Aida Ylanan joins Data and Graphics team as a reporter

The following announcement was sent on behalf of Data and Graphics Editor Ben Welsh:

I am pleased to announce that Aida Ylanan has joined the Data and Graphics Department as a reporter.

She will be a leading player in our effort to inform and engage readers by creating visual stories, data-driven applications and digital designs.

Ylanan joins the team following a Metpro fellowship. During her time in the program, she contributed to a string of data and graphics projects, including our visual year in review, an analysis of Latino representation in the entertainment industry, a police shootings database, our coronavirus tracker, an appreciation of Bojack Horseman’s ‘Hollywoo’ and a powerful exploration of the lingering stigma from Japanese American incarceration during World War II.

Working with the Calendar team, Ylanan offered prescient criticism of a troubled reality show, examined Tina Fey’s latest series and penned the obituary of a beloved television actor, as well as numerous other pieces.

Ylanan has also been a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times Book Club, generating graphics to coincide with selections and serving as a presenter at a live event.

“She’s a young journalist who does it all,” said Live Events Editor Donna Wares, who leads the book club. “No one is doing what she does, from data and graphics to storytelling to literary creativity.”

Ylanan is an alum of Long Beach’s Polytechnic High School. She earned her undergraduate degree at UCLA, where she studied statistics and English.

She is joining a team of reporters, editors and computer programmers who aim to create digital journalism important to our readers with data, development and design. Our work has attracted millions of readers, sparked government reforms and helped win some of our industry’s highest awards.

Examples of our approach can be seen in coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, California’s perennial fire season, our local elections, the deeper issues raised by recent protests and numerous other topics.

She started in her role Monday.