Times adds aerospace reporter recently at the Register

Former OC Register investigative reporter Melody Petersen has been hired to cover the aerospace beat for the Los Angeles Times business desk. She had joined the Register in 2012 and apparently left during the recent buyout exodus in OC. Petersen tweets here. She is the third recent hire that LAT editors considered memo worthy: I mentioned Brandi Grissom and Amy Fiscus earlier.

Here's the memo on Petersen from Business Editor Kimi Yoshino

To: The Staff
From: Kimi Yoshino, Business Editor
I’m pleased to announce that Melody Petersen, an award-winning investigative reporter, is joining the Business staff to cover Southern California’s far-flung aerospace industry. Nearly all the nation’s big aerospace companies have major facilities in the Southland – not to mention upstarts like SpaceX, drone makers like AeroVironment and the ancillary space businesses around Mojave. Melody has spent her career reporting and explaining complicated topics. At the Orange County Register, she was a Loeb Award finalist this year for her story about a $22-million capital appreciation bond that cost taxpayers $280 million. Previously, she covered the pharmaceuticals business at the New York Times and wrote an investigative book on the drug industry, “Our Daily Meds.” She also worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the San Jose Mercury News, where she won a Loeb Award for an investigative series about a California power company. Her past editors describe her as “a pro” who can “do anything.” Being a certified public accountant doesn’t hurt either. Melody has a master’s in journalism from the University of Maryland in College Park and a bachelor’s of business administration degree in accounting from the University of Iowa. She enjoys backpacking in the Sierras and mountain biking in the Santa Monicas in her spare time. She and her husband, AP political writer Michael Blood, live in Sunset Beach. She starts Aug. 26.

Photo: Twitter