Pedro Oliveira Jr., Patch Staff

Born and raised in Brazil, Pedro was inspired to give journalism a try after hearing stories from his father, who used his school newspaper to challenge the country's military dictatorship.

After moving to Los Angeles in 2004, Pedro received a scholarship to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied journalism and Portuguese literature. It was at UW-Madison that Pedro became involved with The Badger Herald, a student-run newspaper. He later moved on to report for the state's second-largest newspaper, the Wisconsin State Journal, and after worked at the Janesville Gazette covering crime, government and schools.

Seeking a new adventure, Pedro moved to the Boston area in 2010 and hasn't looked back. He started with Patch in September as an assistant local editor and became Arlington Patch's editor in April 2011.

In his free time, you can fin Pedro jamming out on his piano, striking random conversations on the streets of Arlington or sipping coffee around town.

<b>Your Beliefs</b>

At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable. This disclosure is not a license for you to inject your beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that your beliefs are on the record will cause you to be ever mindful to write, report and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you ever see evidence that we failed in this mission, please let us know.<br><br><b>Politics </b>

How would you describe your political beliefs? I&#39;m an involved citizen, always concerned about matters of government and how they affect our daily lives at the local level. But my political beliefs lie all over the spectrum. The closest I can to to a description is: I&#39;m an idealistic constitutionalist and lover of all things laissez-faire.  

Are you registered with a certain party? No, I&#39;m not.<br><br><b>Religion</b><br>How religious would you consider yourself? I grew up playing music and directing ensembles in Christian churches. I try to keep up with that. <b><br></b>