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To end 2025, we assigned each reporter in the WW newsroom to pick two stories by a colleague that stood out in 2025. We then had the recipient of the compliment pass it on—but not before penning an update to the tales. Here’s the first of these stories.
“The Peacock Papers”
Aug. 6
Why Andrew Schwartz loved it: In her reports on a text message thread among the Portland City Council’s ascendant progressive caucus (or “Peacock,” as they dubbed themselves), Sophie Peel revealed key dynamics shaping the city’s newly renovated government. Though she produced the story on the basis of old-fashioned reporting—dynamite sourcing, copious (and creative) public records requests, a smart, engaging narrative frame—its raw content feels delightfully contemporary. This is good journalism at its most basic, bringing fresh, interesting information into the public domain that might otherwise have remained private for all eternity.
I love the italicized contextual bits, which read like action portions in a screenplay, setting up the dialogue. And in the message transcripts themselves, you feel how the new councilors banter, talk shit, strategize and learn the procedural ropes. I’d just moved to Portland when this story came out, and I was grateful for the lucid insight into the city’s actually existing democracy (as your DSA buddy might say) of the sort that ordinary council coverage rarely provides.
Killer detail: The best moment comes late in the evening of May 21—11:11 pm—as Councilor Angelita Morillo announces she’s hatched a plan to force a vote on moving police funding to the parks bureau, and advises her comrades to look alive. Soon, they begin discussing which bar they will visit to celebrate their victory, and settle on “the yammi,” aka the Yamhill Pub.
Sophie Peel on what’s happened since: Peacock has become a stronger and tighter voting bloc in the months since the chats emerged. They’ve led and secured some meaningful policy wins: an ordinance that imposes a fee on property owners that rent to detention centers, including to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and another that bans the use of algorithms to set rents. They’ve also found themselves in hot water: The Oregon Government Ethics Commission voted unanimously in early December to investigate an Aug. 6 “retreat” Peacock held, citing concerns the caucus may have violated quorum rules for council committees. The six progressive councilors say they never spoke about policy during the retreat, but instead focused on interpersonal matters.
