Fort Collins city government & elections coverage
I have experience reporting on miscellaneous topics related to the Fort Collins city government including infrastructure changes, budget proposals, general city council meetings and elections. At The Collegian, we aimed to also report on elections and city issues that were most relevant to students. Any other city coverage we conducted on a case-by-case basis, often dependent on our staff availability.
Miscellaneous city reporting
In addition to my journalism experience, I have also developed strong skills in research, analysis and critical thinking through my coursework in political science. I pursued a concentration in U.S. government, policy and law both because of my love for city government and because I know that education will bolster my reporting. I have a strong grasp of the inner workings of a local government and can navigate policies, legislation and red tape with ease.
Reporting on my hometown of Fort Collins has been an absolute joy during my time at The Collegian because of how much this place means to myself and my family. I know that I will take that joy to wherever else I may end up and forge strong relationships with individuals in the community to continue excellence in reporting.
Drive Electric NoCo held electric vehicle promotion with City*
September 18, 2019
*I did not write this headline and its dullness hurts me.
September 18, 2019
*I did not write this headline and its dullness hurts me.
Fort Collins doubles ADA accessible bus stops
March 3, 2020
City opens 2021 budget process, focuses on community input
July 16, 2020
Key numbers in the Fort Collins 2021 City budget proposal
September 2, 2020
March 3, 2020
City opens 2021 budget process, focuses on community input
July 16, 2020
Key numbers in the Fort Collins 2021 City budget proposal
September 2, 2020
City Council elections, 2021
As news editor of The Collegian in 2021, I coordinated coverage of the Fort Collins City Council elections. 2021 saw a large number of candidates due to many sitting councilmembers being termed-out and a surprising race of five candidates for one district. At The Collegian, we aimed to conduct basic articles on all candidates to give students a general idea of what each person stood for and hoped to accomplish. In this particular year, my news director and I had to pick up multiple candidate profiles last-minute. Many of these articles I wrote within 1-2 days, which shows how I am extremely capable of completing well-rounded news reporting on a tight deadline.
City/county elections, 2022
Colorado elections reporting:
I also have experience reporting on state-wide elections and issues and can quickly learn how unique state legislatures function, research bills and understand discussions of policy and legal issues on the state level.
Associated Students of Colorado State University coverage
The student government at CSU consists of a judicial, executive and unicameral legislative branch. The student body elects the president and vice president, the speaker of the senate and senators from each college. Known as ASCSU, the senate meets weekly during the semester and controls millions in student funds. The Collegian is the only news source that regularly covers ASCSU and aims to be the community watchdog over these elected officials. There's a lot more controversy surrounding ASCSU than one might initially think.
Throughout my time at The Collegian, I have reported on the ASCSU senate meetings and four different election cycles, and I have also directed editorial decisions regarding investigations into ASCSU members' actions and other coverage issues.
I have covered controversies, rescheduled elections, last-minute candidate announcements and meetings that have carried on past midnight.
General reporting
Elections reporting, fall 2020
Elections reporting, spring 2021
Elections reporting, spring 2022
Directing elections coverage
As the news editor, content managing editor and editor in chief of The Collegian over three years, I oversaw the coverage of numerous state, city and student government elections. As news editor, I completed more reporting to fill in our needs. As content managing editor and editor in chief, I coached newer editors and reporters on what we wanted to see in our paper and how to go about contacting candidates and monitoring election results.
Below you will find e-editions of The Collegian that show our comprehensive elections coverage that I helped direct. I am most proud of the March 30, 2023 issue that focuses on the ASCSU elections. In spring 2022, the ASCSU elections had a record-low voter turnout of 6.17%. We regularly had more print readers than students who voted in those elections. Because of this (and short notice on the spring 2023 elections), I scrapped our tradition of creating an April Fools print paper and coordinated coverage of the elections to go into the print paper within a week. The voter turnout for the spring 2023 elections was 14.49%. I obviously cannot say decivisely if The Collegian's coverage influenced this, but I do believe we had an impact.