Pelpina Trip
Alumni
Pelpina Trip didn’t have to think twice last summer when she received an offer to create and host her own webcasts. It was a natural fit for Trip who is passionate about covering new technologies, Internet trends and online tools.
By October, she was working as the producer and host of WebBeat.TV, a program devoted to the latest Internet web memes, new websites, start -ups, and social media news. The show attracted 10,000 viewers in its first three weeks, she said.
“I’m really pleased,” she said. “I had never expected it to take off this fast at all. So it’s been an adventure.”
Prior to launching WebBeat.TV, she was the social media and Internet reporter at KDAF-TV 33 in Dallas, where she hosted “Pelpina's Picks.” It was while she was working at the station that she received an outside offer to do her own online show.
Trip, who is a master's student in the Mayborn, writes all the WebBeat.TV shows herself. She usually tapes the program on Mondays and Thursdays. She wants to help her site viewers sift through the online clutter to find the good websites that can benefit them.
“I’m hoping to educate and to make it simple because there is so many websites out there that are so geeky, and you need to know a lot of html, but it really doesn’t have to be so difficult,” she said. “Education is one part. But it’s great to entertain as well. We also have a lot of fun with the shows.”
Trip earned her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from UNT in Fall 2008. She interned at KDAF 33 when she was an undergraduate student at UNT.
“It has helped me a lot especially get a job in the 33 News,” she said of UNT. “Obviously, I wouldn’t have gotten a job at the 33 News if it wasn’t for the education I got at UNT.”
Trip said she is grateful for Mayborn faculty member Nann Goplerud who has mentored her.
“She has always given me great advice,” Trip said of Goplerud. “She has always been there for me whenever I had a question.”
As an undergraduate student, Trip volunteered as a reporter, producer and an anchor at NTTV. She has also served as Public Affairs Director for KNTU. She served as an anchor and a reporter for the city of Denton television station. She also was an Eagle Ambassador.
