Cal State LA Professor Appointed To California Civic Media Board

India-West News Desk

LOS ANGELES, CA – Julie Patel Liss, associate professor at California State University, Los Angeles, has been appointed to a statewide advisory board overseeing a new $20 million initiative to support local journalism and civic engagement across California.

Patel Liss will serve on the Civic Media Program advisory board convened by the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. The program is a public-private partnership funded equally by the state of California and Google, and is intended to strengthen local news organizations and improve community access to trusted information.

“Local news amplifies community voices, engages people in issues that affect them, and is a critical public good, much like libraries and schools,” Patel Liss said. Born in India and now based in Long Beach, California, she said the program’s goals align with the California State University system’s mission to serve local communities and train future journalists.

At Cal State LA, Patel Liss heads the journalism program in the Department of Television, Film, and Media Studies within the College of Arts and Letters. She oversees investigative reporting projects with students for local news outlets and founded the university’s community news platform focused on underreported neighborhoods in East and South Los Angeles. The program serves many students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds and has earned more than two dozen awards in recent years.

Before entering academia, Patel Liss worked as an investigative reporter at nonprofit organizations including the Center for Public Integrity and NPR’s Washington, D.C., affiliate. She also reported for the South Florida Sun Sentinel and the San Jose Mercury News. Her work has received more than 15 journalism awards and honors.

She also serves on several local and statewide boards, including the California College Media Association and the Asian American Journalists Association–Los Angeles.

“An informed public is the foundation of a healthy democracy,” said Dee Dee Myers, senior adviser to Gavin Newsom and director of GO-Biz. She said the program brings together leaders committed to supporting local journalism, expanding access to reliable information, and improving newsroom sustainability statewide.

Other advisory board members represent organizations including the Latino Media Collaborative, Local Independent Online News Publishers, Monterey County Weekly, American Community Media, the Southern California News Group, the Los Angeles Times, the Stanislaus Community Foundation, and California Black Media.