The Press Democrat's "In Your Corner" Journalist, Marisa Endicott
Our speaker for January 11, 2024, was Marisa Endicott, a columnist for the Press Democrat. Marisa writes the “In Your Corner” column for the PD. “In Your Corner” is an investigative column started at the PD in 2021 and designed to provide hard-hitting investigative reporting to help improve the lives of local residents. She tackles a wide range of topics, including jail conditions, firefighter response, soaring prices, consumer scams, and power outages. Marisa started at the PD in 2021. She formerly worked for Mother Jones, a non-profit progressive magazine focusing on news, commentary, and investigative journalism, CNN, and the Huffington Post. She also worked as a legal investigator for a law firm specializing in environmental law. Marisa graduated from UCSB and obtained a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. Marisa was the PD’s Employee of the Month in March 2023.
Marisa’s background in research led her to journalism, and especially investigative journalism. The main ideal behind her column was to use her investigative tools to work on stories that people want to hear about. She gets her “In Your Corner” ideas from readers who write to her, from people on the street, and from what she observes herself. Her article from Wednesday, January 10 was about the PG&E settlement relating to the Dixie Fire. As an example of the investigative tools she uses for her stories, she cited a recent article about Sonoma County jail conditions. The original article was about hunger strikes by prisoners protesting jail conditions. This led to a later story about prisoners subjected to confinement in their cells for more than 23 hours per day. Jail administrators do not voluntarily provide information to journalists, so to obtain the information Marisa sent public records requests and obtained jail policy manuals and information tracked by jail personnel, such as hours out of cells. She then analyzed the date to show that the Sonoma County jail repeatedly failed to meet minimum standards set by the Sheriff’s Office and California administrative rules.
Marisa also mentioned that the expense of funding local journalism projects has led to the creation of the Press Democrat Journalism Trust. Donations to the Trust will be used for scholarships and grants to fund access to journalism education, internships, and news coverage of the communities served by the Press Democrat.
Thank you, Marisa, for highlighting your work with the PD and sharing your background, education, and work. We will be reading articles and, hopefully, submitting ideas for your consideration!
Click HERE to view a limited time recording of Investigative reporting with Marisa Endicott from The Press Democrat
