Anyone wondering what difference a Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund can make need only scan the voluminous work done by just one Santa Barbara Independent reporter: Christina McDermott.
A native of Washington State, McDermott — a linguist by educational background — cut her teeth journalistically as an public radio reporter in the wild isolation of Alaska, a land where everyone has to be able to do everything with anything just to stay alive. She joined the Independent news team more than a year ago thanks to the financial support that’s provided through the Mickey Flacks Fellowship.
For those who forgot or never knew, Mickey Flacks was among Santa Barbara’s most dogged advocates for affordable housing, among other struggles for social justice, environmental sanity, and other progressive causes. The Independent launched the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund back in 2020 to honor her memory and keep Mickey’s work alive. The $100,000 we’ve raised since have empowered numerous editorial projects, and the Mickey Flacks Fellowship marks the epitome of those efforts.