Meet Danielle Radin | Emmy Award Winning Journalist and Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Danielle Radin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danielle, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
Risk is something that you have to take every day in one form or another. Even when you get into your car, you risk your life every single time just to get to your job or pick up your groceries. With that in mind, you can’t live your life in fear of risk. To not take risks because you are frozen in fear inevitably means that you are missing opportunities that could lead to your best, brightest future. Embrace the fear and push through it, even when it’s scary.

There is always risk too that others will judge you for what you do, but who cares about what those people think? I certainly don’t. And you shouldn’t either.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have worked in television news for over a decade now and have reported for news stations all over California. (Luckily, I never had to leave California because this weather is top-notch here.) I started in San Francisco at TV stations behind the scenes, before getting on-camera work in Redding, Eureka and San Diego. I currently work at CBS Los Angeles. It was always my dream to get back to LA because it is a huge market with an incredible commitment to breaking news.

It wasn’t easy to navigate the fast pace of news development, particularly over the last 10 years. We went from TV as the only acceptable platform to consume broadcast news, to a digital sphere where dozens of platforms offer thousands of news outlets. How do you know what to trust? How do you get the attention of younger viewers?

These were questions I asked as I focused on carving a digital viewership at every news station I worked at. All of my news jobs have been very unique. In Eureka, I had the opportunity to build up a brand new station that was only two years old, helping to rebrand it over broadcast and digital to shape it into the #1 news station in the market. In San Diego, I was the first ever digital correspondent at NBC, and the only digital anchor with my own livestream newscast at another station. During the pandemic, I helped a brand new national television network build up its West Coast product as the Bureau Chief, which led to me winning an Emmy Award for my reporting. All of these jobs required social media strategy to figure out how to get viewership up as the news cycle continued to transform. In 2022, I was honored with a U.S. House of Representatives certificate from Congresswoman Michelle Steel, calling me a pioneer of digital journalism. It was the proudest moment of my career.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First, we would go on a taco stand tour, where I would show my friend the best places for adobada and carne asada tacos. Also, everyone is sleeping on potato tacos, which are amazing, so we would grab some of those too. Next, we would go to the beach and take a long walk, because I walk up to five miles a day and it’s very important to me. Lastly, we would go to Emo Nite, because I’m secretly emo. I listen to Paramore and My Chemical Romance. If it were a week-long trip, it would just be a repetition of what I just said over and over until my friend finally got tired of it and left.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate this shoutout to my parents and my sister Jenna, because they are literally the best people I’ve ever met and have always been so supportive. They give me the motivation to try to be the best version of myself every day.

Instagram: @danielleradinMMJ

Twitter: @danielleradin