Cerise Castle is an American journalist. She received the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award and the

American Mosaic Journalism Prize The American Mosaic Journalism Prize is a journalism prize awarded annually to two freelance journalists "for excellence in long-form, narrative, or deep reporting on stories about underrepresented and/or misrepresented groups in the present Amer ...

for her investigative series on deputy gangs in the

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...

Career

Castle previously worked as an associate producer for '' Vice News Tonight''. In 2020 she was hired as a producer at

KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...

. While reporting a Los Angeles

George Floyd protest The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as reactions to the ...

in May 2020, Castle was shot with a rubber bullet by

LAPD The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

. During her rehabilitation, she spent six months investigating the history of deputy gangs in the

(LACSD). Castle accepted a buyout to leave her position at KCRW in February 2021. In a statement posted to

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and an interview on ''LA Podcast'', she stated she had experienced racist microaggressions during her time as an employee. In March 2021, she published her LACSD gangs series, "A Tradition of Violence: The History of Deputy Gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department" in ''Knock LA''. Her reporting stated that multiple gangs are active in the department and alleged that gang members have killed 19 men of color around Los Angeles. One month after the series was published, Castle was detained at an LACSD press conference while reporting the event. A year after publication, the city's civilian oversight board launched an investigation into the deputy gangs. She was targeted for surveillance by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. She stated that she also received death threats for her reporting. In 2022 she received the American Journalism Online Award for Best Use of Public Records and the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award for the series. In 2023 she received the

for her reporting, an award for freelance journalists. Castle has freelanced for ''

the Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', ''

LA Magazine ''Los Angeles,'' formerly known as ''Southern California Prompter'', is a monthly magazine based in Los Angeles, California. It focuses on telling regional news, culture, lifestyle, entertainment, and fashion stories from Los Angeles and the br ...

'', and multiple podcasts. Her freelance reporting broke the story of the Citizen app's misidentification of an arson suspect. Her reporting has been cited by ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...

,'' and The Ringer. In late February, 2023, it was announced Castle had signed with CAA. In March 2024 she was hired as a staff writer for California-based nonprofit publication ''Capital & Main''.

Personal life

Castle was raised in southern California. In 2014 she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

after completing her bachelor's degree at

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

to become a freelance reporter. She is a lesbian.

Accolades

2022

International Women's Media Foundation The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF), located in Washington, D.C., is an organization working internationally to elevate the status of women in the media. The IWMF has created programs to help women in the media develop practical so ...

, Courage in Journalism Award * American Journalism Online Award for Best Use of Public Records

2023

Works

* *

References

External links

Official website

"A Tradition of Violence: The History of Deputy Gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department"
at ''Knock LA'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Castle, Cerise Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African-American women journalists African-American journalists 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists Writers from California 21st-century American women writers American lesbian writers African-American LGBTQ people LGBTQ people from California