Randi Rossmann’s husband hoped she’d retire from The (Santa Rosa, California) Press Democrat in September. 

After 38 years of covering breaking news at her hometown paper, it was time.

But Rossmann wanted to stay and help out through one more fire season. 

“And sure enough, here we are.”

(Today, you can read about how the Press Democrat covered the Kincade Fire, which led to the biggest mandatory evacuation of people in Sonoma County history. I got to talking to Rossmann about her career, and sure enough, here we are.)

Rossmann grew up listening to her dad, Merle Ross, on KSRO delivering the news. She also grew up reading The Press Democrat. In 1981, after college, she started her first job there.

“We’ve had this really interesting and different arc than other papers,” she said. “We didn’t fold. We haven’t been gutted. We came close.”

The Press Democrat went from local owners to The New York Times Company to a corporate owner and then back to local ownership. 

In 2018, the newsroom won a Pulitzer Prize for its breaking news coverage of the Tubbs Fire. 

Rossmann has a few pieces of advice to young reporters.

First – You have to understand human nature. What makes people tick? Why are they willing to talk to you? Figuring that out will get people to open up and offer insights into their motivation, she said.

Second  – the context matters more than the sound bite. It’s great to get a good quote, she said, but what’s said before and after that good quote is essential.

And finally – Don’t get swept up in what national journalists are doing. You’re not writing for them.

“If you’re gonna work at a community newspaper, it’s about community news.”

It will be hard to step away from the news when the time comes next month, Rossmann said. But it will also be a chance to rest from decades of sad and hard stories. 

The story of her hometown paper, though, is not one of them.

“For awhile there it’s like, who’s gonna go first – me or the paper?” Rossmann said. “But I’ll be reading this paper for many, many years to come.”


The Press Democrat’s Randi Rossmann with her dad, radio journalist Merle Ross, in the ‘80s. (Image courtesy Randi Rossmann)

While you’re here:

• Check out what’s working with Reveal’s Reporting Networks. 

• This is a good read from my colleague Rick Edmonds on how local news is growing in public radio.

• The Arizona Republic has a new podcast on the life of murdered journalist Don Bolles.

• The Solutions Journalism Network has a new local news revenue project; here’s more and how to apply.  

• And it’s time to send in those applications for our Women’s Leadership Academy. Recommend someone, apply yourself or email me with questions! 

That’s it!

See you next week!