Aspiring journalist and SOU senior Caroline Cabral spent her summer break in southern Oregon chasing and reporting stories for the Herald and News, the daily newspaper in Klamath Falls.

She earned the paid internship as part of the prestigious Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism program, administered by the University of Oregon and committed to promoting ethical journalism across the state.

Cabral rose through a competitive assessment by Snowden administrators, including an in-person interview. Her hard work, established skills and rich background in student journalism then led her all over southern Oregon looking for stories, pitching ideas to the newspaper’s staff and writing as many as four articles per day.

Cabral received great experience, and two of her published stories were distributed by the Associated Press news agency.

Both of her AP stories took basic subjects and turned them on their heads. One documented disruptions to the entire Klamath Falls community that resulted from a new bike lane. Apparently, some people in Klamath Falls are trying to make residents healthy, even if it kills them.

In another featured story, Cabral took a new spin on the old subject of the county fair. She found that the new face of American carnivals includes many immigrants on H-2B visas, allowing them to work temporarily in the United States.

Cabral has picked up credentials at SOU, including serving for two years as co-editor of The Siskiyou, the university’s student newspaper, and helping to launch a weekly newsletter for the campus community. Cabral will be graduating with dual degrees in English and Communication, focusing in Strategic Social Media and Public Engagement.

“Journalism is really important for me,” Cabral said. “I also want to be a part of something bigger.”

SOU has now placed students in Snowden internships for three years in a row. Before Cabral, Eli Stillman earned the honor and interned with the Daily Astorian in 2016, followed by Hannah Jones at the McMinnville News-Register in 2017.

Story by SOU student writer Kyrie Hughes