The Southern California News Group has hired a new Senior Digital Engagement Editor to work across its 11 news sites.
Michele Raphael will manage more than 70 newsletters as well as social media and alerts, helping the newsrooms get their original, local reporting out to a wide audience of readers across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. She started July 25.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the dedicated and talented digital team at Southern California News Group, when representative, local stories are so needed,” Raphael said. “It’s especially exciting as SCNG is digital-first, at time when most people get their news and will continue doing so from online outlets. I’m eager to bring even more audiences to SCNG’s award-winning journalism.”
Raphael most recently worked as managing editor for AAA’s Westways and AAA Explorer including magazines, newsletters and social media. She has also worked on digital coverage in various roles such as entertainment editor at LA Weekly, features editor at the L.A. Times and co-founder of an online literary journal and events series. She previously was Director of Publications and Special Projects at USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center and a National Press Foundation Fellow.
She will begin lecturing in the Communication Studies department at Loyola Marymount in the fall, as well.
Raphael has lived in Southern California most of her life, growing up in the Inland Empire before getting degrees in economics and French at Pitzer College and then a Masters in Journalism at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
The Southern California News Group publishes 11 news sites including the Orange County Register, The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Daily Breeze in Torrance, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, Whittier Daily News, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, The Sun covering San Bernardino County and Redlands Daily Facts.