RONNIE COHEN
freelance journalist
San Francisco Bay Area
stories
ELK BEDEVIL RANCHERS
POLICE KILLED TEEN WITH TOY GUN
JUDGE SIDES WITH CATHOLIC HOSPITAL IN FIGHT OVER CONTRACEPTIVE CARE
A VINEYARD DISPUTE, $800,000 IN CASH AND TWO DEAD
ARE WIRELESS PHONES LINKED WITH BRAIN CANCER?
SWEDEN LOSES TO ITALY IN AMERICA’S CUP DEBUT
KILLER BREAKS SILENCE ON LOCATION OF BODIES
CHURCH COURT FINDS MINISTER GUILTY FOR PERFORMING GAY MARRIAGES
PSYCHIATRIST DEEMS OAKLAND SCHOOL SHOOTER UNFIT FOR TRIAL
SAN FRANCISCO NUDISTS RALLY FOR RIGHT TO BARE IT ALL
ALLEGED SERIAL KILLER CROSS-EXAMINES 1961 RAPE ACCUSER
AFTER MEN, LESBIANS REPORT THE MOST ORGASMS
MARIN VICTIMS SEE MADOFF AS THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
AFTER BLACKOUT IN CALIFORNIA, A SQUIRREL SEEMS TOO CONVENIENT A SCAPEGOAT
BRIDGE BARRIER BRINGS RELIEF
about
I am a prize-winning freelance writer in Northern California and have regularly contributed to the New York Times and Reuters Health. I was a contract stringer for Reuters News and spent a decade working as a staff reporter for the Press Democrat, a daily newspaper in Santa Rosa, California. I’ve also written for The Guardian, Mother Jones, Pacific Standard, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sacramento Bee, Ladies’ Home Journal and numerous other media outlets.
I have a strong news instinct and a knack for spotting trends and stories with unique angles. In 2001, I reported on the dangers of dispensing soda in school vending machines. I wrote about the gifts that Bernie Madoff left his victims whose life savings he stole. I reported that hormone-replacement therapy could increase women's breast cancer risk years before the government issued its warning.
I was among the first journalists to write about boutique medicine, binge drinking, prescription-drug abuse and sexting. I have covered earthquakes, mass and serial murders, political campaigns, the race for the America’s Cup, immigration, forest fires, a killing inside San Quentin State Prison and a marriage at Folsom State Prison.
Though I am truly a general-assignment reporter, I often write about health, social justice and legal issues. In the middle of my journalism career, I briefly attended law school only to realize just how much I love being a journalist.