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Pulitzer winners for the Daily Breeze Frank Suraci, Rob Kuznia and Rebecca Kimitch. Daily Breeze photo: Robert Casillas
When the Daily Breeze in the South Bay won its first-ever Pulitzer Prize last April, one of the reporters, Rob Kuznia, had already left the newspaper and journalism for a media relations job at USC. Now a second member of the Pulitzer-winning Breeze team, Rebecca Kimitch, is leaving the reporting business too. Presumably for the same reason: a bigger and more stable paycheck. Kimitch is reporting currently for the Los Angeles News Group's San Gabriel Valley Tribune. She starts next week on the public affairs team at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
Here is the memo sent around to Los Angeles News Group newsrooms this afternoon:
From: Brian Harr
Date: Thu, Mar 10, 2016 at 12:17 PM
Subject: Rebecca Kimitch
It is with mixed emotions I announce the departure of Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter Rebecca Kimitch. We are happy for the new chapter in her life but sad for the loss on our behalf.
She started with LANG in 2008 as a reporter and has worn many hats during her stay with us, including political reporter and city editor.
She is moving on to bring her expertise to the public affairs department at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
Her last day is St. Patrick's Day, Thursday, March 17 so give her something green and join us in Monrovia in the afternoon for some cake and a sendoff gathering.
Please join me in wishing her a fond farewell and thanking her for her dedication to LANG.
Brian Harr
Senior Editor
Los Angeles News Group
Optimism about the future is already a pretty scarce emotion in the LANG newsrooms these days, and this has to sting. The Breeze won the 2015 Pulitzer in local reporting for investigating the Centinela Valley Union High School District and Superintendent Jose Fernandez. It was the first Pulitzer Prize awarded to a paper in the LA News Group family.
