Sandy Close

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]

Alexandra Close
Born	1942 or 1943 (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

Early life and education

Close received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley in 1964.^[6]

Career

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]

Personal life

Close was married to the historian and Asian affairs scholar Franz Schurmann from 1968 until his death in 2010.^[13]

Awards

• 2011 George Polk Award for Career Achievement ^[14]
• 2008 Ashoka Fellowship ^[15]
• 2006 Purpose Prize Fellowship^[16]
• 1995 MacArthur Fellows Program^[17]

Works

• "Ben Hur" Vs. "Titanic" -- Nature Replaced God in Film That Speaks to Environmental Age, JINN, 03-26-98
• "Fear and uncertainty in the era of change", National Civic Review, Volume 98 Issue 3, Pages 46 – 47^[18]