VIDEO
Bay Area overpass protests turn commutes into political statements
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The sound of honks becomes a chorus of support over Highway 580 during Thursday rush hour. Motivated by recent actions from the Trump administration, especially around immigration enforcement, protesters gather weekly on Bay Area overpasses to make their message visible to thousands of commuters. Occurring in tandem with similar actions being taken up across the country, these protests have grown in frequency and size, building small communities of resistance along the way.
What sets video apart from writing for me is, frankly, my love for film. Though some journalists bristle at comparisons between fictional media and journalism, I believe that drawing from what inspires you can make for a more engaging and intentional piece. Having grown up immersed in the arts, I find myself instinctively looking for elements to stitch together the moment I arrive at a scene.
As walkouts increased across schools nationwide and sign-holding demonstrations became a near-daily occurrence in my region — particularly in response to immigration enforcement tactics and dissatisfaction with the Trump administration — one form of protest stood out to me: overpass demonstrations.
The moment I arrived, the sound was overwhelming—and at the same time, it revealed the foundation of my film. The honking became natural sound. Music blasting from speakers turned into the introduction.
Planning document
For me, the key to creating a clean, organized video is staying organized from the very beginning. Before producing a video beat, I start with a planning document that includes preliminary brainstorming components: my pitch angle, potential interview sources, interview questions, and relevant research, such as events I plan to attend.
A few days before filming, I finalize my shot list so I’m not scrambling under the pressure of production. This preparation allows me to focus on capturing a variety of shot distances and avoiding repetitive b-roll, rather than worrying about what I might be missing.
I also write my opening blurb ahead of time so I can record it on-site instead of at home. This way, I can film in a more immersive setting.
At the bottom of the document, I use the space to draft my voiceover lines, the lede for our student media outlet, and the YouTube description, keeping all elements of the project organized in one place.
Editing
The way I piece together video is closely tied to how I write, even though they’re entirely different mediums. I think back to the key moments from my interviews, create a rough outline for the order of clips — whether chronological or based on source importance — and then layer in B-roll. From there, I let myself get creative, building an engaging introduction to draw the audience in.
In the image to the right, you can see another tip I use: I like utilizing grid lines to help keep my eyes and the thirds consistent across all the clips I appear in.
VIDEO
San Carlos celebrates 100 years of community with Hometown Days
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The centennial San Carlos Hometown Days officially commenced last Friday, a three-day celebration in honor of the city’s 100th birthday. The event featured a local marketplace, family activities, live music, and various events for the community to enjoy. Whether by watching the Hometown Days Parade or the procession of pets at the Pet Palooza, San Carlos residents could enjoy the sense of community the city continues to cultivate.
Recognition received
- Featured in First Place Multimedia Journalist of the Year Portfolio NSPA (2025)
The words “I never thought I’d enjoy this so much” rang in my mind as I explored video journalism for the first time through my broadcast coverage of the Hometown Days Celebration. To mark its centennial, the city of San Carlos expanded the annual festival into a three-day event filled with a local marketplace, family activities, live music, and community-centered fun. As I captured sweet moments—families dancing, business owners laughing, residents proudly sharing stories—I realized how different this medium was from the beat reporting I’d done before. Video journalism allowed me to encapsulate emotion in real time and offered a more intimate storytelling experience—one that truly conveyed the candid sense of connection and pride within my community.
Prior to this video, I had never done broadcast journalism before. With my inexperience, I sought to replicate the techniques I observed in professional outlets like BBC News and CBS News—prioritizing varied angles and shot distances to capture dynamic B-roll. I supplemented my footage with interviews from three individuals who personified the diverse roles within the celebration: the mayor of San Carlos, a parade announcer, and a visiting attendee. This experience awakened my hidden passion for visual storytelling, and broadcast journalism is a path I’m excited to continue pursuing.
AUDIO
Delaying progress: federal research funding on the chopping block
Recognition received
- Featured in First Place Multimedia Journalist of the Year Portfolio NSPA (2025)
For as long as I can remember, I avoided science. It was my older brother’s interest, so I embraced the humanities and never looked back.
However, after the Trump administration cut Harvard’s federal research funding over its refusal to comply with White House demands, science began creeping back into my territory: journalism, where free speech and accountability reign.
I started writing a story focused on university researchers and rising undergraduates at UC Berkeley, a nearby institution known as one of the nation’s leading research universities. As I spoke with more scientists, I felt almost ashamed of how little I had appreciated the impact of research on our lives, and angry about the consequences of the policy changes.
During my reporting, I met Colette Delawalla, founder of Stand Up for Science, a leading organization protesting the funding cuts. I was so struck by her passion and dedication that I wanted others to hear directly from her.
For this article, I created an audio summary to provide a concise format where readers can listen to her voice and message firsthand.
AUDIO
Measuring up to fantasy
After I experimented with adding audio clips to the beginnings of a few of my articles during my junior year of high school, my journalism advisor decided to make audio a requirement for the annual multimedia features published by Scot Scoop. This change aimed to strengthen students’ multimedia skills and help them become more comfortable editing audio and producing pieces they could include in their portfolios.
Because multimedia features can be text-heavy, often broken up only by a few infographics, I approached this project with accessibility in mind. Similar to how The New York Times and other major publications include audio summaries at the top of their articles, I created an audio introduction by weaving together key sections of my article with interview clips from Mandy Sanchez, the program coordinator at Culture Reframed, a nonprofit focused on preventing the emotional, behavioral, and sexual harms of pornography on children and youth. I sourced these clips by downloading my interview transcript recorded with Otter AI.
For this particular audio piece, I explored Adobe Podcast’s newly released web-based audio editor instead of Adobe Premiere, which I had used for previous projects. The platform allows users to edit audio directly through the text transcript, making the process far more accessible. After learning the tool myself, I taught other students in my class how to use it, helping them feel more confident producing their own audio work.
AUDIO
Questioning progress: Native American skepticism surrounding California’s new educational mandate
Recognition received
- Featured in First Place Multimedia Journalist of the Year Portfolio NSPA (2025)
For this article, I created an audio clip to provide readers with a concise, accessible entry point into a long and complex story, drawing from key moments in my reporting and interview excerpts that contextualize Native American skepticism surrounding California’s new educational mandate.
In the audio summary, I included interview audio from both a student source and Lloyd Mathiesen, the tribal chairman of the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, because their interviews were among the most poignant. Hearing their perspectives directly in their own voices adds a level of emotional depth and authenticity that paraphrasing cannot fully capture, allowing audiences to connect more deeply with their experiences and viewpoints.