Mike Jenner

For the past 10 years Mike Jenner has been the executive editor and vice president of The Bakersfield Californian. In that role he is responsible for the coverage decisions and news content of the paper’s print editions and its website, www.bakersfield.com.

Mr. Jenner joined The Californian in 1993 as managing editor. During his tenure at the newspaper, he has helped transform the newspaper’s coverage, presentation and its relationship with readers. In addition to his duties as top news executive, he writes a twice-weekly column called Sound Off, in which he fields questions, brickbats and occasional compliments from readers.

A native of the Midwest, Mr. Jenner worked at a variety of newspapers in the Midwest, South and on the East Coast before coming to Bakersfield, including The Hartford Courant, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Hattiesburg (MS) American, The Coffeyville (KS) Journal and The Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune.

Mr. Jenner has served in leadership roles in a number of professional and community organizations. He is a past president of the California Society of Newspaper Editors. For eight years he ran the Electronic Photojournalism Workshop. He has served in several Bakersfield community service activities, including the Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault and the Kern Adult Literacy Council, where he served as president for two years. He also helped create the Community Reading Project, a public-private partnership that trained and placed volunteer tutors from the business community in classrooms to help struggling second-graders improve their reading skills.