Matt Kettmann

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Call Matt at 805-965-5205.

Senior editor Matt Kettmann started at The Independent as an intern in the spring of 1999 while an anthropology major/professional writing minor at UCSB. He was hired as a proofreader in the fall of 1999, then spent five years as a news reporter and nearly two years as pop culture editor before becoming senior editor in the summer of 2006.

In addition to covering news, arts, and lifestyle in Santa Barbara for nearly 10 years, Matt has written about international affairs and tourism from such places as Bolivia, Belize, Costa Rica, Uganda, Thailand/Hong Kong, India, France, Spain, Mexico, and the wartorn, officially unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He also covered the Michael Jackson trial for both The Independent and TIME Magazine, an experience that was much like reporting from a foreign land.

These days, Matt oversees Independent.com and manages various day-to-day aspects of the newspaper. He continues to write for the paper on numerous topics, and also freelances for TIME, Sunset, Wine Spectator, Smithsonian, the San Francisco Chronicle, Ode, Hemispheres, LA Yoga, Ventana, Broughton Quarterly, SkyWest, Swindle, and other publications.

For more of his work, you can also see MattKettmann.com.