Kaiya Laguardia-Yonamine, a student in the Multimedia Storytelling Master’s program, created a podcast episode that was posted on “Beat Check.”
by Leo Heffron, Class of ’26
When a podcast for a class project ends up being published by The Oregonian, you know you’re onto something.
That’s exactly what happened to Kaiya Laguardia-Yonamine and three other students in the Multimedia Storytelling Master’s program at the UO School of Journalism and Communication. What began as a collaborative in-class experiment turned into four published episodes on The Oregonian’s “Beat Check” podcast.
Laguardia-Yonamine first enrolled in the Community Voices class to learn podcasting because of a personal connection to audio and oral storytelling. Laguardia-Yonamine is a Uchinānchu (Indigenous Okinawan) and Afro-Cuban student, and deeply proud of those roots.
“A lot of my cultural practices involve oral history,” she said. “I’m motivated to continue this tradition by getting my own grandparents' stories about how they held onto history through different colonizations.”
She was also motivated to tell her community's stories in a way that would be respectful of those community members.
The Community Voices class seemed like a good fit, and she was especially intrigued because it was taught by Professor of Practice Andrew DeVigal, director of the Agora Journalism Center. She’d taken previous classes with him and loved his engaging, hands-on teaching style.
Involving people in how their stories are told
The class isn’t about chasing downloads, DeVigal says. It’s about collaborating with people whose stories often go unheard. Students meet with community members before recording and listen to what matters to them. Then they decide together how to share it.
DeVigal says that the process is intentional.
“We center stories around the community and serve their information needs,” he said. “It’s about reporting with communities, not for them.”
Laguardia-Yonamine’s podcast was on Duncan Hwang, who discussed his work as Community Development Director at APANO, alongside his duties as a Portland Metro Council elected official.
Laguardia-Yonamine worked with Hwang at APANO and was eager to share his story, she said. “It was special to talk about activism on such a large platform.”
APANO is a community advocacy organization focused on building power, developing leaders and advancing equity for Asian and Pacific Islanders in Oregon by advocating for a strong community, cultural work and hosting events.
In the episode, Hwang shares how he went from growing up in a small Michigan town to organizing in Portland and eventually holding public office. The conversation hits on coalition building, political representation, and why trust, self-care and strong local leadership matter so much when times get tough.
Starting her first podcast from scratch and ending up in The Oregonian was a great learning experience. Pitching her topic, recording the interview, editing the episode and receiving in-class feedback from her peers was a whole “roundabout moment,” Laguardia-Yonamine said.
Although Laguardia-Yonamine’s episode was a success, it didn’t come without struggles. Hwang and Laguardia-Yonamine talked for over two hours, but the podcast had to be much shorter.
“To cut that down to a 20-minute recording with only so many soundbites and using voiceovers to bridge ideas was a tough process to go through,” Laguardia-Yonamine said. “There were so many gems that were said in our session.”
Podcasting is a powerful way to share stories
The interview was more than an assignment — it was a reminder of why Laguardia-Yonamine entered journalism in the first place. Becoming a podcaster is a powerful way to share stories.
Her podcast was the first of four produced by SOJC Multimedia Storytelling Master’s students to be published on “Beat Check.” All of the episodes are published on the “Listeners Podcast,” an Agora Journalism Center-run platform focused on the craft of listening. Guests include media and communication experts, leaders and community members.
DeVigal was so impressed with the quality of the student-produced podcasts that he reached out to a contact at The Oregonian to see if the content would be a good fit for the popular “Beat Check” podcast, which takes an in-depth look at the issues behind the headlines.
His Oregonian contact agreed and used four of the eight that were offered.
In addition to Laguardia-Yonamine’s episode, “Beat Check” published the podcasts of three other students in the Multimedia Storytelling Master’s program, including:
- Kristen Mico, who interviewed Fiona Conneely of the Portland organization Lift Up and Shelley Schuler, who runs Lane County Bounty, about how food hubbing models offer solutions to small farms, markets and food assistance programs.
- Kristina Path and Leif Olsen, who traveled to Monmouth, near Salem, to meet Amanda Laister, a longtime high school Spanish teacher whose classroom reflects the challenges and hopes of a changing community.
- Daniel Bloomfield, who spoke with Adam Davis, executive director of Oregon Humanities, about the Trump administration’s cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Eventually, Laguardia-Yonamine hopes to pursue a career in documentary, but she acknowledges that this class fueled her love for audio storytelling.
“Audio is such an intimate way to help people tell their stories — it feels like they’re talking right in your ear,” Laguardia-Yonamine said.
The Community Voices class was just one step in her storytelling journey, and it sparked ideas Laguardia-Yonamine plans to carry into her career.
With the launch of the SOJC’s new Community Podcasting microcredential this fall, more students will be able to gain the skills — and the collaborative mindset — to create meaningful, community-centered audio journalism.
Earn a Professional Certification in Podcasting
Leo Heffron is a fourth-year journalism major at the SOJC, with a minor in Spanish. He enjoys writing about various topics, but fashion and social issues are his specialties. You can find his work in the Daily Emerald.