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Lynn La

Newsletter Writer

Lynn La is the newsletter writer for CalMatters, focusing on California’s top political, policy and Capitol stories every weekday. She produces and curates WhatMatters, CalMatters’ flagship daily newsletter with more than 150,000 subscribers.    

In the newsletter, Lynn analyzes the state’s policy issues for a broader audience, through original reporting and by summarizing and compiling stories from CalMatters and other news sources. Recently, she has reported on bills to address California’s worsening fentanyl epidemic, tackle retail theft and legislate happiness. She also reveals more about lawmakers by interviewing them for an occasional series on first-term legislators in 2023 and new committee chairpersons in 2024. 

Through WhatMatters, Lynn also plays a crucial role in CalMatters election coverage, helping to keep track of daily developments in key campaigns, including legislative and congressional races and ballot measures.  

Prior to joining CalMatters in March 2023, she wrote for the education technology startup Guild and was a senior editor at CNET. She also covered public health at The Sacramento Bee as a Kaiser media fellow and was an intern reporter at Capitol Weekly. 

Lynn is based in the Bay Area. She graduated from UC Davis and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Other languages spoken: Vietnamese (basic)

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Latest Stories

A wide view of students playing on an asphalt playground on a clear day. Trees, dirt and some growing vegetation can be seen nearby. The top of a wired fence can be seen in the foreground.
A group of heavily armed federal agents in full tactical gear emerge from the back of an armored vehicle labeled “LENCO ARMORED VEHICLES” on a sunlit urban street. Most wear camouflage fatigues, body armor, helmets, and goggles, with visible patches reading “POLICE” and insignias from U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security. Some agents carry rifles and one has zip cuffs and canisters clipped to their vest. A media photographer in a press vest films nearby. Palm trees and a clear blue sky suggest a Southern California location.
A collage-style illustration in green and teal tones that shows an image of an airplane within a 3 by 4 grid. The certain boxes of the grid include cut outs of text from a boarding pass and California's Form 700 tax document. several dotted lines can be seen throughout the artwork.
A wide view of a soft orange sky that slowly ascents upwards into dark thunder clouds as lightning strikes over mountain plains and illuminates the sky.
Medical assistant Letrice Smith fills syringes during a community COVID-19 vaccination clinic run by Ravenswood Family Health Network at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on April 10, 2021. The clinic will run every Saturday through May 1 to reach members of the underserved communities in the immediate area. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
A courtroom where CARE Court hearings take place at the San Diego County Superior Court in San Diego on Oct. 9, 2023. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters
Members of a California Senate committee sit in a row at a long desk beneath the state seal, each with microphones and nameplates, as they review documents during a hearing. Empty chairs and microphones fill the foreground.
A person in a navy suit and red tie sits indoors against a backdrop of ornate gold decorations, looking to the side.
Rows of faded red tents on an empty dirt load. Some of the tents have tarps or umbrellas on the outside to protect keep them cool during hot days. The profile of an unidentifiable person can be seen as they step into one of the tents.

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