About the Vallejo Sun

Illuminating Solano County

The Vallejo Sun is an independent news publication illuminating Solano County, California. It was founded in 2021 by journalists John Glidden, Brian Krans, and Scott Morris, who saw a need for in-depth reporting about local government, policing, and extremist movements in the region. Glidden left the organization in 2023.

In 2022, the Vallejo Sun formed a partnership with Gretchen Zimmermann and Vallejo Arts & Entertainment to cover the city's rich arts and culture. Over the last two-plus years, the Vallejo Sun has steadily expanded to include a growing number of freelance contributors.

Vallejo Sun editor Scott Morris speaks at the Sun's second anniversary forum.

The Vallejo Sun is owned and operated by journalists

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.

Awards

Our work has been recognized for awards numerous times since our launch in 2022. Here's some of the awards we've won:

  • Two Society of Professional Journalists Northern California awards: Best investigative reporting, for our investigation into Vallejo's ProjectRoomKey program, and best continuing coverage, for our coverage of the Vallejo police badge bending scandal.
  • Three 2022 San Francisco Press Club awards: First place, investigative reporting, for a story on an illegally operating gun club where a would-be terrorist fired automatic weapons; third place, continuing coverage, for our coverage of the Vallejo police killing of Sean Monterrosa; and third place for best news story, for a report on allegations of racism by Vallejo police Sgt. Mat Mustard.
  • Three 2023 San Francisco Press Club awards: Second place, investigative reporting for our story detailing deaths and problems in the city's Project RoomKey program; Second place, best news story for our report on leaked documents that showed why a review officer recommended overturning termination for the Vallejo officer who killed Sean Monterrosa; Second place, best podcast for our eight episode investigative podcast, which covered topics such as Vallejo police, homelessness, and the history of the city's waterfront.
  • Three California News Publisher Association awards: Best podcast; second place, best coverage of local government; second place, best election coverage.
  • Finalist, 2022 Local Independent Online News publishers, outstanding coverage award.

Special thanks

  • To Barbara Lilie, for generous early support, wisdom and inspiration.

Donor transparency

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.

$20,000+

Barbara Lilie

$10,000-$19,999

Google News Initiative

Local Independent Online News publishers

$5,000-$9,999

Solutions Journalism Network

Gerald Womble