Jannelle So

Jannelle So (born September 9, 1977) is a journalist and broadcaster known for her work as the host and producer of Kababayan L.A., a daily show for and about Filipinos airing on KSCI (LA-18) television, for which her hard work was recognized by different prestigious Filipino organizations such as Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) and Filipino American Library (FAL). She also lends herself to other non-profit organizations in Southern California such as The Philippine Medical Association of Southern California as event emcee and as keynote speaker.

Born and raised in the Philippines, So is of Chinese, Filipino and Spanish descent. Her last name is Chinese, meaning "happiness". Jannelle was an accomplished media practitioner in the Philippines where she had a six-year print and broadcast journalism career, which includes coverage of top local and international events such as the 1997 ASEAN Informal Summit in Malaysia, 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok and 2002 Asian Games in Korea, 1998 Philippine Presidential Elections, and the 1998 Centennial Celebrations in the Philippines. Jannelle has also covered the last ten fights of Philippine boxing pride, Manny Pacquiao. Jannelle holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Arts. She graduated cum laude and was awarded second honors of the whole graduating class from Miriam College, Inc., Philippines, where she was an honor scholar. In 1998, she was nominated to the Top 10 Most Outstanding Students of the Philippines.

She then moved to the United States in 2003 with her family, leaving behind a budding career as a sportscaster for the Philippine Basketball Association.

She completed a certificate course in journalism at UCLA and did freelance writing for Young Money and Audrey before coming to Kababayan L.A. So has also worked as a correspondent for various news programs airing on The Filipino Channel.

As the popular and successful daily talk/magazine show “Kababayan LA” celebrated its fifth anniversary this 2011, Jannelle got Honorable Mention from the Los Angeles Press Club at the 53rd Annual Southern California Journalism Awards. She has also been recently named to 100 Most Influential Filipinas in the US by Filipina Women’s Network, an esteemed Filipino group based in San Francisco.