Humberto Giles-Sanchez

It has been a rewarding journalistic journey so far.

Let me start out by saying that this whole news thing wasn’t something I would have ever thought of doing heading into my first two years at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, but after life threw me a curveball and the sudden change of potential career paths, the final two years at UIUC were the ones that put me on the path that I am on today.

After graduating from UIUC in 2022, I went out "West" to start my career in news but also wanted a change of environmental scenery. Look, as a kid born and raised in Illinois, you tend to grow weary of all the cows and cornfields around the state. Therefore, I traded the cornfields for hills and farms for cattle ranches, and from June 2022 to June 2026, I worked for KOTA in Rapid City, South Dakota. It has been a rewarding journalistic journey so far.

During my four years out in the Mount Rushmore state, I was able to cover everything from Native American/Indigenous cultural issues to the homeless/houseless crisis that affects Western South Dakota, giving a voice to those people who need it the most.

Now fast forward to June of 2026; the experience of leaving South Dakota and the people who gave me a chance in the news industry to return to my home state of Illinois was bittersweet. I am more than honored to have joined the WEEK team back here in the Land of Lincoln.

For me professionally, this is an opportunity to work with a new news team that has the same end goal: to provide you all the facts and aspects of the various issues and stories that challenge our day-to-day lives.

Ultimately, the most important part of my transition joining the WEEK team is that my goal has stayed the same as when I first entered the news industry: to make sure that the voices of people who need them the most aren't drowned out in the constantly changing media sphere.

With my goal in mind, do you have a story idea? You can contact me via email at humberto.giles@gray.tv.