Narrative Portfolio: Understanding Society Through Politics and Culture

This thesis portfolio comprises three reported stories that reflect my ongoing inquiry into power, voice, and representation across different social and cultural contexts.As a master's student at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, I have sought to use my reporting to illuminate how underrepresented communities are organizing for structural change, often in the face of systemic neglect or exclusion.Though each story focuses on a different beat, sucha s civic engagement, cultural criticism, and science policy, they are united by a commitment to elevating voices that are often overlooked or minimized in public discourse.In "Teens 16 and 17 get to vote in two Alameda County school board races" (Los Angeles Times), I followed a youth-led movement in Alameda County that succeeded in lowering the voting age for school board elections.The piece centers on students who have long felt denied a say in decisions that shape their education, seized the political moment to demand a seat at the table.This was not only a story about electoral reform but about youth power in practice."Girls (Not) Allowed: The Sexist Underbelly of Japan's Music Industry" (Asian Pop Weekly) examines the persistent gender discrimination facing women working behind the scenes in one of the world's most lucrative entertainment markets.Drawing from both my own industry experience and interviews with female sound engineers, artists, and producers, the story interrogates how institutional sexism and silence continue to shape who gets to thrive in Japan's music scene.The third piece, "UC Berkeley workers say Trump's bid to cut research funds would be 'devastating'" (Berkeleyside), captures a moment of collective resistance as university researchers protest sweeping federal budget cuts to science funding.Reported during a national day of action, the story highlights the fragile infrastructure of publicly funded research and the human toll of political decisions.Each piece stands on its own, yet together they form a body of work that explores how people respond to marginalization, not only through critique but through organizing, protest, and creativity.In reporting these stories, I've come to further understand that journalism is not just about uncovering truth but about who gets to tell it, and whose truths are finally heard.