I've been an editor since 1996, as long as I've been a reporter and writer.
Currently I'm the investigations editor of The California Newsroom, a collaborative of public radio newsrooms throughout the state, with NPR as its national partner.
From 2019 to 2021, I served as Senior Editor of Investigations and Projects, at KPCC, L.A.’s leading NPR member station and its website LAist.com. In this role, I led a small team of investigative reporters on high-stakes radio and web stories; edited or consulted on investigative or deep-dive narratives with other reporters in the newsroom and freelancers; helped plan newsroom strategy as a member of the editorial management team; and acted as a point-person on collaborations with other news outlets, including the Beacon Project at USC/Annenberg's journalism school. While at KPCC/LAist, I was also the editor on California City, a multi-episode narrative podcast. During the pandemic, I worked on a lot of daily news, including breaking stories of public interest.
Before my time at KPCC/LAist, I freelance-edited stories for 5280 (Denver's city magazine) and Matter (RIP), one of which became the source material for a segment for Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. In 2010 I did a late-round edit of Tracy Ross’s well-received memoir, The Source of All Things (Free Press/Simon & Schuster).
From 2006 to 2008 I was articles editor at Denver’s 5280 magazine, where I assigned and edited several departments and features each month, and top-edited the front-of-book and some service packages. One package I edited won the 2007 City and Regional Magazine Award in Leisure Interests, and a handful of articles I edited were CRMA finalists.
From 2003 to 2006 I was executive editor at Boulder, Colorado-based Skiing magazine, where I edited the front-of-the-book, features, and service packages, top-edited a substantial portion of the magazine, and wrote when time allowed.
While freelancing from 1998 to 2003, I was editor-in-chief of a custom-published magazine called No Boundaries.
I started my career in fall of 1995 as an intern at New York City’s PAPER magazine. A few months later I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to be an editorial intern at Outside, where I wound up spending two years as a junior editor.
Selected Recent Editing
Investigative/Enterprise
Burned (hourlong audio special), by Scott Rodd, Caleigh Wells and The California Newsroom), November, 2022, CapRadio, KCRW, The California Newsroom (IMPACT)
The Window to Protect Big Bear from Wildfire is Shrinking, by Caleigh Wells and George LeVines, August 24, 2022, KCRW, The California Newsroom
Stalled U.S. Forest Service Project Could Have Protected Town From Caldor Fire Destruction, by Scott Rodd, George LeVines, and Emily Zentner, August 16, 2022, CapRadio, The California Newsroom
Immediate Jeopardy: Death and Neglect Inside a Troubled Nursing Home Chain (audio special and web), by Elly Yu and Aaron Mendelson, April 6, 2021, KPCC/LAist (Finalist for 2022 Gerald Loeb Award)
California City: An eight-part investigative podcast by Emily Guerin, produced by LAist Studios
Stuck: Deceit, Disrepair and Death Inside a Southern California Rental Empire, by Aaron Mendelson, February 12, 2020, KPCC/LAist (Winner of IRE, OJA, and Loeb awards)
Neither Human Nor Ghost: Chinese Immigrants Scrape By In San Gabriel Valley’s Boarding Houses, by Yingjie Wang, March 11, 2020, KPCC/LAist
Breaking/Exclusive
Newsom's $42 Million in Aid for Flooded Farmworkers Is Actually Old COVID Funding, by Jerimiah Oetting, March 16, 2023, KAZU/KQED
Immigrant Detainees At Adelanto Say Officers Pepper Sprayed Them For Peacefully Protesting, by Elly Yu, June 22, 2020, KPCC/LAist
'10 To A Room, A Few Feet Apart’: Advocates Say LA County’s Incarcerated Youth Are At Risk, by Stephanie O’Neill, April 3, 2020, KPCC/LAist
Director of Popular Silver Lake Preschool Accused Of Misconduct With Kids, by Lindsey Hunter Lopez, June 21, 2019, KPCC/LAist