News Writing
News writing is the most common type of reporting, yet one of the hardest to come by and the speed at which you must get it out also makes it one of the hardest to write. With a weekly beat system, it's always stressful finding a timely topic and tracking down interviews over just a couple days. Yet, somehow, the stories always come together just in time.
Cartoon by Jade Wu
Surge of little-known virus highlights gaps in treatment and research
March 24, 2026
In the months from December to February, sickness is always in the back of my mind, as I see my classmates rotate out each week with different respiratory illnesses, myself included. However, this means that by April, I usually expect the wave of these uncomfortable viruses to have passed, so, when that didn't seem to happen this year, I decided to do some investigating. While what I've been seeing at school and in my home life might not all be due to this infectious disease alone, the lack of coverage and research I found on this topic while trying to understand just for myself made me realize how important writing this would be. This is a topic that needs awareness if it's going to make progress...
New 2-in-1 vaccine shows promise to boost uptake and protection next flu season
March 5, 2026
My inspiration for this article came, ironically, after I caught the flu. I've found that getting sick usually isn't a concern of mine until it happens, and I'm reminded of how much I hate the feeling. Your nose is constantly running, or it's stuck and stuffed up, you feel cold, hot, and all sorts of uncomfortable temperatures, and I always get this horrible, choking cough. So, pushing my symptoms and dizziness down, I started to research. I found articles on top of articles about this new variant called subclade K, but what I didn't find, even though I had hours in bed to rip through the internet, was a ton of coverage on what people were actually doing to avoid the impact of another future variant like it. I decided that necessary coverage was something I'd have to take into my own hands...
Cartoon by Jade Wu
Cartoon by Jade Wu
California becomes first state to join WHO network following federal withdrawal
February 3, 2026
These past couple of years, I have seen an abundance of unprecedented splits between the federal government and states, of which California is usually the one initiating. These divides, often on public health policy, have really piqued my interest. So, as one might expect, when Gov. Gavin Newsom suddenly made the decision to join a section of the WHO after the United States completed its prior-announced withdrawal from the organization, I immediately pitched the idea. Health policy is such an impactful field, whether it's talking about disease mitigation, vaccine herd immunity, or medication in general because every single human can relate to feeling affected by the domain at some point in their lives, even if it was just at birth. This makes a relationship change like this, now at the international rather than merely domestic level — as the recent vaccine disagreement was — really big news...
California steps up with new healthcare AI regulation for the new year
January 14, 2026
In school, you are told not to use AI. You're told it's bad; it's considered cheating. So, when headlines about regulating AI in the medical industry started popping up on my screen, my interest was immediately piqued. As someone who almost never uses AI for anything, how were so many people consistently and confidently using it for something so personal and important as their own health that they were almost replacing their doctors, and laws needed to be put in place to protect them from over-trusting it? As I began to delve into pages and pages of laws and pending bills, and saw how many people were involved in and could be interviewed on the topic, I started to realize how big this story really was. It wasn't just going to be a news announcement, but also a reminder for those who are too deep in the AI and wouldn't fully grasp the laws' message themselves...
Night of Holiday Lights shines a seasonal shopping spotlight on local businesses
December 11, 2025
I've lived in Belmont, right next door to San Carlos, all my life, and have spent countless school half days and weekend evenings walking along, eating, and shopping on Laurel Street. Yet, I never knew Night of Holiday Lights existed, and neither did my parents, who loved taking my brother and I to fun festive celebrations like that all throughout our childhood. That's why, with my newfound love for a camera in hand and an empty beat spot, I knew that's where I needed to go. We made a family event out of it, and it was so fun being able to watch all the other families, siblings, performers, and vendors celebrate in the snow, under the tree lights, in between the goods-filled tents, and in front of the stage booming holiday music and cheer...
Circadian research points to healthier solution to daylight saving debate
November 13, 2025
The daylight saving time change is one of those things most people might not fully understand why, whether it's believing a misconception like it aiding farmers or creating longer days, or just not caring and accepting that extra or lost hour, but, a journalist and scientist at heart, I wasn't going to let "it's just how it is" be my reason and move on. My first couple Google searches led me to a far bigger story than I thought I would find, one that didn't seem to be getting as much attention as I felt it should be, especially with the recent developments...
Annual Bay Area Science Festival inspires a community’s love for STEM
October 27, 2025
When beat week approaches, I find myself spending more time scanning big news websites, looking for those flashy, big, seemingly most-important headlines to cover — the shootings and fires, controversial legislation, or a new development in Big Tech. Yet, after writing a good handful of these articles, and spending most of my sophomore year doing so, I started to realize that I was missing a very key part of my community: the culture itself. People aren't always sheltering or building up their houses for a future wildfire; sometimes they go out with their family or friends, living life to the fullest. Since then, starting with this piece, I've tried to keep a balance: not stopping in coverage of the heavy, essential topics, but also adding in some of the fun and exciting events to the mix that members of my community work so hard to put on all the time, such as this one, a celebration of science and learning, two things I love in addition to writing...
West Coast states break with CDC on guidelines
October 3, 2025
Shots are something I've always dreaded, and I think a lot of people can relate to that. However, I've always understood the value of them, considering myself lucky to be able to get them and be healthy, so I never expected anyone to ever argue with that. Thus, when someone did, it was only natural for me to want to cover the debate. I wrote this article to help speak up for and show the other side. I can't convince someone to take something that research has shown will benefit their health, even if the risk is small, but I can lay out the numbers and studies for them and ask them to think again, not just for themselves, but for others too...
REAL ID enforcement finds success after decades of delays
May 16, 2025
I remember applying for my driver's license and being asked if I wanted to apply for a REAL ID at the same time. My mom said to, so I did. At the time, I had no idea what it was, but, a few months later, it was all over the news. Every article I read, however, just left me with even more questions, including "What was the point?" I decided I'd report it myself, for those like me with no idea what it was, and give the full story; the one that started 20 years ago...
New Cal Fire wildfire risk maps prompt updated safety measures
March 8, 2025
The Southern California wildfires started in early January, dominating the news as thousands evacuated and thousands of acres burned from some of the most destructive wildfires in state history. It took me back to 2020, when my own county faced its own devastating wildfires just as the COVID-19 lockdown began. Our fans and air conditioning ran nonstop, the air quality was always at its worst, and, eventually, there was a day when we had to pack up and evacuate. I still remember the moment I realized how real the danger was: when the Cal Fire helicopters were directly above us and I could read the lettering on their sides. That fear has stayed with me. I wrote this article so my community will work to be better prepared. You never think it’ll happen to you, until it’s right above your roof...
Food expiration dates raise waste and climate change concerns
February 6, 2025
Expiration dates are just a fact of life. You go to the grocery story, you look for it. You want to eat chips, you look for it. There's hardly anyone you'll meet who will tell you they've never checked one. Hence, I began to wonder the real purpose of them. How do we know that they help and don't cause any harm? Everyone seems to just go along with them blindly, but what I discovered is more surprising than you'd think...
Meta replaces fact-checkers with X’s Community Notes system
January 16, 2025
In this day and age, Instagram is life. 95% of teenagers use social media, according to the National Library of Medicine. So, when Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, including all things Instagram, released an announcement saying they were changing their fact-checking to mirror X and it could cause increased harmful content, I knew I needed to write a story. However, as our publication is geared towards many teen readers, instead of just giving facts, I decided to write an angle about the effects of the change on teens and youth, picking interviews that support youth well-being...
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