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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

Los Angeles city workers with SEIU Local 721 picket outside Los Angeles City Hall for the one-day strike on Aug. 8, 2023.
Voters cast their ballot at a voting site at the California Museum in downtown Sacramento on June 7, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano volunteer and staff load groceries into cars in Vallejo on June 7, 2023. Photo by Shelby Knowles for CalMatters
The quad at San Francisco State University in San Francisco on July 7, 2023. Photo by Semantha Norris, Calmatters
A voter casts their ballot at a polling station at the Sacramento County voter registration and elections office in Sacramento on Nov. 8, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters
Lobbyists gather around a television to watch as a bill is voted on before the Assembly at the state Capitol on Aug. 31, 2022. Photo by Rich Pedroncelli, AP Photo
A collection of medicine at the McArdle and Swaney home on Dec. 15, 2022 in Carmel. Photo by Grace Hollars, Reuters.
Bonnie Metcalf lights sage during her morning routine at her Sacramento home on July 20, 2023. Metcalf spreads the smoke to entrance and exit points to clear negative energy and promote relaxation. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters
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

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