Roman Aguilar  - Roman Aguilar: Storytelling with Impact

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<h3>Blog Post 1</h3>Hello everyone, hope you're all doing well. Welcome to my website where I will be presenting my seperate blogs over the class semester here. I will also be presenting and uploading my resume and feature myself. I'm looking forward to delve into digital journalism and how social media, and the greater web is used as a tool for reporting and journalism.I'm a student sports journalist, as a three time sports editor for The Daily Aztec for San Diego State University's student newspaper. There's always something to learn in journalism and being able to add onto the website making, and seeeing how my final project story develops and looking forward to working in this class.<h3>Blog Post 2</h3>Looking at my current standing in class, and where I've been to learn, it's been interesting to see how much AI can sneak into our everyday lives when reading articles and sneak itself into journalism. Newsletters and podcasts also are an integeral part to getting one's voice heard and an extension to build a connection with listeners and readers. For my story project, my expectations are high for myself, and look to build as many credible sources and make a smooth run in my sources and have them tell the story more than myself.<h3>Blog Post 3</h3><h3>NCAA’s new betting rule opens the door to a risky new era</h3>The NCAA’s recent decision to move toward allowing Division I student-athletes and athletics staff to bet on professional sports has sparked widespread debate. Supporters argue the change reflects modern realities of legalized sports betting, while critics fear it opens a dangerous slippery slope. As the proposal heads toward final approval in Divisions II and III later this month, social media has erupted with both cautious optimism and sharp criticism.A shift toward modernization and harm reductionThe NCAA announced on Oct. 8 that its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="ah nl" href="https://www.ncaa.org/news/2025/10/8/media-center-di-administrative-committee-adopts-proposal-to-allow-student-athletes-staff-to-bet-on-pro-sports.aspx">Division I Administrative Committee </a>had adopted a proposal to permit student-athletes and staff to wager on pro sports, aligning NCAA policy more closely with campus peers who can already legally bet in many states. If approved by all three divisions, the rule will take effect Nov. 1.The NCAA emphasized that betting on college sports will remain prohibited, as will gambling-related sponsorships for championships. The policy reflects a harm-reduction approach: instead of banning all betting outright, the NCAA hopes education and transparency will prevent risky behavior.Transitioning from a strict prohibition to a more educational model is a dramatic shift for college athletics governance.Public backlash raises integrity and addiction concernsWhile the NCAA frames the change as modernization, many commentators are skeptical, warning that this could normalize gambling behavior among athletes and increase integrity risks.Opponents argue that once athletes are permitted to bet on professional sports, the line between acceptable and prohibited behavior may blur, making enforcement more complicated and potentially undermining competitive integrity.Celebrity voices join the debateThe proposal has even drawn fire from sports media figures. NBA legend Charles Barkley didn’t hold back during a public appearance, calling the idea “a joke.”“When I heard that, I said, ‘This has got to be a joke.’ These are the people we have running college sports and we want to know why it’s a s–t show. Anybody who thinks that’s a good idea should have their head examined.” — Charles Barkley, via<a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="ah nl" href="https://nypost.com/2025/10/15/betting/charles-barkley-shreds-ncaa-for-allowing-betting-s-t-show/"> New York Post</a>, Oct. 15<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPz0aMijSpe/">https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPz0aMijSpe/</a>His comments reflect a broader sentiment among high-profile figures who worry that student-athletes won’t be able to cleanly separate legal betting on pro sports from illicit betting on college games, especially when temptation and access are high.A crossroads for college sportsAs legal sports betting becomes more mainstream, the NCAA is trying to balance modernization with integrity. Supporters see the proposal as a necessary adjustment to reality, while critics fear it opens Pandora’s box. If approved, the rule will take effect Nov. 1 — and the real test will come when enforcement and education collide with real-world behavior.Whether this marks a forward-thinking harm reduction policy or a dangerous precedent remains to be seen. What’s clear is that this debate is far from over.<h3>Blog Post 4</h3>Working on my website this semester pushed me to think about journalism beyond just writing a story. Building a live site and integrating it with Medium showed me how reporting, design and digital presentation all work together to shape how audiences consume journalism. While I had some familiarity with digital tools before, this class required a more intentional and polished approach that felt closer to professional newsroom expectations.This course also helped me better understand how quickly journalism is evolving alongside technology. Learning about digital media tools and the ethical considerations surrounding artificial intelligence reinforced the importance of adapting while maintaining journalistic integrity. These experiences have helped prepare me for the realities of modern journalism, where storytelling exists across platforms, and I plan to carry these skills forward as I continue my work at SDSU and beyond.

<h3>‘Everything’s magnified’: SDSU athletes confront the darker side of building a brand</h3>As NIL grows, SDSU athletes navigate opportunity alongside rising scrutiny onlineWhen San Diego State distance runner Samantha Wood opened her Instagram app, she saw numbers climbing faster than any race she had run.Her media day photos earlier this year, standard, harmless team portraits, had been reposted by a “women of college athletics” account. Within hours, her notifications spiraled. Hundreds of new followers. Dozens of message requests. A spike in saves and shares.But the attention felt wrong.“My posts are getting lots of reach, but I think for the wrong reasons,” Wood said. “We have pretty skimpy uniform bottoms in track, and those are the posts that blow up. It’s kind of weird attention you get.”For female athletes like Wood, the NIL era has delivered what colleges long promised: visibility, opportunity and a platform. But it arrived with something else, an audience capable of turning supportive highlights into invasive commentary, and empowerment into exposure they never asked for.And at SDSU, athletes across sports are wrestling with a new question in 2025: How much visibility is actually safe, or worth it, when the pressure to build a brand is rising alongside the toxicity of social media?<h4>A booming economy built on publicity</h4>When the NCAA opened the floodgates to name, image and likeness (NIL) deals in 2021, college sports changed overnight. Suddenly, athletes could profit from their personal brand through endorsements, sponsorships and social media promotion.Nationally, the growth has been explosive. According to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.si.com/college-basketball/highest-paid-college-athletes-via-nil-deals">Sports Illustrated</a>, Texas quarterback Arch Manning is projected to earn nearly $7 million in NIL this year. Dozens of other high-profile quarterbacks and basketball stars now command multimillion-dollar valuations.A recent Substack analysis estimated that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://likeandsubscribenews.substack.com/p/the-nil-gold-rush-how-499000-college">NIL transactions reached $1.7 billion last year</a>, with nearly half a million athletes becoming potential influencers. For many, social media followers are as valuable as touchdowns or dunks.But the same channels that fuel those deals now carry a dark side.In a November report, NPR found that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.npr.org/2025/11/14/nx-s1-5607268/college-athletes-toxic-social-media-ncaa-tiktok">online harassment of college athletes has become “an epidemic</a>,” worsened by sports gambling, anonymous burner accounts and rising fan hostility. NCAA basketball players, in particular, face thousands of threatening messages when games don’t go their way.At SDSU, athletes are living through that national picture, just on a smaller scale, with fewer buffers between them and the noise.<h4>Coaches see the transformation</h4>Ryan Lindley, SDSU’s senior offensive analyst and a former Aztecs quarterback, has watched the shift up close.“Everything’s magnified. Everything’s looked at,” Lindley said. “These guys got more to deal with, and that’s why, to me, It’s only right they reap the benefits on the other end.”To Lindley, NIL is fair. Overdue and empowering. But he’s honest about the cost: young athletes now carry pressures he never did.“When I played, you were just hoping to get a free burrito every once in a while,” he said with a laugh. “Now, if you don’t handle the football stuff, the other stuff ain’t gonna come. You’ve got distractions, but with opportunities, too. You’ve got to keep the main thing the main thing.”That mantra, repeated by multiple players, underscores a reality that NIL boosters rarely acknowledge: chasing brand deals can’t come at the expense of on-field performance, mental health, or the ability to live out college life simply.<h4>Branding vs. backlash: What SDSU athletes actually face</h4>Football safety Max Garrison has navigated both sides. His Instagram features a commercial he shot for Oggi’s Pizza, a small but meaningful NIL moment.“You’re not just representing yourself, you’re representing the program,” Garrison said. “Once it’s out there, it’s out there.”He likes showing he’s more than a football player. But the pressure is real.“The main thing is football,” he said. “Social media is a tool, but it can’t be the priority.”Running back Christian Washington uses his account to post training videos for younger kids. But even he acknowledges the tightrope.“As athletes, we all know what we can and cannot post,” Washington said. “You’ve got to stay conscious of what image you want to leave.”For women, the scrutiny hits differently.Wood says her teammate recently received “crazy DMs” just for appearing in a TikTok. Last season, a team video posted by SDSU Athletics hit 2 million views, but the comments were so sexualized that the department took it down completely.“Me and all my teammates, it feels like 50% of the attention we get is negative attention,” Wood said. “It’s just kind of frustrating.”Women’s basketball guards Nala Williams and CJ Latta see both opportunity and risk in the spotlight.Williams uses social media strategically for recruiting.“When I was in the transfer portal, so many colleges went through Instagram and Twitter to get my attention,” she said. “It opened the door for people to reach me.”But she also censors herself.“There are young athletes looking up to me,” she said. “I want to make sure I’m posting things that reflect the right image.”Latta says backlash is unavoidable.“You’re always going to have someone who doesn’t agree with you,” she said. “You’ve just got to ignore those ones and stick with your supporters.”<h4>Inside SDSU’s NIL classroom</h4>SDSU’s NIL coordinator, Abby Crawford, is one of the people guiding athletes through this new landscape.“We stress to them from day one … how important it is to constantly be thinking about how they want to build their brand,” Crawford said. “As someone who wears the SDSU logo, they have a platform just simply because.”Crawford teaches in the university’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://goaztecs.com/academics/student-athlete-development">Aztec Going Pro</a> life-skills course, where every athlete receives training on branding and online professionalism.Crawford says her job is to empower, not police.“We want them to express themselves and they’re not just athletes,” she said. “We’re steering them away from crisis, not telling them what to think.”She also pushes back against the myth that NIL is only for high-revenue sports.“I get five or more calls a day from brands wanting to work with smaller sports or niche audiences,” she said. “Football and basketball get attention in headlines, but opportunities are far more evenly spread than people realize.”<h4>The messy middle of NIL contracts</h4>For athletes, the real challenge comes when a brand deal collides with personal identity.Wood avoids sponsored grid posts, keeping them out of her main posts altogether.“I’m with Liquid I.V. right now, and my requirements are just four stories per quarter,” she said. “I don’t think it takes away from what I want to post.”Latta says she’ll only accept a deal if she can maintain her voice.“They want my personality,” she said. “Not just the business side.”SDSU hockey forward Drew Gunderson turned down one NIL offer outright.“It required too many Instagram posts,” he said. “If I’m representing a brand, their image is attached to me. I have to represent myself differently. That’s the tradeoff.”Still, he believes the opportunity is better than the alternative.“You go back 30 years ago, and players were getting screwed over because they didn’t have a voice,” he said. “Now at least you can build something.”As NIL grows, Wood has developed a more critical view of its long-term impact.She points to schools such Tennessee, where donor-backed “NIL scholarships” are reportedly being used to supplement or replace traditional athletic aid, blurring the lines between amateurism and professionalism.“I think the line is starting to be a little bit blurred,” Wood said. “We’re going to see NIL change athletics for the worse in the next few years.”She also worries that walk-ons and nonrevenue sports could be squeezed out as budgets shift.“I’d be scared to be starting college right now,” she said.Crawford doesn’t expect engagement to fade, only intensify.“I don’t see it slowing down,” she said. “Student-athletes and brands are going to keep pushing the needle.”

Fourth-year journalism student at San Diego State University.

Roman Aguilar

Recording a new podcast interview with CEOs and Founders of successful online businesses, Scale or Die. This show recently hit Apple's New and Noteworthy for business and technology categories. Watch or listen to the most recent episodes at useproof.com/scaleordie.

I am a fourth-year journalism student at San Diego State University. I am pursuing a career as a journalist, primarily within sports media. I currently serve as the sports editor for The Daily Aztec, SDSU's student-run newspaper.

Providing high-quality freelance content tailored to various media outlets and topics.

I make weekly coding tutorial videos on YouTube - check it out! https://www.youtube.com/lukepeters

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In-depth investigative journalism uncovering stories that matter with accuracy and integrity.

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Offering talks and workshops on journalism ethics, storytelling, and media literacy.

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<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://thedailyaztec.com/staff_name/roman-aguilar/">See Roman's work with San Diego State University's student-run newspaper</a>

The Daily Aztec 

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.azcentral.com/staff/83996235007/roman-aguilar-/">See Roman's work covering Arizona sports</a>

Arizona Republic 

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://thedailyaztec.com/125388/sports/hot-shooting-aztecs-overwhelm-lamar-to-secure-89-71-win/">Read it here</a>Hot-shooting Aztecs overwhelm Lamar to secure 89–71 win

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raguilar7252@sdsu.edu

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<h3>The Daily Aztec </h3>Sports Editor <ul><li>Previously covered men's basketball, football, and water polo. </li><li>Edited 5-10 stories weekly, pitch stories and write feature or profile articles.</li></ul>Arizona Republic <ul><li>Covered local high school sports, Phoenix Mercury, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Phoenix Rising FC.</li></ul>KCR College Radio <ul><li>Oversee staff members covering local SDSU games. </li><li>Help rent out broadcast equipment, post sports blog submissions and manage social media. </li></ul><h3></h3>

Roman Aguilar's experience in journalism 

SynopsisThis semester in JMS 430 strengthened my understanding of what digital journalism looks like in practice rather than in theory. Through a combination of reporting assignments, labs, and a semester-long story project, I learned how traditional journalism skills intersect with digital tools, multimedia storytelling, and ethical decision-making. The course emphasized that modern journalism is no longer limited to written articles but now exists across websites, data visualizations, social media platforms, and interactive elements, all working together to tell a more complete story.Developing the Story ProjectOver the course of the semester, my final story project evolved from an initial reporting idea into a fully developed digital journalism package focused on SDSU athletes navigating the pressures of NIL and social media visibility. The project required extensive reporting, including multiple interviews across different sports, as well as contextual research on NIL trends and digital culture in college athletics. As the story developed, I continually refined both the narrative focus and how the digital components supported the reporting rather than distracting from it.Throughout the reporting process, I followed core journalistic and ethical guidelines, particularly those outlined in the SPJ Code of Ethics. Seeking truth and reporting it accurately was essential, especially given the sensitive nature of online harassment, mental health concerns, and athlete visibility. I made sure all quotes were accurate, sources were clearly identified, and perspectives were represented fairly. Minimizing harm was also a key consideration, mainly when athletes discussed uncomfortable or invasive experiences online.One of the main challenges in this project was gathering honest perspectives, which required building trust with sources while navigating time constraints and the complexity of NIL, a rapidly changing system. Technologically, organizing interviews, transcribing content, and integrating digital elements into a cohesive story presented additional challenges. However, these same elements also created opportunities. Interviewing athletes, coaches, and an NIL coordinator allowed me to tell a nuanced story that went beyond surface-level NIL coverage and highlighted how digital platforms directly impact student-athletes’ lives.Digital Media ExperienceBuilding my website and completing the digital labs significantly expanded my understanding of digital journalism. This experience taught me how digital presentations shape audience engagement and how journalists must think visually, analytically, and ethically simultaneously. Working with data, even at a basic level, helped me better understand how metrics, audience behavior, and engagement inform storytelling decisions.Learning digital tools such as Google Analytics, data visualization platforms and experimental AI tools pushed me outside my comfort zone. These tools showed me how technology can enhance reporting while also raising ethical questions about accuracy, transparency and responsibility. One of the most enjoyable parts of the semester was seeing my story come together as a complete digital project. Creating a live website page that housed my reporting, visuals and structure made the work feel professional and meaningful. Overall, this class helped prepare me to approach journalism as a multimedia craft that continues to evolve alongside technology.

Roman Aguilar

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