The Basics:
Email: sonia@patch.com Phone: 301-237-1216 Hometown: Wilmington, Del. Birthday: July 14 Bio:  Sonia was born and raised in Wilmington, Del., where from a young age she was intrigued by the nightly news. Sonia went on to major in journalism at the University of Delaware and received her bachelor's degrees in English and Communications in 2007. After writing for The News Journal as a summer intern, she went on to cover education, local government and politics at The Cecil Whig in Elkton, Md. In 2009, she spent a year in New York City earning a master's degree in digital media from Columbia University. Sonia covered local news in Chelsea and parts of the Bronx for the year, and one of the pieces she worked on with other journalists appeared in The Huffington Post. Since June 2010, she's been with Patch as the editor of Riverdale Park-University Park Patch. After spending more than a year covering those communities, she is moving onto a new role with Patch as the Associate Regional Editor. In her new role she'll help manage 12 Patch sites in Prince George's and Montgomery counties. She hopes to continue to report the news as well in this role. Sonia looks forward to meeting each and everyone of you, and she hopes you will contact her with story ideas and feedback about Patch. At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable. This disclosure is not a license for me to inject my beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: I hope that the knowledge that my beliefs are on the record will cause me to be ever mindful to write, report and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you ever see evidence that I failed in this mission, please let me know. Politics: I'm a registered Democrat. However, I don't vote down a party line. I educate myself on each issue. Religion: I'm spiritual. I was raised Hindu and I attended a Catholic elementary school. I also minored in religious studies in undergrad -- so I'm open-minded.