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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 for-rent sign hanging in front of an apartment complex in Tower District in Fresno on July 27, 2023. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/Catchlight Local Fellow
A pump jack extracts oil at a drilling site next to homes in Signal Hill on June 9, 2021. Photo by Jae C. Hong, AP Photo
A doctor listens to a patient's heart beat at a clinic in Bieber, California on July 23, 2019. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters
A homeless man injects a Narcan nasal spray into the nose of a female addict who appears to be overdosed in Los Angeles on Aug. 25, 2022.Photo by Jae C. Hong, AP Photo
Sonja Shaw is running for a seat on the Chino Valley School Board in the Inland Empire. “I’m running because I want to make sure that parents have a voice on the board, and to preserve the rights of a parent,” Shaw said. “During the shut down, parents were pushed out, and we have had enough—these are our children, our future.” August 14, 2022. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters
A home with a real estate sign in front of it in Tower District in central Fresno on June 28, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
People walk along a trail during sunset in Death Valley National Park on July 16, 2023. Photo by John Locher, AP Photo
People at a night market in Taipei, Taiwan on June 29, 2023. Photo by Chiang Ying-ying, AP Photo
Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill on his proposed oil profit penalty plan in Sacramento on March 28, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr. , CalMatters

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