Lauren Spates on Muck Rack

Lauren Spates

Verified
(She/Her)
Santa Rosa
As seen in: NPR, The Press Democrat, Napa Valley Register, The Weekly Calistogan, Kirkus Reviews, KRCB-TV (Rohnert Park, CA), The Oak Leaf
Covers:  climate change, natural disasters and their aftermath, local news, politics, the social side of sports, parenting

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Lauren Spates’s Biography

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Lauren A. Spates is a freelance journalist looking to break into full-time investigative narrative journalism after six years juggling part-time reporting and stay-at-home motherhood.

Investigative Reporters and Editors' (IRE) recently recognized Lauren with its 2023 Book of the Year award for her work as contributing author and editor on "Inflamed: Abandonment, Heroism, and Outrage in Wine Country's Deadliest Firestorm."

"Inflamed" also won the National Indie Excellence Award for regional nonf…

Lauren Spates’s Journalist Portfolio

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Down the drain no longer: UC Davis students can now sell Napa Valley wine to public thanks to sta...

Down the drain no longer: UC Davis students can now sell Napa Valley wine to public thanks to sta...

Lovingly tended in the vineyard. Delicately blended in the lab. Carefully hand-bottled at the winery and disc…

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Calistoga city manager resigns after waves of complaints, 'turmoil' at city hall

Calistoga city manager resigns after waves of complaints, 'turmoil' at city hall

Calistoga City Manager Laura Snideman resigned after city department heads and the fire chief raised concerns…

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Fish counting a key part of the job for Sonoma Water biologists

Fish counting a key part of the job for Sonoma Water biologists

Every summer for the past 20 years, biologists with Sonoma Water don their waders and boots, not to catch fis…

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Federal Cuts and Sonoma Forecasting Part III: NOAA cuts and global buoy network, weather forecasts

Federal Cuts and Sonoma Forecasting Part III: NOAA cuts and global buoy network, weather forecasts

Part III in a series illuminating how federal budget cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrat…

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Some La Onda fans enjoy the music, others cheer singer's call for Latino pride

Some La Onda fans enjoy the music, others cheer singer's call for Latino pride

Some La Onda fans sought to simply enjoy the Napa festival's second day. Others cheered and supported a song …

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Update: La Onda performer Pepe Aguilar speaks during concert after Grupo Firme withdraws

Update: La Onda performer Pepe Aguilar speaks during concert after Grupo Firme withdraws

Political-angle coverage of Festival La Onda, Northern California's largest Latino music, food and culture fe…

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Articles

A full-contact sport: Municipal government and the executive leadership you pay to run it

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By Lauren Spates Verified
| Napa Valley Register Verified
Team morale was at an all-time low. Management was meddling down the org chart and butting heads with ownership. It’s expensive to part ways with high-paid leadership, but once those accusations went public, there was no choice. The losses were just adding up. Fans know what happens next. Someone’s getting fired or, perhaps, given some grace and asked to resign. Either way, the message is clear: It’s time to go in another direction.
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Hired to lead: The unelected executives running California cities

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By Lauren Spates Verified
| Napa Valley Register Verified
You know the drill: After months of negotiations and uncertainty, a contract is signed. Ownership is thrilled with its new hire, a leader who brings a stellar résumé and a history of success in cities just like yours — hardworking, tough and ready to win. Sports fans know the script. It plays out every season, everywhere. It also happens every time a North Bay city hires a new city manager.
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Calistoga preschool racing to find new home, enroll 10 students

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By Lauren Spates Verified
| The Weekly Calistogan Verified
In just under 43 days, parents and board members of Calistoga’s Hearts and Hands Preschool raised almost $40,000 to keep the school open through June. They’d assumed their next step was to develop a long-term plan for boosting enrollment. They didn’t expect the school would also need to find a new home. Speaking to the Calistoga City Council at its March 10 meeting, Hearts & Hands' board president, MaryAnn Salinger, said the preschool needs to vacate St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at the end of June.
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Interview

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How is social media changing news?

More sources and more stories, but more room for error.

Who's your favorite fictional journalist?

Kermit "thee" Frog.

How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?

Email, please!

Awards

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NETA Public Media Awards

2025 - Public Media, Category: Radio, Society & Culture

The National Educational Telecommunications Association Awards' Society & Culture category recognizes an exemplary creation of a structured radio presentation with dramatic impact of an event, condition, or situation of societal or cultural significance. Wonderland Radio Hour's award-winning Camp Meeker episode included my 5-minute voiced and produced feature about the history of summer camps along Bohemian Highway in west Sonoma County. Listen, segment begins at 15:34: https://norcalpublicmedia.org/wonderland-radio-hour/wonderland-radio-hour-camp-meeker

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Investigative Reporters and Editors Award

2023 - Winner: Investigative Journalism: Book

"Inflamed: Abandonment, Heroism, and Outrage in Wine Country's Deadliest Firestorm" by Anne E. Belden and Paul Gullixson with contributing author/editor Lauren A. Spates Judge’s comments: The book combined strong investigative journalism with captivating literary journalism, engaging the reader with strong storytelling. The authors included vivid descriptions of the subjects’ lives that helped the reader feel invested in the subjects. The authors also used local journalists to help tell the story and placed us at the center of some of the intense moments, like when a resident admonished her adult daughter for “dropping the f-bomb” as fire loomed outside and they were trying to escape. The book lets journalism do the talking.

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Kirkus Reviews: Starred Review

2023 - Starred Review

Kirkus Reviews awards a star to approximately 10% of the 8,000 to 10,000 books it reviews each year. Kirkus called the book a "gripping exposé," "a moving re-creation of a nightmarish disaster that tested the character of all those in its path," and "a harrowing saga that pits corporate pusillanimity against dogged courage under the most difficult circumstances."

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National Indie Excellence Award

2023 - Winner: Regional Non-Fiction: West

The National Indie Excellence® Awards (NIEA) are open to all English language printed books available for sale, including small presses, mid-size independent publishers, university presses, and self-published authors.

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Northern California Book Awards

2024 - Finalist: General Non-Fiction

Northern California’s vibrant literary scene is celebrated annually at the Northern California Book Awards, this year honoring published works of 2023 by Northern California authors and California translators. The Awards are selected by the Northern California Book Reviewers, and presented by Poetry Flash, the San Francisco Public Library, and our community partners Mechanics’ Institute Library and Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter. "Inflamed" was a non-fiction finalist alongside: - "Immeasurable Outcomes: Teaching Shakespeare in the Age of the Algorithm," Gayle Greene, Johns Hopkins University Press - "The Hungry Season: A Journey of War, Love, and Survival," Lisa M. Hamilton, Little, Brown and Company - "Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon," Michael Lewis, W.W. Norton - "Freedom to Win: A Cold War Story of the Courageous Hockey Team That Fought the Soviets for the Soul of Its People—And Olympic Gold," Ethan Scheiner, Pegasus Books

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Review in SF Chronicle Datebook

2023

Positive review for "Inflamed: Abandonment, Heroism, and Outrage in Wine Country's Deadliest Firestorm." Review by Kevin Canfield

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Journalism Association of Community Colleges Award

2021 - On-the-Spot Feature Writing, First Place

Contestants had an 8 a.m. deadline to file a 600-word feature story after screening “Last Days at Paradise High” and attending a Q&A with the directors at 8 p.m. the night before. The documentary followed a teacher and her students as they navigated life after the Camp Fire leveled Paradise, California. I won first place for High school seniors with unwanted wisdom: The takeaway from “Last Days at Paradise High.”

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Journalism Association of Community Colleges Award

2019 - On-the-Spot Copy Editing, First Place

Reporters were given 60 minutes to complete a 60-question AP Style copyediting exam. I received a perfect score.

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California News Publishers Association's Campus Award

2018 - Writing, First Place

Awarded first place for "Book by book: Rebuilding a post-fire identity," about a Sonoma County resident who lost everything in the 2017 Tubbs Fire. The judges said, "Excellent read. The topic was compelling, but it was framed in an interesting, unique way that captured the reader's attention. The story was not overwritten, which is a danger with stories that carry a level of emotion or trauma. Instead, it was measured but had solid details with strong organization. Well done."

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California News Publishers Association's Campus Award

2018 - Profile Story, Second Place

Awarded second place for "'All that education for nothing': One reporter recounts his path to the Pulitzer." Judges said, "Well-shaped and engaging storytelling about a journalist's how and why."

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California News Publishers Association's Campus Award

2020 - Writing, Third Place

Awarded third place "for producing outstanding journalism" for an article titled "North Bay Zoombombing: From hateful actions to harmless antics." Judges' comments included, "I had heard of Zoombombing; wasn't aware of how pervasive it was. This is a good news story. The first-place winner was an easy choice. The other four were not; all very close."

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California News Publishers Association's Campus Award

2018 - Writing, Fifth Place

Awarded fifth place in the writing category for "Finding tranquility in chaos" about a student who grapples with wildfire-induced trauma while taking welding classes at Santa Rosa Junior College. The judges wrote, "This was a good read, looking at the impacts on mental health and students in the aftermath of a wildfire. While overwritten at times, the overall structure and organization was good. Insights from those affected was presented in a compelling way alongside data and statistics."

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