Episode 49 -- Simon Samano

Simon Samano (2000-05) is the managing editor for MMAjunkie.com, a website affiliated with the USA Today Sports Media Group.The first person from his family to attend college, Simon initially wanted to become a political reporter and began writing opinion columns at The Daily Aztec, before transitioning to become a sports writer. After working for three newspapers, Simon details the lengths he went to get hired at NFL.com, and how that led to USA Today and his current job.Simon discusses some of the challenges of covering MMA, including managers threatening to withhold access due to negative stories and how fans rarely want to read about how fights lead to brain trauma in fighters. He also details the process of reporting the story of a fighter inflicting horrific domestic abuse on his now ex-wife."Where Ya At?" is a podcast focused on the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University. Each week, during the Fall and Spring semesters, host Josh Suchon (Class of 1996) interviews alumni to learn about their experiences as college students, entering the workforce, key steps in their professional development, advice they'd give to current students, and details about how they covered a specific story.