NextGenRadio
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Finding, coaching and training public media’s next generation.
Our Reporters
Alayna Becker
Alayna Becker is a writer, and multimedia producer in Portland, Oregon. She is the managing editor of Moss Lit, a northwest literary magazine and co-produces Lez Stand Up, an LGBTQ comedy show.
Alayna is passionate about first-person narratives that go beyond the headlines. She enjoys long walks in the woods and playing the violin.
Finding what it takes to tell a great story
I had fears about a program intended for college kids. While – sure – I am in college, I’m older than most other students. After dropping out of high school over ten years ago, I have felt like I needed to figure everything out on my own. To some degree, I’ve been...
Venus Edlin
San Jose, California native, Venus Edlin (they/them), is an undergraduate student at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., where they are the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, The Log. They are passionate about print journalism and advocating for historically marginalized communities. Venus seeks to uplift communities who are underrepresented in the media since they are often the only nonbinary or trans person in the newsroom. Venus has covered the experiences of trans athletes, students of English as a second language programs and victims of sexual assault.
Venus likes to write and edit video content. They perform drag in the Portland metro area.
Learning a lot in a short amount of time
This week was a great opportunity to learn a lot in a short amount of time. I also got the chance to tell another story, something I love doing that is so valuable. There’s a lot from this experience that I will be taking forward with me. One of my favorite parts was...
Alejandra Silva Hernández
Ale is a first-generation immigrant and first-generation graduate from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, currently applying to medical school. She wants to serve medically underserved communities and continue advocating for health justice as a physician and medical reporter.
She is excited to combine her academic and lived experience to support Latine health through research, policy, and journalism. In her free time, she enjoys hiking in the Pacific Northwest.
Combining my passion for public health and storytelling
A year ago, I had just wrapped up my digital storytelling class at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health when I learned about the NPR Next Generation Radio program. That’s when it clicked that journalism might be a way to combine my passion for public...
Yordanos Tesfazion
Portland native Yordanos Tesfazion (she/her) is a creative that hopes to make the world a kinder and gentler place through storytelling. She was born to immigrant parents from Ethiopia and Eritrea.
She discovered her love of storytelling while pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Civic Communication and Media and Sociology at Willamette University. Yordanos understands the power of storytelling in bringing people and communities together. She is committed to provide a space and uplift the voices of historically marginalized communities. Now, she covers issues that are overlooked and is committed to platforming underrepresented voices and experiences. She earned a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oregon.
An experience I’ll always be grateful for
This past week working with Next Generation Radio is an experience I’ll always be grateful for. The majority of my journalism work has been in a school setting, which is very different from what we did this week. For one, learning about all of the different teams that...
Hanlin Wang
Hanlin Wang (he/him) is from Beijing, China and recently graduated from the School of Journalism and Communication with a degree in Journalism at the University of Oregon, in Eugene (UO). During his time at UO, he was a videographer involved with Flux magazine, producing two video stories for the website.
He produced a video associated with the Chinese Philanthropic Leadership Association, narrating the lives of professors and students during the pandemic. The video shows international and national perspectives of life during the lockdown – Hanlin teamed with 10 students to produce, shoot and edit the project.
Hanlin loves playing tennis and basketball. He also enjoys the creativity and calmness he gets from making ceramic vases.
Collaborating is so much fun
I’m very thankful for my mentor Tom for his guidance throughout the week, Michelle Baker who worked very closely with me for the visuals, and PJ and Selena for their magical audio edit and coaching. I learned to get more productive and follow the workflow. Producing a...