Gilroy
– New staff writer Matt King fits the California cliche.
As a recent college graduate in 1995, he migrated to the Golden
State without a plan.
”
I started heading west and stopped when I ran out of
highway,
”
he said.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – New staff writer Matt King fits the California cliche.
As a recent college graduate in 1995, he migrated to the Golden State without a plan.
“I started heading west and stopped when I ran out of highway,” he said.
King, 31, now considers California, and the Bay Area, his adopted home.
An East Coast native, King grew up in Auburn, N.Y., and earned a degree in management from Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, Penn., “the heart of Amish country,” he said.
King joined The Gilroy Dispatch less than a week ago, so he’s still got a few more days before he breaks the crucial eight-day mark. That’s how long he worked upon graduation with a company in Pennsylvania, monitoring its compliance with mutual funds.
After those eight days, King decided that he hated the job, and wanted to leave the industry entirely.
He also left that part of the country and ended up in the Bay Area.
By 1999, King decided to make journalism his career, and started with a job in the business department of the law-based San Francisco Daily Journal. He moved into the editorial department and was a staff writer there for nearly three years, covering law-related issues in areas including crime, education, and the environment.
More traditional and community-based news reporting appealed to King.
“I really wanted to work for a small-town newspaper,” King said. “That’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.”
At The Dispatch, King will cover the newly created “country” beat, writing about county government and other issues.
Executive Editor Mark Derry said the addition of another seasoned reporter – Staff Writer Serdar Tumgoren joined The Dispatch three weeks ago – will continue to strengthen the publication.
“Adding a reporting position to cover ‘country’ issues – San Martin, agriculture, land-use outside the city, perchlorate, Coyote Valley development and regional transportation – really solidifies the daily news report,” Derry said. “It’s an exciting time in our newsroom with all the product improvements and plans for the future.”
King also does freelance writing, including book reviews, for the San Francisco Chronicle and the East Bay Express, an alternative weekly newspaper.
