Erianna Jiles

Erianna Jiles is a junior at North Dakota State University, where she is studying journalism. Up until recently she had a been a College Contributor at MPR’s The Current since 2016. She also freelances for KFAI, Twin Cities Community Radio, as an arts and culture reporter. For two years, she volunteered with KMOJ, the Twin Cities station for communities of color, as a cohost and coproducer of Ray Richardson’s Back in the Day show. She even got to host her own show for a short period time on KRSM, another community based radio station, through the Youthprise organization, talking about her struggles of being a black, two-year student. In June 2018, her experiences in the field paid off and she won her first SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists) award, a first-place for the story “The Queen of Dark,” which brought to life the struggles of being “dark” in a blue-eyed, blonde-haired modeling industry through popular instagram model, Nyakim Gatwech.