Susan Carpenter is a digital journalist for Spectrum News based in Los Angeles. She joined Spectrum in 2020.

Carpenter’s life story is just as interesting as the subjects she reports on. She’s originally from the Midwest. Raised in Michigan, she got her journalism degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and started her professional life in Chicago, Ill. She now considers herself a true Southern Californian, having resided on the West Coast for half of her life. The journalism projects she’s most proud of are the unconventional adventures and gonzo stories she wrote for Jane magazine, and various series she wrote while on staff at the LA Times. 

The most meaningful stories she has ever covered were the series she wrote for the LA Times called "Can I Recycle," "The Realist Idealist," and "Garbage Maven." These stories ran during the Great Recession when Angelenos were trying to figure out how to be less wasteful, more self-reliant, and kinder toward the Earth.   

Carpenter has always loved being part of the media world, and, at one time, was a pirate radio operator. She ran the country’s largest illegal radio station – KBLT – out of her apartment in Silver Lake for three years, and later wrote a book about it called 40 Watts from Nowhere. Her book will be turned into an experiential play in L.A.

When Carpenter isn’t out reporting, you might find her motorcycling or in the dog park with her corgi.