Three Journalists Join Long Beach State University Public Affairs Team

LONG BEACH, Calif. (July 27, 2018) – Long Beach State University’s Public Affairs Office, which is responsible for government and media relations, has named three former journalists as new members of its team. Joining the office are Andrew Edwards, Lauren Williams and Gregory Woods. Edwards and Williams were Southern California-based print reporters, and Woods has worked in TV news.

“The collective experience of this team is purposeful,” said Associate Vice President Terri Carbaugh. “Our mission includes serving news outlets to ensure the public gains a clearer perspective of why Long Beach State University is relevant to them. We are gaining two former reporters who are gifted writers, know our communities and covered stories on our campus. And we are bringing on a remarkable former broadcast journalist who will help us better tell the Long Beach State University story. An added bonus is that now, four members of the team are bilingual in English and Spanish.”

The Long Beach campus’ Public Affairs roster includes the following:

Terri Carbaugh, associate vice president, Public Affairs

Terri M. Carbaugh has worked in and around California politics, policy and media for much of her life. In 2012, she left the State Capitol for Southern California to head the Office of Public Affairs at Long Beach State University. In addition to leading the Office of Public Affairs at Long Beach State University, Terri has played a lead role in advocacy and media relations of the Long Beach College Promise. In 2016, she was recruited to develop and launch a three-year public engagement campaign for The Promise.

Jeff Bliss, executive director of media and digital news

Jeff Bliss serves as Executive Director of Media and Digital News at Long Beach State University. He attended Pepperdine University, majoring in journalism, and later studied film & television production. While the majority of Jeff’s career has been devoted to communications for higher education institutions, he also has worked as a contributing writer and photographer for numerous digital and print outlets. His career also includes serving as Pacific Rim editor and Pacific Watch correspondent for the nationally broadcast radio program, The John Batchelor Show.

Andrew Edwards, senior writer

Andrew Edwards is a senior writer for the Office of Public Affairs at Long Beach State University. He previously spent about 15 years as a journalist covering Southern California happenings for multiple newspapers, including the Long Beach Press-Telegram, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and The Sun. He covered several beats over the course of his reporting career, such as higher education, local government, business and breaking news.

Lauren Williams, communications specialist

Lauren Williams works as a staff writer in the Office of Public Affairs at Long Beach State University. Before working for the campus, where she also earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science, Lauren worked as a staff writer for various news outlets for more than a decade, including the Orange County Register. After graduating from Long Beach State University, Lauren lived in Santiago, Chile, where she managed an online magazine. She is fluent in English and Spanish.

Gregory Woods, manager of media relations

Gregory Woods is a Los Angeles native who has a passion for storytelling. His seven year journalism career has taken him to San Francisco where he worked as a political reporter in the Mission District, and Charleston, South Carolina where he worked as an on-air bilingual reporter at the ABC News affiliate. Gregory spent his final three years in the industry breaking news stories around California’s Central Valley for the Telemundo, CBS and NBC affiliates in Fresno. He is fluent in English and Spanish.

Autumn Farmer, administrative coordinator

Autumn Farmer is responsible for providing administrative support for the associate vice president and coordinating media and legislative focused activities for the Office of Public Affairs. Prior to setting sail and landing at The Beach, she worked for the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce for over eight years where she provided administrative support and event planning services which catered to the small business community.

Kevin Tran, media production specialist

Kevin Tran studied Film and Electronic Arts as well as Communication studies at Long Beach State University. During his time as a student, he interned and later worked as Editor for College Beat Productions. After graduating Long Beach State as a student, Kevin continued pursuing video production by working for the Office of Public Affairs, The Long Beach College Promise Initiative and the Public Knowledge Training Program.

Hilda Martinez, director of public engagement – Long Beach College Promise

Hilda Martinez serves as the director of public engagement for the Long Beach College Promise Public Engagement Campaign funded by the inaugural governor’s Innovation in Higher Education Award. She is fluent in English and Spanish.

Carolyn Garcia, assistant director of community outreach – Long Beach College Promise

Carolina Garcia is the assistant director of community outreach for the Long Beach College Promise. In her role she advocates for The Promise initiative and helps lead outreach efforts aimed at informing students, families and the greater community about its benefits. She is fluent in English and Spanish.

About the campus:Long Beach State University is a teaching-intensive, research-driven university committed to providing highly valued undergraduate and graduate degrees critical for success in the globally minded 21st century. Annually ranked among the best universities in the West and among the best values in the entire nation, the university’s eight colleges serve more than 37,500 students. The campus values and is recognized for rich educational opportunities provided by excellent faculty and staff, exceptional degree programs, diversity of its student body, fiduciary and administrative responsibility and the positive contributions faculty, staff, students and more than 300,000 alumni make on society.

Public Affairs resources/assets:The Office of Public Affairs provides news releases, media advisories and other informational materials to the news media. An archive is available. In addition, the office has a number of digital assets – including video and b-roll – available for download. The team also services the media through pitches that focus on experts from the campus, as well as by responding to requests for interviews with them. For members of the news media requiring assistance, please call (562) 985-8707 or contact a member of the team.