Sona Patel
I’m currently the Director of Community & User Generated Content at The New York Times where I oversee The Times’s Community moderation team and work on improving the ways readers can interact with each other — and Times journalists — on our platforms.
I started my career as a beat reporter for The (San Luis Obispo) Tribune and later switched gears to become the social media editor at The Seattle Times. There I was part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting in 2010.
I’m a strong advocate for diversity in newsrooms. I was the Seattle chapter president of the Asian American Journalists Association and served as vice president of the New York chapter.
Recent work by Sona Patel for The New York Times
- Your Thoughts on Mask Mandatesby Sona Patel on February 22, 2022 at 4:11 pm
Here’s a selection of comments submitted by New York Times readers after some states begin to lift mask mandates.
- Readers paid tribute to Poitier.by Sona Patel on January 7, 2022 at 10:29 pm
- Ballot Drop-Off and In-Person Voting for the Recall: What You Need to Knowby Sona Patel on September 15, 2021 at 9:11 am
If you missed the deadline to register to vote in the recall election, don’t worry. You can still register on Tuesday.
- What is a Recall and How Does it Work?by Sona Patel on September 14, 2021 at 11:31 pm
California is the only place where a recall of a governor has made the ballot twice.
- Mail-in voting may increase turnout in this election.by Sona Patel on September 14, 2021 at 7:57 pm
- How Reader Comments Build Connections at The Timesby Sona Patel on September 4, 2021 at 9:35 pm
Reader responses add an extra dimension to Times articles, and a lot more.
- Here’s what readers are saying about the new U.S. guidance on masks.by Sona Patel and Remy Tumin on May 14, 2021 at 10:15 am
- Xavier Becerra, H.H.S. Pick, Was California’s Anti-Trump Attack Dogby Shawn Hubler and Sheryl Gay Stolberg on March 18, 2021 at 5:41 pm
Mr. Becerra was the first in his family to go to college. As attorney general of California, he took on the Trump administration on nearly every front. But can he take on the pandemic?
- California Wildfires: Extreme Heat Turns State Into a Furnaceby Jack Healy, Kate Taylor and Ivan Penn on December 4, 2020 at 12:45 am
Fires burning from near the Mexico border to the forests of the Sierra Nevada spread a curtain of smoke over California on Monday.
- How Californians Are Adapting Thanksgivingby Jill Cowan and Sona Patel on November 25, 2020 at 1:40 pm
Wednesday: Readers share how they’re staying safe and celebrating this year.