Lydia Chávez is founder and executive editor of Mission Local, a news site covering San Francisco’s Mission District that began at the University of California, Berkeley, in the fall of 2008 and became independent in the summer of 2014. Lydia started as a reporter for the Albuquerque Tribune, later moving on to Time magazine and the Los Angeles Times. Later at The New York Times, she served as El Salvador and South American bureau chief. She has written op-eds and Sunday magazine pieces for The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. She holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from Berkeley, a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and advanced degrees in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. After 29 years as a professor at Berkeley’s journalism school, Lydia moved to emeritus status in 2019. At Mission Local, she continues searching for the keys to a sustainable model for local news coverage.

Articles by Lydia