Reporting & Writing
Minor Reflections
Transportation Situation
Read Here · V27.3 Features
My first ever Verde story was a feature reporting on Bay Area public transit. It taught me that often, the best stories reveal themselves mid-process.
Our story started as an exploration of Bay Area public transit fragmentation and connectivity issues, but became something far more consequential once we sat down with Jon Goodwin and Alicia Trost, who helped us reframe our entire story to funding issues.
Learning to adapt a story's direction based on what sources actually say, rather than what you expected them to say, was a skill I didn't fully appreciate until this piece.
Digging through original funding documents to grasp the scale of the deficit was incredibly valuable. When you find an angle at the intersection of these complex subjects, your story can become very deep and meaningful.
Better Together
Read Here · V27.3 Editorial
This editorial was one of the most difficult pieces I've worked on.
Covering youth mental health in the wake of a student loss meant that I needed to carefully approach every single word, knowing that the community would be reading with grief.
I develop a skill I hadn't had to exercise before: reporting responsibly on suicide. Through reading the Stanford RROCS packet and online research, I learning safe messaging guidelines like which language to avoid which to use and how to write without sensationalizing.
This experience reshaped how I thought about the relationship between journalism and the community. Journalism is traditionally seen as a means of informing, but in times of crisis, it can also heal and comfort.
LGBTQ+ in Media
Read here · V27.4 Culture
An examination of how the TV series Heated Rivalry (popular among Gen-Z) is sparking debate over whether mainstream LGBTQ+ media helps or harms public perception of the community.
Covering perspectives from members of the LGBTQ+ community was highly enlightening. I explored narratives of LGBTQ+ media and representation of the LGBTQ+ community, investigating how stereotypes affect coverage of a community facing increased discrimination.
Jordan Johnsson
Read here · V27.5 Profiles
Reporting on Jordan Johnsson made me realize how important journalism really is. Here is someone who goes to my school, ranks eighth in the nation, and might genuinely be a path to competing at the Olympics. Journalism exists to close that gap, and to document someone's story before the rest of the world figures out who they are. Getting to write about Jordan felt like I was capturing something that truly mattered.
