Robin Linares, the inaugural AAJA Portland-Peter Wong political reporting intern, works on the Oregon Senate floor on Feb. 20, 2026. (Photo by Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
Despite attending university across the street from the Oregon State Capitol for the past three years, reporting inside its marbled walls was one of the last things I thought I’d be able to do.
Now, as a third-year student at Willamette University, today is my last day of a 10-week internship learning the ropes of the short legislative session and the world of state politics.
My involvement in the Legislature this session was as the Oregon Capital Chronicle’s first political reporting intern. This was made possible by the Asian American Journalists Association’s Portland chapter to celebrate the journalistic legacy of Peter Wong, a long-time journalist who covered the Oregon Legislature for 40 years. The Capitol also dedicated its press offices to Wong, ahead of this legislative session, and I worked most days in the basement offices named for him.
In collaboration with Willamette, AAJA sponsored an intern for the Oregon Capital Chronicle, focusing on topics that disproportionately impact marginalized communities in Oregon. In taking on this role, I knew that the work I did was not only important for me to grow in my own journalistic knowledge, but that the coverage I would contribute to would be important in advancing the diversity of coverage in the news.
As a student journalist and news editor at Willamette’s student newspaper, The Collegian, I wasn’t unaware of the Oregon Legislature and how bills became law. However, nothing, not even Gov. Tina Kotek herself, could have prepared me for the whirlwind of a legislative short session.
One of my first assignments at the start of session was to attend a public hearing for a bill about regulating AI companion tools. The 8 a.m. committee meeting was in a hearing room, but like many returning to the remodeled building, I got lost trying to find it. Once found, I was afraid to enter for fear of disturbing the meeting until I saw a legislative aide repeatedly exiting and reentering, who informed me that I can enter anytime.
It was later in the session when I learned that Oregon legislators are constantly on the move during meetings, to the point that the sergeant at arms in the House chamber has to yell “VOTE” at the top of their lungs so representatives can return from their offices to vote on a particular bill.
Later that first day, I went to another committee meeting about a bill seeking to allow non-digital rental applications. While I didn’t get lost this time, after the meeting ended and I walked back to the Capital Chronicle’s downtown office, I realized that my keys were locked in the hearing room. As it was past 5 p.m., I then waited for a Capitol employee to unlock the room so I could sheepishly retrieve my keys.
All in all, the day felt like I was a newly born giraffe that didn’t quite understand how to walk yet. There was a lot to learn.
Throughout the internship, I was able to shadow the more experienced reporters and my editor in the way they conducted interviews with legislators, how they entered and exited hearing rooms and chambers with ease and the in-depth procedural rules of Oregon’s legislative branch. I became more comfortable with quickly synthesizing complicated bills and navigating the Legislature’s website.
I was also able to build my stamina reporting on committee meetings, floor sessions and participating in news conferences. At one, I sat in awe watching other journalists tactfully probing House Speaker Julie Fahey about campaign finance, fundraising and transportation. At another, I found the only chair left in the room was next to the governor and nervously sat beside her.
Beyond the classic intern faux pas, I am incredibly proud of my reporting and the opportunities I have had during my time as an intern. Some of my reporting highlights included the student-organized Salem-Keizer walkout for immigrant rights, covering the passage of different forms of epinephrine in schools, and speaking with Senate honorary pages as the program saw new popularity since its return to the Legislature post-COVID.
Other favorite stories looked into bills passed about urban growth boundary expansions and what Oregon’s mild winter means for summer wildfire risk, as I could mix my journalistic and academic interests in environmental science and public health.
In terms of career development, it was an incredible opportunity to be able to learn from the Capital Chronicle team throughout this internship, and the AAJA board during a meet-and-greet in mid-March.
Overall, my reporting voice has become more certain, more understanding of legislative processes and more engaging toward a wider audience. This opportunity I’ve had has also been beneficial with my work at the student newspaper, making me a stronger editor as well as a stronger reporter.
Some of the student newspaper staff have been able to contribute to the Capital Chronicle with the latest No Kings coverage, where, reporting for both organizations, we were able to learn some of the Capital Chronicle’s processes for live protest coverage.
For my final year at Willamette, I am transitioning into a new role in the campus newspaper as the editor-in-chief. I am excited to apply all that I have learned here to continue to support student journalists I continue to work with.
As I am leaving the Capital Chronicle, I will have taken with me a lot of “firsts:” First legislative session, first hate email, first legal threat and as a whole, first journalism-based internship.
I have many people to thank including Capital Chronicle editor-in-chief Julia Shumway and reporters Alex Baumhardt, Mia Maldonado and Shaanth Nanguneri for their welcoming presence and guidance. I also want to thank AAJA Portland, Willamette University, The Collegian team, and everyone who has supported me through this journalistically illuminating and intense period.
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