JOURNALIST • EDITOR • STORYTELLER

Raisa Gunawan is a Los Angeles-based journalist and writer whose work spans investigative reporting, culture, entertainment, and human-interest storytelling.She is particularly interested in the point where individual lives collide with larger systems: power, technology, identity, vulnerability, and the often-overlooked circumstances that shape how people move through tie world.

A graduate of UC Irvine's Literary Journalism program, Raisa approaches journalism with equal attention to rigorous reporting and narrative craft. Her work spans print, digital, and broadcast journalism, from reporting on local communities and contemporary culture to a long-form investigation into the proliferation of fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills and the social media networks through which they circulate.

MY APPROACH AND THE STORIES I TELL

I'm drawn to stories that begin with a person but reveal something much larger. That has meant sitting across from a campus drug dealer while reporting on counterfeit pills, following the life of a former fighter who now uses boxing to help others, and interviewing people about experiences of abuse, grief, survival, and reinvention.

I approach those stories with curiosity, persistence, and care. Whether I'm reporting an investigation or writing about film and culture, I want the reader to leave understanding not only what happened, but why it matters.