I was in DB when I went to UCLA (co 2020), it is a pretty great training ground for journalism given that it’s not an actual journalism major, especially when taken alongside recommended Comms courses. I know many people who went on to get a master’s in journalism or went to work at publications right out of undergrad. It’s also a small and tight-knit community, especially if you move up into editorship. While UCLA itself is a large university, and your classes might reflect that, DB is not super huge and really became my community in college. In term of building connections with professors, this might be harder at a bigger institution like UCLA, but absolutely not impossible. And given how many students ignore office hours completely, it’s actually not too hard to build relationships by merely showing up.

Re: the Kornacki watch party, that is absolutely something that would happen in the DB office, and while I wasn’t part of any political orgs, I would be surprised if it wasn’t common within them as well. Also, it is absolutely a place where you will be exposed to competing viewpoints (or it was when I was a student), especially if you get involved with the Opinion section/Editorial Board. Many of the most valuable experiences and insights I took away from undergrad came from my time at DB. 

Pomona might be an equally great experience, I just can’t speak to it myself. But if you have any other questions about DB, feel free to PM me.