REFLECTIONS | Celebrating Community Journalism in 2024: A Year of Stories of Transitions

It's the end of the year, and we've said goodbye to Phil Manzano, who has been holding it down at the Emerald as the interim News editor, and I have been warmly welcomed as the Emerald's News editor.

What Phil and I have in common is that we're seasoned journalists; Phil has more than 30 years of experience in Oregon journalism before moving to Seattle where he worked for a nonprofit. I have more than 30 years of experience as a journalist and producer including features on NPR's All Things Considered National Native News and major radio stations in Japan.

I was most recently the news director at KBCS FM, and South Seattle has been a treasured space for me in the northwest.

Phil has written for and edited stories at the Emerald in various stints; his latest for the last year overseeing the News section. The tragic event of a prominent shooting at a neighborhood Safeway last year led to an occasional "Grassroots Responder" series in the Emerald, which highlighted people and organizations long working to build community.

Phil says, "The heartbeat of the Emerald is journalism rooted in community relationships and voice; being part of the team creating, evolving, and expressing this work has been challenging, fun, and extremely rewarding."

That reward is in seeing stories appear in the last year from local writers like Ari Robin McKenna who produced strong features on street soccer and youth boxing, in addition to his passionate coverage of schools in the South End.

Or in Lauryn Bray's coverage of asylum seekers as they sought shelter from freezing temperatures in the South Seattle area last winter. Her community-oriented coverage over the year also included the City Council, youth, police, and most recently mutual aid efforts in the wake of the region's bomb cyclone.

Nimra Ahmad's reporting ranged from revisiting a 2023 fire at an empty South End building complex and how vacant buildings led to emergency city legislation to Liberation Obon, a protest on conditions at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. Ahmad also detailed the rising protests to the Israel-Hamas war with stories on Seattle activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who died in Israel protesting illegal West Bank settlements, and on Islamophobia against Muslims in Washington state. Recently, she wrote on how zoning in South Park makes trees more vulnerable to being felled for new developments.

A look back to 2024 would have to mention the general election that saw a strong slate of Democrat wins in city and state offices as well as the national election of President-elect Donald Trump who will take office in 2025. Tobias Coughlin-Bogue provided sharp and pointed analysis of a myriad of candidate races and measures starting with pre-primary coverage through a post-election takeaway. Local political photographer Nate Gowdy brought us a photo essay from Harris and Trump rallies throughout the U.S.

Finally, a year-end look wouldn't be complete without looking back at the work of photographer Susan Fried, who's covered community events and other news. This year she documented the outpouring of grief and support after the shooting death of a Garfield High School student, along with writer Julia Park, who covered the Palestine encampment protest at UW, and even the weather. Georgia McDade had us reflect on the Emmett Till case as she covered the current exhibit on Till at NAAM (ends Dec. 31).

I love how powerful it can be to uplift the voices and stories in our communities. Sharing our stories and experiences informs us and connects us to one another. Local media that reflects our neighborhoods is more important than ever. Thank you for your support of the Emerald. I look forward to bringing you many more stories with the Emerald's dedicated and thoughtful news team in 2025.

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