Aspen Anderson joins The Beachcomber staff as full-time reporter

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Aspen Anderson, a former Beachcomber intern, has joined the staff as a full-time reporter.

She will work alongside longtime reporter Elizabeth Shepherd and longtime publisher Daralyn Anderson (with whom she shares a last name, though they are not related).

With Anderson’s arrival, Shepherd will return to a part-time reporting role at the end of September.

A West Seattle resident, Anderson will commute to the island beginning Sept. 22 — a trip she knows well after spending her last two years of high school traveling daily to attend VHS.

Anderson is a 2024 graduate of the University of Washington, where she double-majored in journalism and psychology. While still in college, she covered the 2024 legislative session in Olympia as a legislative reporting intern before heading to Thailand, where she worked for the Bangkok Post on stories about same-sex marriage legalization and related policy gaps.

She returned home that fall and began her internship with The Beachcomber. Originally slated for 10 weeks, the internship ran a bit longer as she took on a steady stream of stories and quickly connected with the island community.

After her time at The Beachcomber, Anderson worked as a courts and public safety reporter for The Daily Herald in Everett. This summer, she reported for the features desk at the Los Angeles Times, focusing on multimedia storytelling and writing features ranging from national lifestyle trends to hyper-local stories.

Her bylines also include freelance contributions to The Seattle Times features section, where she wrote for the “How-to-Seattle” beat, which focuses on uniquely Seattle stories. She also reported pieces such as Vashon High School students rebuilding a gray whale skeleton and the mystery of a house with monster eyes.

In January, Anderson earned a Hearst Award — a national college journalism honor that recognizes excellence in reporting and writing — for a feature published by Cascade PBS about Stacy Chapin, the mother of University of Idaho murder victim Ethan Chapin. The story explored how Stacy worked to preserve her son’s legacy amid tabloid coverage and public discourse.

Through reporting in Bangkok, Los Angeles, Olympia and beyond, Anderson has found herself drawn to community-centered, people-focused journalism. She said she values the role local news plays in connecting neighbors and telling stories that reflect a community’s character. She believes local journalism is a service — one that keeps residents informed, holds institutions accountable, highlights everyday voices and digs deeper into the issues that shape community life.

“I’m thrilled to be returning to the island,” Anderson said. “Vashon’s whimsical spirit and the people who live here make it unlike any other place. My hope is to reflect that in the paper every week — and I’m especially excited to work alongside Liz and the contributors and freelancers who help shape both this paper and Vashon.”

Anderson’s new colleagues at The Beachcomber said they are thrilled to welcome her to the newspaper’s staff.

“During Aspen’s internship, we were bowled over by her skillful, careful and thoughtful journalism,” said Shepherd. “To have her return to the newspaper as a full-time reporter is great news for our community.”

“We were fortunate to have Aspen as an intern last fall, and we’re excited to welcome her back to The Beachcomber as a full-time reporter,” Daralyn Anderson said.

When not reporting, Anderson enjoys baking, gardening, hiking and is currently making wine from grapes she grew and harvested.