Matt Kettmann’s 2022 in Review

2022 was a curious year for my journalism career. 

My frequency was more or less on par with past years: I wrote close to 130 articles of varying types for the Santa Barbara Independent over the past 12 months, which was also my 2021 tally, not to mention the 200-plus wine reviews and a couple stories per month I write for Wine Enthusiast magazine. 

But I did not produce as many of those long-form, deeply reported features that I am most proud of when rounding up highlight reels such as this one. I like to think there are plenty of good reasons for that — two years of COVID burnout finally setting in, for one, and I wore some heavier management caps during various months of 2022. But do not fear: I’m already setting up 2023 as a return to (long) form, with a few detailed features already up my sleeve.