The Point Reyes Light

The Point Reyes Light

The Point Reyes Light is a Pulitzer Prize-winning weekly newspaper published since 1948 in western Marin County, California. It is generally considered the newspaper of record for the region. The Light gained national attention in 1979 due to its reporting on a cult, Synanon, and the Pulitzer Prize awarded to the paper for this coverage. The paper has since been purchased by the locally owned Marin Media Institute. The Institute aims to promote excellent local journalism through a variety of media and educational programs in west Marin County. Governed by a board of journalists, writers and educators, the Institute fosters rigorous local news reporting and analysis that reflect the needs and values of the region and its connection between local, national and global issues. The Institute supports inclusive civil discourse; provides a voice for the region’s culturally diverse populations; and furthers the craft of village journalism through internships, fellowships, educational forums and public seminars.

In the late 2000s, the paper was itself the subject of local controversy and national coverage, based on a dispute between the then publishers (owners from 2005 to 2010) and their predecessors, over perceived changes in both style and content. The current editor, Tess Elliott, has restored the paper's original style, while continuing to improve content and upholding a standard of rigorous reporting and engaging prose. She also created the North Coaster, a quarterly guide to the northern California coast, featuring local artists, writers and poets.

The Light covers regional issues in and near West Marin, including the communities of Point Reyes Station, Inverness, Olema, Bolinas, Inverness Park, Nicasio, Stinson Beach, the San Geronimo Valley, Tomales, and the nearby Point Reyes National Seashore, as well as Fairfax and Bodega Bay. Other media outlets serving this region include the community FM radio station KWMR and the West Marin Citizen.