Alexander Banks

Before joining the Yakima Herald-Republic, Banks completed two internships with the Baker City Herald, through the University of Oregon's Snowden internship, and the Statesman Journal, in partnership with the Asian American Journalists Association. During those internships, he covered education, economic development, breaking news and feature stories. He holds a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Oregon State University and is currently studying for his master’s in strategic communications from Washington State University. His passion for journalism started while working for OSU’s student newspaper, The Daily Barometer, where he wrote his first feature story on the dean of the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences. Banks enjoys screenwriting, photography, videography and learning Spanish in his free time. A fun fact about him is that his mother used to be a columnist for The Oregonian.

Yakima Herald-Republic

The Yakima Herald-Republic, which publishes daily, is the largest media outlet in the Yakima Valley. It is dedicated to serving Central Washington with breaking news, sports and in-depth coverage. The newsroom also includes El Sol de Yakima, a Spanish-language website and weekly paper. The Herald-Republic is part of the family-owned Seattle Times company.