Meghan Herbst

Writing and reporting are lifelong passions of mine. From innocent beginnings— I circulated a little monthly paper around my neighborhood as a 1st grader— to my present work as a graduate student journalist at UC Berkeley, I’ve honed both process and pursuit.

In Fall 2017 I followed Richmond politics as a political reporter for Richmond Confidential, publishing several stories on development, housing policy and homelessness, including a print feature entitled “No Easy Answers: Richmond confronts a growing homelessness problem,” in which I take a microscope to Richmond and Contra Costa County homeless communities, and the issues and policies that confront them.

Prior to graduate study, I worked both as an associate editor and freelance journalist at Lake Tahoe, writing for Moonshine InkTahoe Quarterly, and the Eagle’s Eye. I also served in the US Air Force for four years as a weather forecaster, providing tailored weather forecasts for military bases and missions in the Pacific Rim, mainly in Japan, Okinawa and the Indian Ocean.

I thrive when writing stories I can really sink my teeth into, and am drawn toward complex topics like affordable housing, labor law, politics and policy, veteran’s issues, science and the environment.

 

EDUCATION

  • UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Master of Journalism, Expected Graduation May 2019

  • Sierra Nevada College, BA in New Media Journalism

  • Community College of the Air Force, Weather Science Certification

EMPLOYERS

  • Moonshine Ink, Associate Editor of Sports/News

  • Tahoe Quarterly, Contributing Editor

  • US Air Force, Weather Forecaster

PUBLICATIONS & OTHER WORK

  • No Easy Answers: Richmond confronts a growing homelessness problem, December 22, 2017 - At least 109 individuals living in Richmond city limits have no home to return to. But the Richmond Police Department reports encountering up to 800 separate individuals sleeping outside on any given night.
    (http://bit.ly/2D4z8H4)

  • It Rolls Downhill, Moonshine Ink, August 9, 2017 - Employees at North Tahoe’s only wastewater treatment facility say enough is enough (http://moonshineink.com/news/it-rolls-downhill)

REPORTING INTERESTS

Business, Criminal Justice, Education, Environment, Health, Immigration, International, Investigative, Politics, Science, Social Issues, Technology, Urban Reporting

MEDIA PLATFORMS

Audio Journalism, Multimedia, Narrative Writing, Photojournalism