Andrew Phelps
Andrew Phelps is a journalist in San Diego.
He is a reporter, anchor, producer, and blogger for KPBS, a National Public Radio station. He is part of the news team that provided nonstop coverage of the Southern California wildfires in October 2007.
Andrew is also a founding Fellow of the Jacobs Project for Reporting Excellence, an incubator for new ideas in journalism. The Jacobs Project trains professional reporters in multiplatform news gathering, packaging and delivery. In 2008, Andrew helped expand the project by raising enough funding for three new positions.
Andrew is a regular contributor to NPR News and American Public Media’s Marketplace.
Andrew earned a B.A. degree in political science from the University of California, San Diego, and A.A. degrees in both journalism and liberal arts from Palomar College.
Andrew received first place in “Radio Feature” from the San Diego Press Club in October 2007, as well as previous honors from the Society of Professional Journalists. Before KPBS, Andrew was a regular freelance reporter for the North County Times and author of Behind the Desk, weekly series of profiles of standout executives in the San Diego area.
Andrew is also a former intern in the newsrooms of both KPBS and FOX6 News. He served as news editor and then editor in chief of The Telescope, Palomar’s award-winning, weekly newspaper, and received the program's award for Distinguished Journalist of the Year in 2004.
Andrew was briefly employed by Starbucks Coffee, a corporation he has blogged about frequently. Before discovering journalism, Andrew was a freelance computer consultant and Web designer.
A native San Diegan, Andrew grew up in North County and lives in South Park. San Diego Blog once described Andrew as “a digital raconteur, bon vivant, and man about town.” He loves photography, travel, and bold coffee, among other delights.
Andrew’s mother, Nancy Ballantine, lives in Evanston, Illinois, and his brother, David, lives in Oceanside, California. His father, Harold (Rich), died in September 2004.
Andrew has blogged in various forms at andrewphelps.com since October 2000.
E-mail Andrew at andrew@andrewphelps.com.