Tyler Ash

During my four years at California State University, Chico I drove myself academically and journalistically. I have developed a strong sense of journalistic values and I have honed my skills as a reporter, photographer and videographer through my experiences at three Chico-based publications, one of which I helped create. I spent three semesters at The Orion, CSU, Chico’s nationally acclaimed student newspaper, where I was a copyeditor, a staff writer, and a staff videographer. I was a paid intern at the Chico News & Review for two semesters and in the fall of 2011 a group of journalism students and I founded Sentient Magazine, Chico’s first alternative online magazine. As a staff writer at The Orion, I developed my interviewing skills by setting up interviews with Pauly Shore, Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead and Shooter Jennings (son of Waylon Jennings), to name a few. I’ve had the privileges of meeting Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers, and War Correspondent Chris Hedges. I have demonstrated that I can conduct coherent interviews with public figures as well as everyday individuals in a personable, yet professional manner. I have attained an acute attention to detail when covering events in order to allow my readers to feel like they were actually there. I strive to keep my articles creative and easy to read so the reader stays interested. I have written feature stories, entertainment stories, commentaries, previews, reviews, general news stories, online exclusives and historical articles. I also have experience producing accompanying photographs, videos and investigative reporting. I love music, classic and current, and I'm a firm believer that there is good music in any genre, sometimes it just takes a little longer to find it. I have a great sense of humor and if you get to know me you'll find that I'm pretty witty. My entire life has revolved around the question "why," and I've found that history is usually the answer to that question. I have a passion for the great outdoors and everything in it. I come from somewhat of an agricultural background and I'm very interested in California's cornucopia of produce. In short, I've been called a writer, photographer, videographer, historian, music-lover, outdoorsman, a farmer, and now director! I'm currently directing a historical documentary on the life of John Bidwell, a cornerstone of California history. The documentary is in association with Chico State's ALVA program and is under way!