A University of Missouri alum, journalist, dog mom and crocheter enters the Roundup News room. She is excited for the next task on her to-do list.
Pierce College Instructional Assistant of Journalism Morgan Keith has become part of the Media Arts family.
Her love of journalism sprouted when she became involved with her high school’s video yearbook. Keith learned how to edit videos and create smooth visuals. Part of her resumé building included public relations.
“Between my junior and senior year in college, I went to do an internship in Boston. I thought it was going to be a PR type of thing, and it ended up being a door-to-door marketing type of gig,” Keith said. “I had been fronted my rent by the company, so I had to stay there and work on commission until I could pay them back. Then I quit. I was really broke and desperate to try to find another job.”
Keith met her boyfriend of five years, Domenic Tenaglia, when she had an internship in Boston. Once Keith and Tenaglia graduated from college, they moved to Los Angeles after being long distance for approximately a year.
“I’d never even visited LA before I moved here. I’ll do whatever,” Keith said. “I didn’t have ties anywhere at the time and now I couldn’t quite picture myself elsewhere.”
Tenaglia expressed his admiration for Keith’s ability to be there when someone needs her help or guidance. She is a dedicated, selfless person.
“My favorite thing about Morgan is probably that she’s a huge people person and giver,” Tenaglia said. “If you are somebody that she cares about or that means something to her, she will go to the ends of the earth to help you out or do what you need. That’s Morgan, in a nutshell.”
Keith found direction in her career when she was introduced to data journalism. She loves working with numbers and visuals.
“By studying data journalism, you learn all these fantastic new methods of reporting that produce really, really hard hitting stories,” Keith said. “I would just love to see students and peers have the opportunity to learn a little bit more about that, whether it’s like a full blown class in and of itself, or even just a short little lecture. That is a big goal of mine.”
When Keith first started working at Pierce over the summer of 2023, she consistently worked alongside Adjunct Professor of Photography Sean McDonald.
“She came in and basically found all these tasks that she had to do, all of these things that she needed to learn and was on them immediately,” McDonald said.
Even though she is on campus five days of the week and comes home exhausted, Keith usually makes time for her French Bulldog, Carlo.
“She absolutely loves dogs, and she’s the best dog mom ever,” Tenaglia said. “He’s a little French Bulldog, and he is her entire world. I think she loves him more than me.”
