In this episode, Mark Simon talks to Kimberly Cortez, editor-in-chief of The Beacon, the University of Portland's school newspaper.

Kimberly (pronouns: she/they) is a social work major who is the child of Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants. She explained the importance of their cultural heritage to their work covering diverse stories, including one on the transgender students at Portland, a Catholic university. Their approach emphasizes passion, empathy, and resilience.

She also shared the impactful role of The Beacon in their career, their time as a New York Times student corps member (with a bylined story covering a Pro-Palestinian protest), and the work she's doing for Portland's weekly newspaper, Street Roots.

And she explained their deep interest in journalism, the challenges she faces as a young journalist of color, and their unwavering hope for the future of the industry. Through personal anecdotes and valuable advice, Cortez provides a poignant perspective on the evolving landscape of journalism and the importance of staying true to one's values.

Kimberly's salute: Underscore News and all journalists from marginalized backgrounds

Our salute: I'm doing a salute as well. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Asaka Park.

If you just listen to the podcast, you don't know Asaka, but if you have read our newsletter in the last year, you know her as someone who wrote articles to supplement episodes of the podcast for about 6 months.

Asaka had a distinct journalism voice. She was passionate and courageous and a strong voice for college students and for people with disabilities.

I never met Asaka in person but we connected over Zoom when I spoke to a journalism class at The College of New Jersey. She wasn't afraid to critique the podcast in pretty strong terms. A few months later, she reached out to ask about interning and I told her I knew exactly who she was and I appreciated her critique. She laughed nervously but I assured her that she'd done well. And she did well by this podcast with her writing.

Asaka died over the weekend of the 28th from complications of Vascular Ehlers-Danlos, an extremely rare genetic condition. You can learn more about it at marfan.org.

Thank you Asaka. We salute you for your journalism excellence.