Deep breath, big moves

Journalism and public communications alumna Lauren Magiera’s life has always been about the present moment. As a Seawolf gymnast, thinking too far beyond the maneuver at hand during high-pressure and physically demanding situations could lead to a detrimental slip-up. As a sports journalist, every second counts when a passionate fan base eagerly waits to hear updates on their favorite team.

But right now, Magiera finally has the time to reflect on where she’s been and contemplate where she’s going.

Earlier in 2022, Magiera’s six-year contract as the first female sports anchor for Chicago WGN News came to a close. Her landmark tenure serendipitously kicked off with the Chicago Cubs’ historic World Series win in 2016 after a 108-year losing streak, continued with her covering the Cubs World Series celebration (the seventh largest gathering in recorded human history with an estimated five million attendees), a trip to the White House, and throughout the country covering the Chicago Bears.

Prior to joining WGN, Magiera was the first person to work for the Green Bay Packers in their in-house communications position. Even further back, immediately after graduating from UAA in 2009, she became the 10 o'clock sports anchor and eventually was sports director for the ABC affiliate KIMO before her Alaska journey culminated in her taking on the position of sports anchor for the NBC affiliate KTUU.

"That's one of my favorite parts about being in sports: it's the common denominator,” said Magiera in a 2018 interview with UAA. “No matter where you're from, no matter your political or spiritual beliefs, your socioeconomic status, everybody is there to suffer during the hardships and celebrate during the championships together."

Rather than renew her contract with WGN, Magiera decided to use this rare moment of respite to think about the next stage of her life and career, mirroring how the journalism industry is itself going through a transition in the way that news is delivered and consumed.

“News is always evolving with innovative, outside-the-box ways to creatively and effectively storytell, and it's one of the reasons why I love this industry,” said Magiera. “But the days of turning on the ten o'clock news to find out who won the game that day is a thing of the past. If you're a fan, you know by the time the news rolls around who won the game. The industry has been good to me, so I might go back one day. But being a student-athlete, you learn that when you fall down, you get up and you do it better. You believe in endurance, strength, flexibility, being a good teammate and being coachable, and those are transferable skill sets.”

Wherever life leads her, Magiera credits her strong foundation to her time as a student-athlete at UAA and as a rising journalist in Anchorage, which is a message she hopes to reiterate as the 2022 Homecoming Luncheon keynote speaker, perfectly timed to this year’s reinstatement of the gymnastics program at UAA. 

“The skill set I've used to find success was developed in me through the university, through the community, through my professors and through the coaching staff — it really does take a village to develop someone and to set them up for success,” said Magiera. “That’s why the gymnastics program being reinstated is so pivotal, because so many student-athletes are going to continue having the same opportunities I had, and that’s a big deal.”