• Anna BakalisPatch Staff Verified Patch Staff Badge

  • Hollywood, CA

It's rare that journalists get to talk about themselves, so I guess I should relish this opportunity.

(Ahem, clears throat.)

I wanted to be a journalist ever since I was in high school, back when we literally cut and pasted the stories onto the page, the library's card catalogue was our main search engine, and the darkroom was how we edited photos.

I fell in love with curiosity and being able asking questions. You could just say "I'm a reporter with..." and doors opened. When I was a junior in High School, I entered a photojournalism contest and sat in the front row at a San Francisco Giants press conference and Barry Bonds called on me. Me.

I wrote occasional articles for the local newspaper, and also took photos. I remember the 35mm film and a floppy disk I would drop off at the newsroom on what was usually a slow Sunday.

I passed those cluttered desks of empty coffee containers, yellow post-its and all those back-issues of papers, sitting there at the ready, but would probably never be called into action again.

There were stacks of what we call "staff reports" -- essentially reams of bureaucratic documents from city hall. It all seemed fascinating and important. Each computer terminal had a glow of infinite possibility around it.

I would work at several weeklies and dailies after high school through college, covering everything that was needed -- police, fire, city beats, education and business.

In college, I took way too many credits learning art history, dance, music, political science and other subjects. At San Jose State University, after working in the field for a while for various publications, I was voted by a group of my peers and professors to be the executive editor of The Spartan Daily, the campus paper.

Staff reports would follow me to my reporting internship in Washington, D.C. and then as a municipal reporter at a small Gannett newspaper in New Jersey. One gruesome staff report I flipped through included the number of deer that were allowed to be shot by residents with rifles, in some effort to draw down the Bambi population.

I most recently worked at a medium-sized Scripps newspaper, The Ventura County Star, based in Camarillo, where I covered the cities of Simi Valley and Moorpark.  It was here I learned how to shoot video, post stories to Facebook and tweet.

But there will always be those staff reports.

I am looking at a pile right now.  I have read so many documents in my life, I'm sure there is a forest full of bright yellow, pink and blue  papers somewhere.

One of our jobs as journalists that won't ever change, even in this digital age, is to take mountains of information and turn it into something that enriches our lives,  gives us a piece of knowledge relevant to our commute, our understanding of our neighbors, politics or the world.

While the tools of the trade -- the Internet, laptops, video and digital cameras -- are different today, the elements of journalism haven't changed.

We are informing our communities with the best technology has to offer, and I am glad to be a part of it, and Patch in particular.

At the end of the day, Patch.com is a collection of passionate journalists telling stories, and we are bringing them to you all ways the Internet will allow. It's exciting.

Come back and visit us often.

Anna Bakalis

anna.bakalis@patch.com

------------------------------------------------

Birthday: 05/07/77<br><br>Marital Status: Happily married<br><br>Politics: I am a registered Democrat, but have become a bit disgruntled with our two-party system -- both are failing us in Washington. We need real change, not gridlock.<br><br>Religion: I believe in a higher power, and respect religions that are inclusionary of all backgrounds. Unfortunately, religion often creates a sense of &#34;the other&#34;, which can alienate rather than celebrate individualism.<br><br>What do you think are the most important issues facing the community?:

Traffic congestion<br>Parking

Blight

Homelessness

Crime and public safety

City budget cutbacks

Transparency and accessibility in government

<br>Where do you stand on each of the above?:<br><br>I don&#39;t think there&#39;s enough space here to fully answer. But I look forward covering this diverse community of Hollywood, and tackle these issues head on.<br><br>-----------<br><br>anna.bakalis&#64;patch.com<br>310-363-1382

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