Jacob Rascon

Jacob Rascon joined NBC4 Southern California as the station's first multimedia reporter. In his role, Rascon reports on news and often shoots and edits stories originating from Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Rascon's passion for journalism is second-generation, as his father and uncle were also broadcast journalists in the Los Angeles television market. Though constantly tutored in the business, Rascon truly found his love and appreciation for journalism in the Middle East, where he vividly remembers walking among hundreds of thousands of Egyptians in Tahrir Square, as they shouted for the fall of dictator, Hosni Mubarak, in 2011. Rascon was moved by the people's demand for a free press after being suppressed under a regime that didn't allow these simple freedoms.

He also extensively covered immigration issues, riding along with Border Patrol agents in El Paso. Additional career highlights include covering the unforgiving Texas wildfires in 2011 and several notorious gang-related murder trials in the Southwest.

If Rascon didn't pursue a broadcast journalist career, he may have followed his one-time dream of becoming a CIA agent. He took Arabic and Hebrew classes in college thinking they would benefit him in the CIA. He now hopes to use these languages in his journalist career covering assignments in the Middle East some day.

Rascon is a graduate of Brigham Young University and also studied at the college's sister campus in Idaho. Fluent in Spanish, he created the first Spanish newscast at the Idaho campus. He is the recipient of the coveted National Association of Hispanic Journalists Geraldo Rivera collegiate scholarship for distinguished journalistic skill.
 
Rascon is married and has a 3-year-old daughter. He is an avid skier and snowboarder and finds relaxation in the kitchen while cooking his favorite dessert-like breakfasts and brunches.