BIO


Travis Armstrong has worked as an editor, writer and media executive in print, radio and Internet communications.


He’s been a member of the editorial boards of the San Jose Mercury News, Santa Barbara News-Press and Monterey County Herald in California. His first voice-of-the-newspaper editorials appeared in the Oregonian in Portland while he was on a summer break from law school.

He was the host of "The Travis Armstrong Hour," town-hall political debates and other live programming on KZSB AM 1290 broadcast to Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Previously, Travis worked as an editor in the D.C. news bureau of a national chain of 24 daily newspapers owned by Dow Jones & Co. He interned at the National Geographic Society and Kiplinger's magazine in Washington before joining Dow Jones.

In addition to editing and writing, Travis has held executive and managerial positions, including serving as the acting publisher of Santa Barbara's daily newspaper.


He was publisher when management changes and a union-organizing campaign brought national attention. A precedent-setting case from that time involving the First Amendment protections of a newspaper company to determine news content vs. employee control via labor-relations statutes is in federal court. The National Newspaper Association and some of the country’s largest publishers have filed supporting legal briefs.

Travis has a Juris Doctor from the UCLA School of Law and a master's in anthropology from Temple University in Philadelphia. His undergraduate degree is in news-editorial journalism, with a minor in business administration, from the University of St. Thomas.


Travis is a member of the Leech Lake Reservation (Pillager) band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. He has won five writing awards from the Native American Journalists Association, and he was the first enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe to serve as the editorial page editor of a U.S. daily newspaper.

Travis Armstrong and his writing


Praise him. Swear at him (and oh boy have they). Choice words from the California, national and international media:

"Armstrong, whose incisive editorials aroused passion on either side of numerous issues affecting Santa Barbara also hosted a public affairs show ... Many topics discussed on the editorial pages and on his radio show were echoed as major campaign issues during local elections." - Santa Barbara News-Press article on my resignation from the newspaper.

"Armstrong is an experienced journalist who also has a law degree." - National Public Radio

"He felt local officials had been mollycoddled during the 15 years the New York Times had owned the (Santa Barbara) paper. It was time to wake them up." - Vanity Fair magazine

"Mr. Armstrong, meanwhile, has become a magnet for discontent outside the (Santa Barbara) paper because of his sharply worded editorials about local officials." - the New York Times

"The controversial editorial page editor." - the Los Angeles Times

"I had one of those 'Gosh, I shoulda had a V8' moments while reading Travis Armstrong's essay last Sunday." - National Talk Show Host and Author "Dr. Laura" Schlessinger

"Strong local editorials." - California Newspaper Publishers Association contest judges 2002 upon the paper winning best daily in its circulation category

"Best Column Writing Award," plus four other awards for column and editorial writing. - The Native American Journalists Association

"It is Armstrong who has born much of the hostility since the story broke." - the London Guardian

"He's a public figure ... and a lightning rod." - quote in the New York Times

The newspaper owner and "Armstrong have distinguished themselves with their quirky editorial positions." - the Washington Post

"Outstanding Written Word Award, for an unrivaled series of hard-hitting and dogged editorials calling attention to local and national animal-protection issues." - The Humane Society of the United States 2008

"Genesis Award for outstanding newspaper editorials effecting change in the process and increasing public awareness." - The Humane Society of the United States 2005

"Best Editorial Pages Award." - California Newspaper Publishers Association contest judges 2005

Travis Armstrong’s Web site                                         

E-mail: writetotravis@hotmail.com





copyright, Travis Armstrong 2014, where applicable

Hi. This is Travis,

Silicon Valley escapee, UCLA Law & Temple anthropology grad, D.C. journalist for a decade,

Santa Barbara ‘lightning rod,’ Leech Lake Chippewa,

now writing, editing & creating in SoCal.

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