Our Mission

Bakersfield Express is a website advancing local culture and promoting civic involvement. The site’s core topic areas are quality of life issues, arts and culture, green living, and nonprofits and volunteering. The content comes from a mix of independent reporting, community contributions, and reader commentary. The website launched on Aug. 10, 2009 to offer an independent, alternative source of local news and information, as well as an opportunity for outreach among community groups.

Bakersfield Express is a professional and ethical voice in the community, and offers a place for community members to express themselves. Please read our Ethics Policy to learn more about our standards for quality, decency, and independence.

Bakersfield Express Inc. is a nonprofit with 501(c)3 status and is funded by donations, sponsorships and grants. For more information about supporting the website, please visit our Support Us page.

How to Contribute Your News

Does your organization have events to publicize? Are you a writer, photographer or videographer who would like to share what’s happening in the community? Do you have a news tip or a story idea you’d like us to explore?

With small staff of volunteers, Bakersfield Express would not be able to exist without the participation of the greater community. Contribute your content, story ideas and announcements by e-mailing editor@bakersfieldexpress.org.

Meet the Staff

Jennifer Burger, Executive Director
jenniferburger@bakersfieldexpress.org
(661) 246-6387

Jennifer Burger has 12 years of journalism experience, including reporting, editing, multimedia production, website design and content management. Previous to launching Bakersfield Express Inc., she worked at The Bakersfield Californian for six years. She currently works as Public Affairs Coordinator for California State University, Bakersfield. She has a bachelor’s in journalism with a minor in Spanish from California State University, Sacramento, and a master’s in journalism from University of California, Berkeley. As the executive director of Bakersfield Express, she directs the mission of the website, and leads the fundraising and marketing efforts. To avoid conflict of interest, she does not make editorial decisions on website content related to higher education or CSUB.

Tim Chang, Interim Editor
editor@bakersfieldexpress.org

Tim Chang joined the volunteer staff of Bakersfield Express in July 2011 to help grow the website in terms of content and audience. He directs the operations of the website, including coordinating contributors, and editing and posting content. His passion for journalism started in his youth, when he took a summer journalism class at South High School in Los Angeles County. As a student government leader in high school, he wrote a weekly column Spartan Speaks, which ran in The Torrance Press-Herald. As a college student at UC Berkeley, he was a reporter for the student newspaper, The Daily Californian, and served as editor of the University Students Cooperative Association newsletter. As a school board member in Los Angeles County, he was a vigorous proponent of journalism programs.  Tim moved to Bakersfield 15 years ago to work in the insurance profession. He is an avid newspaper reader and is excited about the possibilities in online journalism.

Martin Chang, Assistant Editor, Web

Martin Chang volunteers his time with website operations for Bakersfield Express, including posting content, taking photos, and improving the user experience. He is a staff member for The Renegade Rip, Bakersfield College’s student newspaper, where he has worked for two years as a photographer and reporter. In Fall 2011 he will be an online editor for The Rip. He has an interest in all aspects of the arts, especially music. He writes rock songs, participated in choir at Highland High School, studied screenwriting at a residential two-week course at UCLA, and performs improvisational comedy. His favorite journalism subjects are profiles of artists, and criticism of music, movies, theater, and video games.

Our Board of Directors

Jill Egland, President

Jill Egland regularly employs both sides of her brain, being both a musician with the band Banshee in the Kitchen as well as a research and evaluation program specialist. Post college (University of Redlands, Communications emphasis), Jill traveled and worked overseas as a community development consultant. She re-entered the States a decade later via New York City, lived in the Lower East Side, studied photography at the New College and Pratt Institute, worked at the UNDP, traveled to Africa evaluating community-based health systems, had a baby, and came home to Bakersfield. Go figure. At the Arts Council, she’s who you talk to when you just know you’ve got a great idea for an arts project in your neck of the woods. Or desert. She’s also responsible for developing pilot arts projects with partner organizations, such as the Kern Regional Center, the California Bluegrass Association, the Writers of Kern, and the Highway 178 Initiative. Jill is a founding board member of Bakersfield Express.

Christopher Meyers, Vice President

Christopher Meyers is professor of philosophy and director of the Kegley Institute of Ethics at CSU Bakersfield. He is also a member of the medical staff at Kern Medical Center, where he provides ethics consulting and education, services he also provides for most of the major hospitals in the Bakersfield area. Most of his research is in practical ethics, particularly bioethics and journalism ethics. His most recent books are A Philosophical Approach to Journalism Ethics (Oxford: 2009) and A Practical Guide for Clinical Ethics Consulting: Expertise, Ethos and Power (Rowman and Littlefield: 2007). Meyers grew up in Hermosa Beach and has lived in Bakersfield for over two decades. He escapes to the Eastern Sierras every summer, where he spends too much time — he’s told — tossing flies at trout. Christopher is a founding board member of Bakersfield Express.

Linda Fiddler, Secretary

Linda Fiddler has lived in Bakersfield for more than 20 years. She works as a district representative for Michael J. Rubio, Senator, 16th Senate District. Linda has worked as a teacher for the Bakersfield City School District and as a nutrition consultant with Kern County Superintendent of Schools under a Healthy California Network grant. She has lived all over the world and enjoys travel and the adventure of learning something new. In January 2009, Linda created Hope 4 Kern, an organization that encourages volunteerism and community service throughout Kern County. Learn more about this organization at www.hope4kern.org. Linda is a founding board member of Bakersfield Express.

Kaleb Judy

Kaleb Judy is an associate with Klein, DeNatale, Goldner, Cooper, Rosenlieb & Kimball LLP, where he focuses his practice in the areas of complex litigation and bankruptcy. Kaleb graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law and became a member of the California State Bar in 2009. He holds a B.A. degree from California State University, Bakersfield, magna cum laude, and was awarded the 2006 Outstanding Graduate from the Political Science Department and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Special Thanks

Bakersfield Express could not exist without the help of volunteers. Thank you to our founding board members Tom Webster, Tracy Witkowski, Louis Medina and Natalie Bustamante. Thank you to Shauna Lofy, a local graphic designer, who donated her time and talent to create the logo and color palette for the website and business cards. Thank you to Paul Pomeroy, who helped with the site’s development and also contributed photos. And thank you to attorneys Jason Wilson and Jennifer Adams, who provided advice during the startup and nonprofit application process.