About

Staff

Publisher
Sheryl Turner

Assoc. Publisher
Phil Hopkins

Brand Design
Tania Sosa-Lanz

Correspondents
Victoria Thomas
Calvin Madsen
Sheryl Turner
Nathan Wang
Phil Hopkins
Jane Brackman, Ph.D.

Photographers
Andrew Thomas
Victoria Thomas
Sheryl Turner
Phil Hopkins

Contributors
Casey Coss
Robert S. Oventile
Barbara Bishop

To develop our logo, we contacted Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design for a like-minded graphics innovator to help us develop an iconic mark reflecting the active discussion of “provocative stories in the making.”

We found Tania Sosa-Lanz, an Art Center College of Design graduate and the Creative Director of Decod3r R1ng Communications. And no wonder we liked her. Tania’s resume includes “leading a fearless army in executing complete campaigns, slaying rabid dragons single-handedly, and turning dust to gold.”

A talented manager of projects from concept to completion, she responded to our requests with unique and colorful options and flexibility worthy of an Olympic athlete.

This publication is about provocative stories and a place.

By provocative, we mean informative news that grabs your attention, provides some useful perspective and that covers topics infrequently reported by other news providers.

By a place, we mean the greater Pasadena area.

There’s a lot more going on in Pasadena than you realize. And we’re here to tell you about it.

The origin of Local News Pasadena goes back several years. Back to when multiple journalists covering Pasadena were laid off by for-profit publishers. That included reporters covering local government, education, business, sports, events, local non-profits, politics and, most importantly, neighborhoods.

Around that time, we created the Pasadena Media Foundation as a non-profit organization to help save local news by supporting the remaining Pasadena-area media entities and journalists. This involved providing many of them with critical tools of the trade, technical services and funding for expenses to get local stories told.

In addition, Pasadena Media Foundation provided funding for local beat reporters at community news outlets. You can read more about some of those initiatives at the organization’s Web site.

These efforts slowed the elimination of local news coverage, but the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hit Pasadena’s news outlets hard. Some historically strong Pasadena periodicals became so-called “ghost newspapers,” publishing only a handful of Pasadena articles per edition and dramatically shrinking in size.

In response, Pasadena Media Foundation created the online edition of Local News Pasadena, the publication you are reading now, to supplement coverage of local news.

Combined with an email newsletter and numerous social media accounts, Local News Pasadena is all about provocative local stories in the making.

It’s our pleasure to be part of the community and for our role in helping to save Pasadena’s local news.

Member

• Los Angeles Press Club
• Pasadena Chamber of Commerce
• PEN America