Monica Vaughan

I am a freelance investigative reporter based in Fresno, where I focus on community engagement and watchdog journalism. I've reported on rural communities in California for nearly a decade as a local newspaper reporter. I covered water for Fresnoland at The Fresno Bee, county government for The Tribune in San Luis Obispo and criminal justice for the Appeal-Democrat in the Sacramento Valley. While at The Tribune, I investigated the link between air pollution and a State Park as a Center for Health Journalism California Fellow. Last year, my team won first place for Public Service Journalism from the California News Publishers Association and the George F. Gruner Award for public service for a series of stories about contaminated drinking water. I went to school in Oregon, earning a master's degree in communication and society from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and an undergraduate degree in media studies from Southern Oregon University.