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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — An important statewide program that supports local journalism is bringing new resources — and a talented new reporter — to Lake County.
On Tuesday, the California Local News Fellowship program announced its second cohort, consisting of 36 fellows, who will join newsrooms statewide as part of a publicly-funded initiative to invigorate local journalism, with a focus on underserved communities.
Lake County News is among the latest group of newsrooms selected to receive a fellow through a highly competitive selection process that began at the end of 2023.
The fellow selected to join Lake County News is Lingzi Chen.
A graduate of Columbia Journalism School, Chen will be a general assignment reporter at Lake County News, where she plans to report daily news and longer, more complex stories as well as connect with underrepresented communities.
“Besides contributing to the daily coverage at Lake County News, I am passionate about delving deep into more complex issues that are important to the local people such as government accountability and environmental stories,” Chen said. “I'm also committed to reaching out to underreported ethnic minorities. I hope to contribute both in quick daily turnarounds as well as deeply-reported longform stories that provide rich context.”
With the announcement of the second cohort, the California Local News Fellowship will now support 75 early-career journalists working at small and large newspapers, public radio stations and community and ethnic media outlets across 35 California counties.
The newsroom partners — including the Sacramento Bee, SJV Water, Radio Bilingue, Người Việt News, the Mendocino Voice, Santa Rosa Press Democrat and Lake County News — span the state and will join the inaugural 2023 cohort of newsrooms.
“With a national crisis in local journalism upon us, every single one of these fellows and newsrooms is a sign of hope,” said Christa Scharfenberg, director of the California Local News Fellowship program. “We’re honored to support the next generation of journalists and help invigorate a national movement for robust local news.”
Fellowship meant to address a national crisis
Based at Berkeley Journalism, the fellowship program was spearheaded by California State Senator Steve Glazer in 2022 with $25 million in state support to bolster beleaguered newsrooms.
The funding is supporting three cohorts of fellows to work full-time for two years each.
Glazer and Berkeley Journalism Dean Geeta Anand conceived of the innovative program as an antidote to newsroom layoffs and the shuttering of local newspapers nationwide.
“The survival of local journalism is in the balance, and its survival is not optional,” said Berkeley Journalism Dean Geeta Anand. “Robust local reporting makes a difference for all that we hold dear: the education of our children, safety and dignity for vulnerable community members, the protection of our environment, and more.”
The program, now in its second year, again drew hundreds of applications from newsrooms and early-career journalists who were selected through a competitive process involving the fellowship staff and advisory board, along with leaders from some California State University journalism departments.
“I hope to be a local reporter who knows everything about a place and its people,” Chen said. “I want to truly understand the local community I serve, to know people, to explore what matters, what is at stake, what has gone wrong and to report on what has not been adequately reported.”
The first cohort of California Local News Fellows is doing just that, said Scharfenberg.
“From Chico to Chula Vista, these inaugural fellows have truly exceeded all expectations — both in terms of the quality and impact of their reporting and the way they’ve become part of the communities they serve,” Scharfenberg said.
Scharfenberg said they collectively have written or produced hundreds of stories — and won awards along the way.
Chen to arrive in the fall
Beginning in September, the new fellows will live and work full-time for two years in the communities where they are assigned, reporting on everything from breaking news to local government, the environment, education, economic disparities, the unhoused and more. The first cohort, which started in September 2023, will enter its second and final year.
In addition to invaluable, hands-on newsroom experience, fellows receive robust training and mentorship from industry professionals throughout the two year program.
In 2006, Elizabeth Larson and John Jensen, a husband and wife team, founded Lake County News.
Larson said Chen’s arrival to join their team is the most significant boost in resources and staffing Lake County News has had in its nearly 18 years of publication.
“The California Local News Fellowship is doing amazing work across California, and their support in bringing Lingzi to Lake County is a watershed moment for us,” said Larson. “Lingzi is talented, curious, ethical and fearless. She has all the right stuff a great reporter needs, and we can’t wait to see how her unique perspective and abilities expand our coverage.”
Chen isn’t just a great storyteller, she herself has a fascinating story.
Born in China, she lived in Singapore for 13 years before coming to the U.S. Her work has appeared in Chinese and English-language media based out of Beijing, Singapore and San Francisco. She also has worked as a translator.
“I am a journalist because I am passionate about discovering and telling true stories of people and places,” she said. “Most of my work has been about underreported local labor communities such as delivery workers, seafood wholesalers, cobblers, jewelers and postpartum nannies.”
Fellows and their newsroom editors expressed a deep commitment to local reporting that ensures all community voices are listened to and reported on. They also highlighted the essential role local coverage plays in accountability and the rule of law.
“I always feel that fair and professional local news is the ultimate gatekeeper of democracy,” said Chen. “As local news reporters, we play a frontline role in combating disinformation and misinformation, which can substantially harm our local communities, especially during an election year. This harm often disproportionately impacts underrepresented communities.”
Chen added that local journalism has a legacy: “For me, writing local stories is like writing the first draft of history. With a background in cultural history research, I understand that it’s not just for today, but also for people in the future who will seek to find out what exactly happened.”
When she’s not chasing down stories, Chen is a singer and a watercolor amateur.