The Press Democrat
Jim Sweeney has over three decades of experience in journalism, currently serving as an editorial writer for The Press Democrat since October 1991. In this role, Jim interviews newsmakers and political candidates, writes editorials and blogs, and manages the publication's editorial processes. Previously, Jim held positions as night city editor, overseeing a team of reporters and handling breaking news, and as a general assignment reporter focused on government and politics. Jim's earlier career includes serving as the Sacramento bureau chief for the Los Angeles Daily News, where coverage of state government and politics was a primary focus, as well as reporting on California elections and city politics at the same publication. Jim began in journalism at Auburn Journal as a general assignment reporter. Jim holds a Bachelor of Arts in government-journalism from California State University, Sacramento.
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The Press Democrat
The very first newspaper in Santa Rosa, the parent of today's Press Democrat, was begun in 1857, just three years after Santa Rosa was chosen as the seat of Sonoma County and seven years after California became a part of the United States. Called the Sonoma Democrat this newspaper was a four-page weekly. Its name reflected the politicsof the Santa Rosa and Russian River valleys, which were settled in the 1840s and '50s by farmers from Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. The founding publisher was Alpheus Russell, a merchant with some newspaper experience who came to open a general store on Third Street. John Taylor, a prosperous rancher south of the new town, encouraged Russell to establish the paper, giving him a five-dollar gold piece for the first subscription. At the end of a year, Russell sold the paper to printer E.R. Budd, who sold it again in 1860. The new owner was Thomas Thompson, a young Virginian who had edited Petaluma's Sonoma County Journal five years earlier at the age of 17.