New Patch Editor Nicole Charky Returning To Roots

SANTA MONICA, CA — I'm here because I believe in local news and its power to help people during times of crisis. We are at a critical point where people need access to information and I'm compelled to tell you about what's happening in our community, on our streets and along our coastlines. I want to invite you to connect with me and share your stories in the coming months. So in that spirit, it's probably time I share mine.

I'm super local. I like to think my parents dreamed me up at their apartment on 7th Street near Wilshire in Santa Monica. They met at the turtle racing bar Brennan's in Marina del Rey. Some of my earliest memories as a child are walking in Santa Monica. In high school, I spent hours soaking up the sun at Venice and Manhattan Beach.

I was born in Pomona and our family moved to La Crescenta, where I spent my teenage years. I attended Flintridge Sacred Heart in high school and left California for college to attend Loyola University Chicago, where I earned my degree in journalism. I graduated early during the Recession and moved back to Los Angeles.

I’ve been inspired to tell stories and seek the truth my entire life. As a child, I liked watching the New York Stock Exchange in the morning with my grandfather as he taught me about global trading. Nick News with Linda Ellerbee was my nightly routine with my parents, discussing why my father wasn’t living in Egypt anymore and what was happening to Palestinian children. By age 11, I woke up one morning and two boys had been murdered at a school a few blocks away. I wanted to know what happened, so each day I read The Glendale News-Press to find out.

I was the member of my family to tell everyone that September 11 was happening. I was a full blown news addict by middle school. When I left home for Chicago and joined The Phoenix newspaper at Loyola University Chicago at 18, I knew that I would be a news writer. One day I was walking home and saw the man who managed the liquor store on my block was murdered. I wanted to know why and found out it was a drug exchange gone wrong. That's how my breaking news experience really began.

My history with Patch started about 10 years ago as a freelancer in the weeks after I graduated. I landed my first full-time news position as an overnight cop beat reporter for City News Service, the newswire for Southern California before joining Montrose-La Crescenta Patch as a local editor full-time. With Patch, I covered mountain rescues, missing people and windstorms that knocked down power for days, including my own. During that windstorm, and with my team in San Gabriel Valley and Los Angeles, I collaborated with incredible colleagues and our breaking news work was recognized by the LA Press Club.

Following Patch, I had the opportunity to work as an editor at The Los Angeles Times starting with Times Community News team and ultimately The Times digital team. After LAT, I joined ATTN:, then I produced social media content for Snapchat Discover's Brother channel and Maria Shriver. I focused on producing video content for social media, live video producing, covered the 2016 election and also produced music videos. Throughout my experience, I'd always wanted to freelance and explore other writing projects. I started working with several companies to help manage their social media and written content, including an accelerator program in New York called Bright Ventures that helps women and people of color build their businesses, but the company was forced to pause its projects with the coronavirus outbreak shutting down the city and altering investments.

I joined Patch a few weeks later to take over coverage of Santa Monica, Venice, Culver City, Marina del Rey, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach and Palos Verdes. And although I might not meet you in-person over the next several weeks, I'd like to invite you to reach out and tell me your stories. Send me breaking news tips. I'm grateful for this community, and look forward to visiting local businesses and future events.

I'm a big fan of Love Yoga in Venice and part of the karmi program. I love surfing, hiking, the ocean and care deeply about protecting our beaches.

I also have the honor of teaching talented students as an adjunct professor at Loyola Marymount University Chicago. I live in Santa Monica with my boyfriend and our cat and plants.

Crisis or not—I'm here and excited to cover this community. Let me know if you want to talk. You can reach me at nicole.charky@patch.com. Follow me on Instagram or Twitter: @nicolecharky.

This article originally appeared on the Santa Monica Patch