Alexandra Close | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1942or1943(age 81–82) |
| Other names | Sandy |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley (B.A.) |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Organization | Ethnic Media Services |
| Partner | Franz Schurmann |
| Children | 2 |
Alexandra Close (born ca. 1943) is an American journalist and the founder of Ethnic Media Services (now American Community Media). [1] [2] [3] She was the executive director of Pacific News Service from 1974 to 2017 and of New America Media from 1996 to 2017. [4] [5]
Close received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley in 1964. [6]
Close worked as the China editor in Hong Kong for the Far Eastern Economic Review in the mid-1960s. [7] Upon her return to the U.S. she co-founded Oakland-based newspaper The Flatlands. [8] She was also a weekly commentator for Morning Edition from 1984 to 1985.
In 1991, she founded Yo! Youth Outlook, a monthly magazine of youth writing and art, and in 1996, she co-founded The Beat Within, a weekly journal written by incarcerated youth.
She served as the executive director of Pacific News Service from 1974 to the publication's closing in 2017. [9] In 1996, she founded New America Media, which involved up to 3,000 ethnic news organizations in California, and served as its executive director until its closure in 2017. [10]
In 2018, Close founded Ethnic Media Services, a non-profit agency focused on developing cross-cultural journalism and marketing projects to promote inclusive public discourse. [11]
Close was a co-producer for the film Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien , which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) in 1996. [12]
Close was married to the historian and Asian affairs scholar Franz Schurmann from 1968 until his death in 2010. [13]