Kristin Scharkey
Kristin Scharkey is a writer and editor based in California, who currently serves as a senior content strategist at MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing. Previously, she served as a top editor at Sunset and DESERT magazines, and led an award-winning team of reporters at The Desert Sun in the USA Today Network.
Kristin earned both her undergraduate journalism degree and MFA in creative nonfiction at Northwestern University, where she was a Division I softball player. She’s been honored by the California News Publishers Association for her writing and editing. Her work has also appeared in Hearst Newspapers, ESPN and more.
Kristin has made appearances on CBS News Radio, KCOD, KPCC, and other media. She’s been interviewed about her work by USA Today and about her softball career by Northwestern Magazine and OC Register. She launched a magazine events series that was highlighted by INMA. She also served as a coach for the Storytellers Project, and told her story of moving to the desert for the series. Her work has been cited by books such as The Invention of the American Desert and Women’s College Softball on the Rise.
selected WRITING
The Western wellness revolution, Sunset Magazine, 2022
Lost ship of the desert, DESERT magazine & USA Today, 2019 *1st place, Writing, California News Publishers Association
Is the Instagram generation filtering Joshua Tree’s true character? DESERT magazine, 2017 *Listen to my interview about the story on 89.3 KPCC's "Take Two."
Integratron sound bath a ‘transformative’ experience, DESERT magazine, 2016
Desert homesteads abandoned, not forgotten, DESERT magazine, 2016
selected eDITING
Project Roomkey funding ends soon. Over 11,000 Californians could become homeless, again, The Desert Sun, 2020 *4th place, Enterprise News Story, CNPA
This hidden Salton Sea birder oasis burned in the Niland fire. Its owner vows to rebuild, The Desert Sun, 2020 *1st place, Writing, CNPA
'This is a war': A look at Mexicali's efforts to respond to COVID-19 calls, The Desert Sun, 2020
Survey: One in six women say they were sexually harassed at Coachella and Stagecoach, The Desert Sun, 2019 *2nd place, Investigative Reporting, CNPA