Benjy Egel became the The Sacramento Bee’s food and drink reporter in 2018. For the next five years, he watched the city's culinary scene blossom, attracting Michelin stars and James Beard Award nominations. Egel's reporting drew more than 1,000 new subscribers to The Bee who wanted to learn the latest about Sacramento's new cultural heartbeat.

Sacramentans' love for the city's local restaurants inspired Egel to write “Sacramento Eats: Recipes from the Capital Region’s Favorite Restaurants." The cookbook not only highlights the city's award-winning chefs, it also includes their recipes so that readers can prepare their favorite dishes at home.

Egel recently wrote a piece for Better News on how other news organizations can create a regional keepsake that drives revenue toward their newsroom. Egel discusses that with host Michael O’Connell on this week's Better News podcast. Read the full study.

The Better News podcast is a partnership between It’s All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

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