Reporter based in Los Angeles. My work ranges from breaking news to investigative reports and enterprise features.

Selected works:

( if you’re stuck behind a paywall and need to review my stories, please reach out: jonahmvaldez@gmail.com )

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The Intercept

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The Los Angeles Times

Environmental and Climate Justice:

After nearly 200 years, the Tongva community has land in Los Angeles County (LA Times, Oct. 2022)
A long-forgotten toxic dump site is raising new worries for this Los Angeles neighborhood (LA Times, April 2022) (Led to city ordinance, ordering more testing in Lincoln Heights)
Is California’s cap-and-trade program hurting the environment more than helping it? (LA Times, March 2022)
The tsunami that battered Santa Cruz highlights the threat facing California’s coast (LA Times, Jan. 2022)

Hollywood:

At the L.A. laundromat where it was made, an Oscar hopeful reflects ‘25 years of me’ (LA Times, March 2023)
Hollywood crew members fight to hang on as the strikes drag on: ‘We’re the collateral damage’ (LA Times, Sept. 2023)
Pizzas and protests: How Hollywood picket lines differ (LA Times, Aug. 2023)
The Beyoncé and Taylor Swift jobs at USA Today have sparked backlash from news reporters — here’s why (LA Times, Sept. 2023)
How ‘Barbie’ crossed a line in Vietnam’s dispute with China and ended up banned (LA Times, July 2023)

KTLA anchor Mark Mester fired after emotional on-air defense of Lynette Romero (LA Times, Sept. 2022)
Leslie Jordan, ‘Will & Grace’ actor and ‘queer icon,’ dies at 67 after crash in Hollywood (LA Times, Oct. 2022

Culture:

A popular Filipino restaurant gets on a Netflix show. What happens next? (LA Times, Aug. 2022, Essential California Newsletter)
Filipino Americans hope for more recognition with new arch in L.A.’s Historic Filipinotown (LA Times, March 2022)
The creator of Mookie Betts’ viral T-shirt has a message for Black and Latino L.A. (LA Times, July 2022)
What happened to the goose that stole all the attention at Dodgers playoff game? (LA Times, Oct. 2022)

Transportation:

L.A. banned cars from a major Griffith Park road. Is it the start of a road revolution? (LA Times, July 2022) (Featured on KPCC radio show)
It’s called the zipper merge, and traffic-jammed California drivers do it all wrong (LA Times, June 2022) (Featured on KCRW and KGO radio shows)
7 L.A. cyclists share how to go car-free, ride safely and have fun (LA Times, May 2022)

Labor:

Two more L.A. Starbucks unionize. Here’s what workers want you to know (LA Times, Aug. 2022, Essential California Newsletter)
Winter crowds overwhelm Big Bear as Omicron slams workforce. ‘It’s crazy’ ( LA Times, Jan. 2022)
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Police pursuit series (Los Angeles Daily News, April 2021)

I. 2020, the deadliest year in police pursuits since passage of safety law in 2006
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II. All fatal police pursuits weren’t counted as required by California law

First robbed of freedom by enslavement, then robbed of life by coronavirus (Los Angeles Daily News, Oct. 2020) (OC Press Club award: 1st place, feature writing)

Sign-language interpreters volunteer at protests: ‘This revolution has to be accessible’ (Los Angeles Daily News, July 2020) (CNPA California Journalism Awards: finalist for protest coverage feature writing)

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