Raptors in the Wild is a segment for the LASA Liberator that highlights former Liberator editors and follows their career post-Liberator or in the wild. For this issue, the Liberator interviewed JC Ramirez Delgadillo, the former editor-in-chief for the web.
The LASA Liberator: How was your experience working at the Liberator?
Delgadillo: It was definitely life-changing, that’s for sure. Mostly because right now, I’m studying journalism because of that, funny enough. It had a big impact on what I wanted to do and helped me find out what I was good at and what I wasn’t.
The LASA Liberator: Do you have a specific area of journalism you’re currently studying?
Delgadillo: I’m currently studying at the University of North Texas, and I have a journalism degree, but they have five different concentrations. The one that I am doing right now is digital in print. That’s kind of working with magazines and online content. But I’ve also done a little bit of other work outside of that, such as broadcast and photography.
The LASA Liberator: How does working at the North Texas Daily compare to your time at the Liberator?
Delgadillo: Working at the Liberator prepares you for the foundation of it. We do eight pages every week, and most of the workers are journalism majors, so we know we have to work on deadlines and constantly hurry up with them.
The LASA Liberator: Are you planning on pursuing journalism as a career in the future?
Delgadillo: I mean, with the way that the job market is going, I’ve got to have an open mind with everything. I want to pursue journalism. I see myself mostly writing editorials, but I’ve kinda recently, this semester, gotten into arts and life and entertainment-type journalism. But yes, journalism is ultimately my goal, and I also want to do teaching. Teaching journalism.
The LASA Liberator: You once said that The LASA Liberator has had a big impact on you and that you’re reaching for great things, and you specifically said ‘winning a Pulitzer award or being added to the CIA watchlist.’ Do you still have these goals?
Delgadillo: The CIA one was clearly a joke, but the Pulitzer—that I see has the biggest award there is. It has changed because it’s gotten more specific. I would still want to win a Pulitzer. That would be very cool but for commentary or editorial writing.
The LASA Liberator: What are the lessons that you learned from the Liberator?
Delgadillo: I think the biggest lesson that I learned working at the Liberator is you are gonna work with a team, and no matter what you do… as long as you have the drive to do something, it can be accomplished. The Liberator was something I put my mind and heart into, and I’m glad to see many of the traditions growing and new ones coming along!
