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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

Gov. Gavin Newsom during a press conference where he signed new gun legislation into law at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on Sept. 26, 2023.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, at left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China, on Oct. 25, 2023. Photo by the Office of the California Governor via AP Photo
Jessica Thompson, vice president of The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS), second-to-the-left, speaks during a panel discussion concerning debt-free college at the CalMatters Studio in Sacramento on Oct. 24, 2023. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters
Inmates take laps in the courtyard at San Quentin State Prison on July 26, 2023. Photo by Semantha Norris, CalMatters
A Shell gas station price sign displays the cost of gasoline: $5.79 per gallon for regular, $5.99 for plus, and $6.19 for V-Power. The sign is surrounded by palm trees and greenery, with a blue 'Tap, Pump, Go' payment sign nearby. A banner advertising a $9 car wash special is attached to the sign. In the background, a multi-story building with a sign reading 'Cardiovascular Institute of San Diego' stands among streetlights and urban infrastructure. Part of a car and foliage frame the image in the foreground.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a number of climate-related bills surrounded by state legislators at a press conference at the USDA Forest Service Regional Office on Mare Island in Vallejo on Sept. 16, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters
Gas prices in East Los Angeles on Sept. 29, 2023.
U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, addresses members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, IATSE at their Union Hall in Burbank on Feb. 11, 2023. Two weeks prior, Schiff launched his campaign for the U.S. Senate, raising $1.6 million in chiefly small-dollar donations. Photo Damian Dovarganes, AP Photo
The sea port of the city of Morro Bay on July 18, 2023. Morro Bay would have increase the size of its sea port when the state lease planned offshore wind farm is constructed. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
Kaiser Permanente employees on strike on Oct. 4, 2023. The workers held a demonstration in front of the Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento location demanding higher wages and more staffing. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

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