, December 04, 2025
Journalists Scott Morris, John Glidden and Brian Krans founded the Vallejo Sun in 2021. Each of us covered Vallejo for years, but there wasn’t a place to consistently publish the hard hitting, in-depth news Vallejo deserved, so we founded the Sun.
Our first story, an exposé on connections between a militant far-right group and a local gun club, won a San Francisco Press Club award for investigative journalism. In our first two years, we also won awards for our coverage of the Vallejo police badge bending scandal and our investigation into deaths in Vallejo’s COVID-19 housing for homeless people.
We started expanding in 2022, first by partnering with Gretchen Zimmermann of Vallejo Arts & Entertainment to bring arts and event coverage to the Sun. Since then, our team has continued to grow and we launched a Spanish-language section.
We’ve continued our mission of providing hard-hitting in-depth journalism and created opportunities for emerging, homegrown journalists. We partnered on an investigation with the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and joined the California Local News Fellowship program, which allowed us to hire Vallejo native Gretchen Smail as our first full time employee.
We think that good, honest local journalism is vital for a healthy democracy and community, and we’re committed to delivering trustworthy reporting that informs and empowers Vallejo and Solano County.
Vallejo Sun editor Scott Morris speaks at the Sun's second anniversary forum.
At the Vallejo Sun, our mission is to shine a light on the workings of democracy, politics, and government in Solano County.
We believe that informed communities are better able to engage with their government and contribute to a healthier democracy. Research shows that communities without a strong print or digital news organization have lower voter participation and more corruption. But as media companies shrink around the country, in depth journalism is harder to come by.
The Vallejo Sun recognizes the critical role of journalism in combating misinformation and holding power to account. We aim to create a sustainable space where committed local journalists can practice their craft and keep their community informed.
We pledge to uphold the highest standards of journalistic integrity, fairness, and inclusivity in our reporting. We strive to amplify the voices of all community members, particularly those who are historically marginalized or underrepresented, to ensure a robust exchange of ideas and perspectives. We are committed to rigorous fact-checking, transparent corrections, and ethical reporting practices to earn and maintain the trust of our readers.
We work to always have a reporter monitoring public meetings. We work to routinely make records public. While not every meeting will result in an attention-grabbing headline, and not every record produced will have a startling revelation, we work to keep public business public.
We've answered some frequently asked questions about our coverage and operations here.
The Sun is collectively owned and operated by journalists and supported by members. It is organized as a Limited Liability Company in California and is fiscally sponsored by the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation.
The Sun accepts cash donations, sells advertising and has more than 600 supporting members. However, its funding sources do not have any editorial control over the publication and all editorial decisions are subject to our editorial independence policy.
It is hosted by Ghost, a nonprofit publishing platform, and is a member of Outpost, a California cooperative venture to support independent publishing.
Our work has been recognized for awards numerous times since our launch in 2022. Here's some of the awards we've won:
The Vallejo Sun's advisory board includes journalism industry leaders and community members who provide guidance on the publication's editorial direction and business operations.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra is the host of The Bay podcast at KQED. Previously, she served as the show's producer, where her work included a three-part series on policing in Vallejo which won a a Society of Professional Journalists award.
Lance Knobel is co-founder of Berkeleyside and CEO of Cityside. He brings nearly 40 years of journalism experience, including editor-in-chief roles at Management Today and World Link. He is also the founder of Berkeleyside's Uncharted Festival of Ideas.
T. Christian Miller, a reporter for ProPublica, has covered four wars, a presidential campaign, and reported from over two dozen countries. His accolades include two Pulitzer Prizes and three Emmy Awards for investigative reporting featured on PBS Frontline.
Mallory Somera is a podcast producer and audio journalist born and raised in Vallejo. She most recently produced and wrote breaking news for KCBS Radio's 24/7 news coverage and special segments before launching the award-winning station's digital and podcasting department. She has over 14 years of experience in radio and 25+ years in theater production.
Matt Thompson is the editor of Headway at the New York Times, a new journalism initiative that explores the world’s challenges through the lens of progress. He was previously editor in chief at Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and executive editor of The Atlantic. He is a resident of Vallejo.
The Vallejo Sun is committed to transparency in how our organization is funded and publishes grants and gifts over $5,000. We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to support our work. Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services or opinions.
