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It was 15 years ago this week that I defiantly walked out of the Orange County Register newsroom as a lead investigative reporter with a one-year old son, leading a coalition of local residents to create a civically-minded, tough local nonprofit newsroom.
This newsroom would get in the way in real-time.
Not as activists.
But as journalists.
Working on behalf of residents, putting them in a position to protect their quality of life.
The ensuing newsroom wouldn’t be designed as right or left, red or blue.
We’re the house, a Vegas casino on fight night.
Our reporters have a story no matter which side wins.
As journalists, we seize upon the opportunity granted to us by so many generations of soldiers and activists, advancing the cause of freedom by helping residents truly engage in self-governance with real-time information about the collective bodies we have created.
The collective work of so many foundation partners, donors, board members, editors, reporters, photographers, interns and fellows over the past decade and a half have really helped forge one of America’s great small nonprofit newsrooms.
One that’s consistently achieved distinction in a sustainable manner.
This newsroom focuses every day on putting Orange County residents in a position to protect their quality of life.
It’s also put together a cost-effective approach that focuses resources on local journalism, especially by training the next generation of journalists in solid, fact-based accountability practices.
Officials oftentimes will decry that kind of investigative coverage as “gloom and doom” or “negative.”
But getting real-time information to residents about what’s really happening at city hall is a critical step in fashioning solutions.
It’s a simple business plan.
And readers appreciate it.
Over the past 15 years, more than 5,000 donors have seen enough value in what they read to contribute regularly to keep this newsroom thriving.
Today, our direct audience on our main website alone averages 200,000 monthly unique visitors and half our $650,000 annual budget comes directly from readers.
Our ultimate goal is to be fully funded by readers’ recurring donations.
We keep working every day to produce unique local civic content about Orange County that can’t be found anywhere else.
And we keep asking local residents to step up as partners.
In that sense, we don’t sell subscriptions but encourage donations from readers who see value.
And we deeply thank you for stepping up so regularly.
Together, Orange County is sending a strong message about how local residents can really self govern by keeping themselves informed in real-time.
That is the core function of this newsroom and one that we are all so honored to work on every day.
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