UNLV intern joins BCR staff

Beginning this week, the Boulder City Review welcomes Ian Cruz to its staff as an intern for the spring semester.

Cruz is a full-time student pursuing a BA in journalism with a concentration in Creative Media Design at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He is a club member of UNLV’s Digital Darkroom, a student organization of videographers and photographers, which serves as a community for UNLV students to connect and share their work. He is also a club member of the UNLV Car Club, a hub for students who are enthusiastic about all things automotive.

Although Cruz is pursuing a journalism career, he began college as a jazz musician in the UNLV jazz program. His music skills placed him in elite ensembles early, even going to New York with the top big band for the 2022 Jack Rudin Jazz Championship. During his time in the jazz program, he was able to familiarize himself with the music industry, but he felt that there could be other career paths that could fulfill him in ways the music industry could not. With a passion for storytelling, journalism was a great fit for him.

“Being placed in such a high-level band early on was a blessing and a curse I felt,” he said. “I was brushing shoulders with musicians close to graduating who did not know where their paths led after graduation. Even though music was a great passion of mine, I just wasn’t sure it was something I wanted to make a career out of.”

With the privilege of his college education, he feels a duty to use storytelling as a way to share an untold story. He believes it is the journalist’s responsibility to tell a clear, concise, and unbiased story that audiences far and wide can understand.

For Boulder City, he will utilize his photography and writing skills to the best of his abilities to share stories that will bring the community closer.

“I think storytelling, both fictional and documentary, is a powerful tool that all people can find some sort of value in,” Cruz said. “A good story can change how someone feels, which changes how someone thinks and can lead to changing how someone acts. If I can share a story that positively impacts at least one person’s day in some capacity, or informs them of a critical event, then I feel like my job has been done.”

BCR Editor Ron Eland added, “We’re looking forward to having Ian on staff for the next several months. We plan to give him an array of writing and photography assignments as a way to get his feet wet in the world of community journalism.”