h jiahong pan

hi, i'm jiahong pan

你好，我是潘嘉宏

hola, soy jiahong

Curiosity and my lived experience fuels my work.

I was born and raised in San Francisco to low-income Chinese immigrants. I grew up in public schools, lived in a rent-controlled apartment, used public transit to get around, all while my parents were working far away to make ends meet. After a stint advocating for things that could improve the quality of life of my family and others in a similar predicament, I decided I preferred learning from others about why they feel the way they feel, rather than asking them to do something they might not even know too well about.

Until recently, I was a full-time freelance journalist based in Minneapolis, where I covered housing, local and state government, public safety, public health, environmental justice, and the occasional historic profile. I've written about:

• A town named after the city I grew up in

• A south Minneapolis slumlord that received an award from the local Society of Professional Journalists, and

• How President Joe Biden is trying to sway the rural vote as he faces re-election this coming year.

But the beat I am most passionate about is transportation. I've written:

• How transit agencies have an obscure, inconsistently-implemented rule to make riding the buses at night safer

• Followed a state representative as he traveled 30 miles by public transit from home to the Minnesota State Capitol,

• Learned about the challenges transit agencies have in winning people back on their systems because of the pandemic

• And chronicled the concerns North Minneapolis residents have about an impending light rail project.

Find most of my Minnesota writing in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, Minnesota's oldest Black-owned newspaper. My byline also appears in the Minnesota Reformer, Southwest Voices (covers Southwest Minneapolis), Downtown Voices (covers Downtown Minneapolis), MinnPost, Sahan Journal, Racket, Twin Cities Pioneer Press, and Project Optimist.

Find my national writing in Next City, Daily Yonder, and The Guardian.

Text or Signal: (612) 293-5408 • Follow on BlueSky: hpan3.bsky.social