Austin Cope

I'm a reporter and multi-platform journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. My work combines accountability journalism with human-interest topics, or, in other words, stories that impact people's everyday life but relate to more complex systems, power, and money. I currently report on transportation for The News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington, where I cover everything from traffic surveillance cameras to city pothole data.

Before moving to Tacoma, I spent five years in New York City, where I wrote about international corporate crime at Global Investigations Review, a publication covering the white-collar criminal law industry. Before that, I worked as a freelance journalist in New York City and Colorado, where my work appeared in outlets including NPR, The Washington Post, 99% Invisible, and local and regional publications. I started my career in southwestern Colorado by establishing a local news department at KSJD Radio, a small NPR affiliate serving one of the most rural parts of the U.S.

I have also lived, worked, and studied in Belgium, Ohio, Spain, Wyoming, and northern India. Between 2018 and 2020, I was an Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association fellow, where I worked with Jagori Rural Charitable Trust, a community development organization based in Himachal Pradesh, India. In addition to English, I speak fluent French, Spanish and conversational Hindi. I have a bachelor's degree in politics from Oberlin College and a master's degree in international journalism from the City University of New York.