Alissa Medina, M.A. is a journalist and has been since her days as a double-major in English and women’s studies at UC Riverside. As founder and chief digital strategist for the online feminist magazine, Fembot, Medina continues to showcase diverse voices to deliver fresh stories on topics that include homelessness and cultural appropriation.

Created by Medina in 2007, Fembot Magazine has a Facebook following of more than 50,000 readers daily. Daily stories are published online by more than 40 writers. Fembot’s tagline is “no click-bait, no gimmicks, just real perspectives” and features “diverse voices in intersectional feminism and social justice.”

In 2010, Medina was accepted to UCR. One of her first calls was to UCR’s school newspaper, the Highlander. Medina, a graduate of Los Osos High School, had served as her high school newspaper’s editor-in-chief since 11th grade. 

“The minute I got into UCR,” she said, “I contacted the Highlander and was like, ‘I really want to work with you guys.’” A Highlander editor suggested she apply for an open editor’s position.

She applied for features editor and got it as a first-year student, making her one of the Highlander’s youngest editors in history. 

CHASS helped prepare Medina for her future career at Fembot. Medina said professors introduced students to a variety of authors and voices. One of the most memorable pieces she read as an English major was “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, about a woman trapped in wallpaper taught to her by then graduate student Giulia Hoffman. The text highlights “the elasticity of a woman’s role in the household,” according to Medina, which inspired her to learn about women’s literature.

As a double-major in women’s studies, Medina also noted that many gender studies professors taught a type of feminism called intersectional feminism, which “encompasses all races, all genders, all ethnicities, and classes.”

Entering the classroom of women’s studies professor Jane Ward transformed her thought process. “I wanted to have a really specific angle to things that I knew I would be writing about in the future,” Medina said.

This global perspective inspired Medina and inspired her to reach out to her professors. They were encouraging and supportive of her goals, and she specifically mentioned English Professor James Tobias. She asked Tobias to be her independent study professor for an internship with entertainment news outlet TMZ.

“Tobias said, ‘If you want to take this on as an English major, you need to analyze the tone with which they present themselves to listeners and viewers.”

Medina was up for the challenge and took it one step further. She analyzed TMZ’s tactics and compared them to Jezebel, a feminist news website. She then used her findings to write a paper based on how structures and tone are apparent in media. Medina realized the power that the media has over the public psychology and opinion, and how voices have power over the media itself.

Medina graduated from UCR in 2014 and since then has earned her master's degree in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University in 2017. She has utilized everything she’s learned to take Fembot even further. The beginning of the Trump administration has increased Fembot page traffic, and Media sees the importance of continuing to showcase feminist voices.

For more information regarding Fembot Magazine, visit fembotmag.com.

FEATURED PHOTO. Photo courtesy of Alissa Medina.
Alissa Medina is a UC Riverside graduate who created Fembot Magazine featuring "real feminist perspectives to educate and empower.