East Portland inequality and political representation

Latisha Jensen

Latisha Jensen reports for Willamette Week in Portland, Oregon, where she covers political representation on the city’s East Side. Jensen moved to Portland following graduation in May 2019 from Washington State University. She became a part of the freelance team for Street Roots, a local weekly publication focused on homelessness and underserved communities. During her senior year at WSU, she helped edit an annual university publication, the Visitor Magazine, and also freelanced writing. In the meantime, she was working on an investigative piece published in The Spokesman-Review about a young woman incarcerated for illegal substance abuse and distribution. The piece, which touched on the regional and national opioid crisis, was a finalist for a Society of Professional Journalists award in the General News Reporting category. Also during her final year, she was one of six students selected to go abroad during spring break for a journalism trip to Guatemala, where she was able to use her Spanish-speaking skills, which she also honed during study abroad in Grenada, Spain.

Willamette Week

Willamette Week is the first alternative newsweekly in the country to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. Since our founding in 1974, this newsroom is focused on enterprise reporting that gives voice to the unheard, changes laws and removes the corrupt from power. In the past decade, our reporting has led to the resignation of a sitting Oregon governor, fundamental reforms in the state’s foster-care system, and an investigation of police communications with right-wing extremists. We produce a weekly print edition, a daily newsletter, and 35 online stories each week.