretary
Guimel Sibingo, M.A.

Assistant Professor of Multimedia Journalism, Point Loma University

Guimel Sibingo is an Angolan-Portuguese journalist and writer. Her academic and professional background spans a range of journalism disciplines, with a particular emphasis on radio and multimedia storytelling.

Sibingo’s work in radio journalism has earned her several prestigious awards, including an Edward R. Murrow award for her contribution to Mizzou at a Crossroads, a long-form audio documentary from NPR-member station KBIA that explored racial tensions at the University of Missouri. She also earned a 1st Place Public Radio News Directors, Inc. (PRNDI) award and a National Headliner Award for the same project.

Guimel’s research interests include critical discourse analysis in journalism, media coverage of global health crises, and the intersection of media and cultural identity.

Born in Angola and raised in Portugal, Guimel’s multicultural experience has influenced her interest in the global dimensions of journalism, particularly the field’s coverage of Africa. She brings a global perspective to her teaching and encourages students to think critically about the role of journalism in a complex, interconnected world.

In addition to her professional work, Guimel is passionate about mentoring students to become thoughtful, ethical, and innovative journalists who engage meaningfully with the world around them.

Treasurer

Jamie Self

Managing Editor, inewsource

Jamie Self joined inewsource in June 2021. Previously she was the senior editor of politics and state government for The State newspaper, a McClatchy news organization in her home state of South Carolina. Before becoming an editor, she was an investigative reporter and covered S.C. politics and government. Before starting a career in journalism, she traveled the United States and parts of Canada and Mexico and taught college writing and research classes at Boston University.

Board Members

Hafsa Fathima
Audio producer, NPR
@hafsabadsha
Hafsa Fathima is an audio producer at National Public Radio, where she’s covered pop culture, immigration and invading snails in Florida. She’s also reported for The San Diego-Union Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, producing their narrative podcast, Border City. Before she ventured into radio, she wrote for The Hindu in Tamil Nadu, India. She’s called San Diego home since 2017, and is from both Mississauga, Canada and Chennai, India.

Jennifer Kastner, Contest Administrator
Reporter, San Diego Business Journal
@jenniferkastnernews
Jennifer Kastner is a reporter for the San Diego Business Journal where she specializes in stories about AI, biotech and life sciences. Before transitioning to print journalism in 2023, she was an investigative reporter for ABC 10News. She has reported for TV stations across the country where her work has been recognized with a Murrow, an Emmy, AP awards and SPJ awards. She’s a native San Diegan and is excited to connect with other local journalists.

Adam Racusin
Executive Reporter, ABC 10News
@AdamRacusin
Adam Racusin oversees the investigative team at ABC 10News in San Diego and has covered everything from the courts and politics to consumer issues across San Diego County. His reporting has led to getting people their money back, putting bad actors behind bars, new policies at government agencies, and encouraging lawmakers to promise new legislation. Adam is also a watchdog over the child welfare system in San Diego County. Since joining 10News, Adam’s work has been honored by the San Diego Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the San Diego Press Club, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Pacific Southwest Chapter, the Radio Television Digital News Association, and the National Headliner Awards. He has reported in television markets from Montana to Texas and several spots in between.

Philip Salata, Events Chair

Philip Salata is an investigative reporter and multimedia journalist covering the environment, energy and public health in San Diego and Imperial counties at inewsource. His work focuses on the social and environmental impacts of the push toward a green economy, pollution in the border region as well as stories that amplify the voices of marginalized communities. Philip completed his graduate work at USC Annenberg where he was also an Annenberg Fellow. He was also a California Local News Fellow at UC Berkeley.

Will Huntsberry

Will Huntsberry is a senior investigative reporter with Voice of San Diego. In 2019, he exposed a California doctor who had written hundreds of vaccine exemptions to school children for reasons outside of accepted medical science. That project led to a new state law that closed loopholes for vaccine exemptions. In 2023, he revealed a fake charity at Petco Park that had been raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars by pretending to support girls softball. Huntsberry was previously a producer and Kroc fellow at National Public Radio. Prior to that he attended Columbia Journalism School and worked at Indy Week in North Carolina. 

update pending…