About Me

From a young age, the fields of politics and communication independently have been of great interest to me.

Oscar Lopez with his girlfriend Sofia at President Joe Biden's 2023 Labor Day rally in Philadelphia.

It was only a matter of time until I decided to study both in college and wanted to work in a job in the political communication sphere. Let me walk us through how I was introduced to the two disciplines and my experience in both in my short career.

Ever since my sophomore year of high school, I knew that I wanted to study communication in college. This came from a love of watching the news with my mother after coming home from school and doing my homework. We would watch the 6 o’clock news with Jorge Ramos on Univision. My parents came from Mexico to Philadelphia in 1997 so Spanish language media was always present in my house. Whether it be soccer games, telenovelas, or the news, watching Spanish television with my folks was one of the main ways we bonded when I was growing up.

My mother wanted me to become the next Jorge Ramos when I grew up. He is a Mexican journalist who came to the US and started working at Univision when it really started growing in the late 1980s. He would go on to cover events like the rescue of the 33 miners in Chile and interviewing many world leaders. I believed this to be a fine dream, especially given the fact that I spoke both English and Spanish. It was also a preferable option to my dad’s insistence on wanting me to become a mechanical engineer.

I applied to Drexel University as a communication major in the journalism concentration. Having not delved into journalism in high school with our school newspaper, I felt the need to latch onto every possible opportunity to expose myself to the journalism world. I wrote for Drexel’s independent student newspaper, also known as The Triangle. This experience came in my first term in college in the fall of 2019. The 2020 election was picking up steam and Democratic candidates for president starting to campaign in Philadelphia given Pennsylvania’s swing state lure that media outlets love to mention.

I was able to cover events held by Michael Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders and even interviewed Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar when she did a campaign event in Philadelphia’s Fishtown. This experience allowed me to apply for an internship with Al Dia News, the region’s largest bilingual newspaper. Here I expanded my niche and started writing about Latin American foreign policy, Latinos being left out of major US public policy conversations, and Pennsylvania politics.

I interned with them during the summer of 2020 and later came back to work with them during my first co-op in 2021. I wrote over 100 pieces for them and got to interview figures like former PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro, former US Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne, and Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos. It was a great experience, but it was the end of my time pursuing journalism as a career. I switched to the public relations concentration at Drexel because I wanted to have the skills to help change Democratic messaging and campaign strategy from the inside, instead of criticizing them from the outside.

My experience in politics and government relations has granted me many memorable stories at a young age and has allowed me to become close with the politicians themselves, their staffs, and leaders in a diverse range of industries.

The first office I worked for was former Philadelphia City Councilmember At-large Helen Gym the summer after high school in 2019. She is a staunch progressive who can easily move a crowd with the passion behind her words and there is no social justice rally that she did not march in while locking arms with the activist leaders.

Oscar Lopez (center) with his mother (to the right of Oscar) celebrating the passing of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Bill

Gym made me appreciate the value of grassroots politics and taught me how to talk about national issues and their impact on local policy. This was occurring at the same time that my mom was advocating for a local Domestic Workers Bill of Rights and Gym was one of the strongest supporters, for that I will be eternally grateful.

From here I moved on to federal politics where I interned with Congressman Brendan Boyle (PA-02) at one of his district offices. I saw less of the politician since he was in DC or campaigning for the majority of the time but I learned an important lesson. When working with elected officials do not try to befriend them, instead, become close with the staff because these are the people you are likely to work with again. One of the other interns, Jacob Golden, went to Temple University and is now the legislative director for Councilmember Michael Driscoll. One of the district office staff members, Anthony Bellmon, is now a PA state representative and has become a popular figure in the state Democratic party despite not completing his first term yet.

The office that has had the largest impact on my political journey has been the one of PA State Representative Donna Bullock (PA-195). She is the representative for my area and an effective legislator who is unapologetic about voicing her concerns if it means properly advocating for her district. I interned there on a seasonal basis over the better part of two years and in this time she served as Chairwoman of the House Family and Youth Committee and the Legislative Black Caucus. Both she and her staff valued my input on policy and trusted me to plan events in the district.

Photo courtesy of Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy

It was the representative herself who informed me about what would become one of my highest honors yet. Rep. Bullock told me to apply for an internship with US Senator Bob Casey Jr. in his Philadelphia office. A lengthy application process followed but I was accepted and the imposter syndrome immediately hit me. After a few weeks, I felt myself grow into the role, and the staff eventually felt confident with me working on larger responsibilities. In this role, I was able to create briefings for the Senator on issues relating to the Philadelphia School Board and the potential for disincorporation for the City of Chester.

Now I am at a new stage in life. I am about to wrap up college and work at Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy, a public relations firm in Philadelphia that has allowed me to bring my political knowledge and writing skills equally to the table to better assist our clients. In the short time I have been here, I can say that fulfills my interests and provides a wonderful work environment.

Even though I have tried to build out my political communication as much as possible in college, this does not make me an expert on the subject. I always look to have conversations with people in the field, some of whom I have had the privilege of meeting through my previous roles. I chose quite the time to be involved with this, especially seeing how angered many Americans feel by our current media and political landscapes. I hope you stay to join me on this ride of exploring this field and learning more about it from experts in different sectors of it and who are at different points in their careers.