Austin De Dios '22

Business Reporting Intern at the Portland Business Journal

Major: Economics

As a business reporting intern, I covered diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal industry and the broader Portland business community. I wrote stories daily, while also working on a longer cover story.

On-campus, I am the current Editor-in-Chief of The Beacon, which has been the best part of my time at UP. I’ve met some of the brightest and kindest students on campus, while also opening doors to career paths I didn’t think were available to me. The Beacon’s advisor, Nancy Copic, sent the internship application my way - she has all kinds of great connections for aspiring journalists. This internship was through the Dow Jones News Fund Internship program, which takes select applicants out of a large pool from across the country and pairs them with participating newsrooms. I applied on a whim, not expecting to get in. You never know unless you try! I figured it was a great opportunity to combine my degree in economics and my experience at The Beacon.

It’s been a valuable opportunity, and I’ve met some great mentors and friends on the way. I feel like I've grown as a writer, and more broadly as a journalist with the help of the Portland Business Journal team, and my Dow Jones News Fund training. I’ve also learned it's important to be confident, and part of that is finding people who can lift you up and coach you. Life isn’t about knowing everything your first day, but about learning and growing as you move forward.

My only goal coming into this was to see if journalism was a viable path for me. When you start an internship, it’s an expectation that you’re there to learn and develop skills you may not have had before. That kind of environment allows mistakes, and that’s one of the best ways to learn. This internship was a chance to prove to myself I was capable of writing professionally, and I did that. It showed me that there’s a lot of opportunity in business journalism, and that it’s something I really enjoy doing. Now I even find myself considering a career in journalism, something I never thought was in the cards.