News veteran Allison Gibson joins Bee as service journalism and consumer editor
An award-winning journalist who has worked in newsrooms across the country will soon join The Sacramento Bee in a new role designed to help readers navigate where to eat and shop — and tell them how the economy affects their daily lives, from grocery store prices to real estate values and more.
As Service Journalism & Consumer Editor, Allison Gibson will oversee a team of journalists who produce timely, useful and relevant stories, explainers and videos that address readers’ questions and daily needs. She also will supervise reporters who cover the Sacramento region’s vibrant food and dining landscape, including restaurant openings and closings, must-try spots, and how what’s happening on Central Valley farms is affecting what ends up on people’s plates. Rounding out her team will be reporters who cover the regional economy, including breaking business and retail news in Sacramento and beyond.
The newly created role stems from Lauren Chapman, Sacramento service journalism and food editor, transitioning into The Bee’s Capitol Bureau to oversee reporters covering the governor and Legislature, as well as overarching issues in federal and state politics. As California Politics Editor, Chapman also will supervise The Bee’s soon-to-be-announced higher education reporter, another newly created role.
Gibson joins The Bee after working as a senior editor with Press Democrat News Group in Sonoma and Napa Counties. She has worked as editor of the North Bay Business Journal for the past three years, in addition to supervising the PDNG visuals team.
She said she is looking forward to the broader economic diversity and lifestyle Sacramento offers, as well as putting both her business editing and visuals experience to use.
Bee journalists, she said, “have remained true to their journalistic values while understanding and welcoming innovation — in visual storytelling and in nontraditional approaches to getting news to the consumers. Plus, I get bragging rights. Even my friends in far-flung places across the country know The Sacramento Bee’s reputation. I have a lot to live up to!”
A Pittsburgh native, Gibson attended Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism where she got her start in radio and television news reporting before moving into newsroom management. She has overseen business reporters and consumer content in varies cities, including manufacturing hubs across the Midwest.
Before arriving in California, she was news director of NBC affiliate KWWL-TV in eastern Iowa where she helped lead the news team’s award-winning coverage of the August 2020 derecho (land hurricane), earning the station a Regional Edward R. Murrow award.
She joined The Press Democrat and its sibling publications in late 2021 as senior editor for multimedia content and innovation, where she coached reporters and columnists on visual storytelling techniques while serving as photo editor, a role she continued to hold as she took the helm the North Bay Business Journal. As NBBJ editor, she’s guided her team through local reporting on the downturn in the wine industry, to the departure from California of a plastic waste recycler following scrutiny over its permits and processing plant.
Gibson joins The Bee on April 20. She’ll report to Nathaniel Levine, Assistant Managing Editor for Local News & Visuals.
