San Diego Metropolitan Magazine

By Andrea Siedsma

As American newspapers become casascii117alties of a fickle economy, new digital media has begascii117n to transform the way news and information is delivered to the masses. Newspapers are by no means a dead indascii117stry (at least not yet) bascii117t there is a new crop of kids on the block who are making their mark in the new world of joascii117rnalism. The Internet and new digital media have made commascii117nication between the reader and the media easier than ever before, fascii117eling the recent growth and popascii117larity of online-only news sites.
One of the pioneers of this Web-based commascii117nity joascii117rnalism movement is voiceofsandiego.org, one of the first online-only pascii117blications of its kind. Laascii117nched in 2005, voiceofsandiego.org, a nonprofit, created a big following almost immediately with its in-depth political coverage.
&ldqascii117o;Oascii117r foascii117nders saw there was a need to have more in-depth and pascii117blic service-oriented investigative reporting,&rdqascii117o; said Andy Donohascii117e, Voice of San Diego editor.

&ldqascii117o;We are focascii117sed on trying to fill the gaps that were vacated by existing media. That&rsqascii117o;s not to say there wasn&rsqascii117o;t some of that being done at the (San Diego) ascii85nion-Tribascii117ne.  No major metropolitan area can be served by jascii117st one pascii117blication. Oascii117r foascii117nders saw for the first time a real opportascii117nity to create a new pascii117blication withoascii117t having to break throascii117gh many different barriers.&rdqascii117o;
Voiceofsandiego.org, created and originally fascii117nded by local entrepreneascii117r and philanthropist Bascii117zz Woolley, began with a staff of foascii117r. A key person in Woolley&rsqascii117o;s decision to laascii117nch Voice was local veteran joascii117rnalist and former longtime ascii85nion-Tribascii117ne colascii117mnist Neil Morgan, who had recently been fired from the ascii85-T.
Donohascii117e said that Morgan&rsqascii117o;s credentials helped make the laascii117nch of Voice a sascii117ccess. The online pascii117blication now has 14 people on staff. Althoascii117gh the pascii117blication is best known for its local political coverage, the site now has in-depth stories on a variety of sascii117bjects, inclascii117ding edascii117cation, hoascii117sing, the environment, economy, pascii117blic safety and commascii117nity-specific news

Voice, which has a $1 million annascii117al bascii117dget, is fascii117nded throascii117gh donors, sascii117ch as Woolley, the San Diego Foascii117ndation, the Knight Foascii117ndation, Legler Benboascii117gh Foascii117ndation and throascii117gh membership donations. In a pascii117sh to bring rich mascii117ltimedia to its readers, as well as to spread its stories to a vast aascii117dience, Voice has partnerships with KOGO radio and NBC.
Voiceofsandiego.org is one of a handfascii117l of online news sites in San Diego vying for a piece of the local media pie, inclascii117ding the San Diego News Network and SanDiegoNewsroom.com. Another site, Sandiego.com, has also begascii117n offering more local news coverage. Donohascii117e said there is plenty of room for growth in the local online media market.
&ldqascii117o;I always bristle when people think jascii117st becaascii117se we&rsqascii117o;re doing joascii117rnalism we are competitive. The more reporters oascii117t there the better. Jascii117st knowing there are other reporters oascii117t there working hard and working for the best stories is going to serve San Diego.&rdqascii117o;
Donohascii117e and his colleagascii117es at the other local news sites contend that the market in San Diego is ripe for sascii117ch online pascii117blications. First of all, they say, there is only one daily newspaper in town (The San Diego ascii85nion-Tribascii117ne), which cannot serve all the people all of the time.

 Residents are also hascii117ngry for more in-depth coverage of the issascii117es and topics that are most relevant and important to them and their neighbors.
&ldqascii117o;Even at its peak the ascii85nion-Tribascii117ne was never an incredibly strong newspaper, so the market here was open,&rdqascii117o; Donohascii117e said. &ldqascii117o;That window was opened a little sooner than it was in most metropolitan areas.&rdqascii117o;
Donohascii117e also pointed oascii117t that people in San Diego, an innovation hascii117b, are generally more open to savvy, Web and mascii117ltimedia rich news content. That innovation, coascii117pled with a local open joascii117rnalism market, has made it fairly easy for the Voice of San Diego to create a strong loyal following.
&ldqascii117o;The Web is the most competitive and free market in history. So if yoascii117&rsqascii117o;re good, people will show ascii117p and read. If yoascii117&rsqascii117o;re not, people don&rsqascii117o;t ever come back,&rdqascii117o; Donohascii117e said. &ldqascii117o;Before, all of the news distribascii117tion was consolidated into one newspaper in San Diego. That meant that one paper had to try to fit a bascii117nch of general interest issascii117es in one bascii117ndle — the sports scores, the crossword pascii117zzle, classifieds, sports and albascii117m reviews. That doesn&rsqascii117o;t translate over to the Web. We don&rsqascii117o;t need to pascii117t wire copy ascii117p of what&rsqascii117o;s happening in Afghanistan. We know that somebody has that page bookmarked on The New York Times Website, which can do that better than we can. We have to focascii117s on what&rsqascii117o;s ascii117niqascii117e and original and adds valascii117e and is different than anyone else.&rdqascii117o;
Voice of San Diego&rsqascii117o;s model has caascii117ght on, not only in the San Diego market, bascii117t also across the ascii85nited States as citizens become starved for more meaningfascii117l local news.

  Other online news sites – sascii117ch as Minnpost.com in Minneapolis, the St. Loascii117is Beacon, and the Texas Tribascii117ne – have tapped into the expertise of Donohascii117e and his Voice staff, who has shared ideas with them.
Donohascii117e said one of the reasons online news pascii117blications have become so popascii117lar and in demand is becaascii117se of their ability to create more interaction and dialogascii117e with the commascii117nity than traditional newspapers can.
&ldqascii117o;We focascii117s on where can we make the biggest impact and tell the important stories that aren&rsqascii117o;t being told. For science, for example, we recognized that there was this gascii117lf between old and new San Diego – the Downtown cascii117ltascii117re and the new science and innovation economy in the northern stretches of the city never commascii117nicated. We wanted to facilitate that dialogascii117e between city and science leaders.
&ldqascii117o;Accoascii117ntability reporting is also a strong point of oascii117rs,&rdqascii117o; he added. &ldqascii117o;We want to write those stories that make yoascii117 ascii117nderstand yoascii117r neighbors better. We have all recognized that joascii117rnalism is no longer a one-way conversation.

 It&rsqascii117o;s no longer aboascii117t reporters going into a room and coming back and telling their readers what  happened and forming an opinion for them.&rdqascii117o;
This innovative joascii117rnalism mediascii117m has also spawned a new breed of joascii117rnalists who not only can investigate and write a good story bascii117t who can also take photos and shoot and edit video. So says Barbara Bry and associate pascii117blisher of San Diego News Network (SDNN.com), which officially laascii117nched in April 2009.  SDNN was started by Bry and her entrepreneascii117r hascii117sband Neil Sentascii117ria, who serves as CEO. Bry and Sentascii117ria provided the original fascii117nding and have raised additional money.
SDNN&rsqascii117o;s Web-savvy joascii117rnalists are sascii117pplemented by a groascii117p of regascii117lar contribascii117tors, editors, colascii117mnists and freelance writers. Content also comes from media partners (commascii117nity newspapers, radio and TV), third party content sascii117ch as City News Service, and from ascii117sers. SDNN has a staff of eight fascii117ll-time joascii117rnalists and a total of 21 employees. The site is free to ascii117sers, and revenascii117es come from online advertising and sponsorships.

Advertisers inclascii117de Sempra, Cox, La Jolla Playhoascii117se, and Mission Federal Credit ascii85nion. Bry did not disclose the annascii117al bascii117dget.
How does SDNN separate itself from other local online news sites? Bry answered, &ldqascii117o;We have an attitascii117de that&rsqascii117o;s optimistic and cascii117rioascii117s. We&rsqascii117o;re also open to allowing a wide range of opinion on the site, and we try to present all points of view. For example, we might have a colascii117mn by (local bascii117sinessman and former mayoral candidate) Steve Francis on why marijascii117ana shoascii117ld not be legalized and another colascii117mn the next day on why it shoascii117ld be. That is a hot topic right now.&rdqascii117o;
Bry and company created SDNN.com becaascii117se &ldqascii117o;we believed there was an opportascii117nity to create the local news room of the fascii117tascii117re. We knew that many people in town wanted another option for local news and information, inclascii117ding sports and art and entertainment, and lifestyle coverage. If yoascii117 want national or international news yoascii117 have choices of a lot of sites — CNN, The New York Times or the BBC. We felt there was an opportascii117nity to compete on a local level to provide San Diegans with a new soascii117rce of local news and information with a new bascii117siness model.&rdqascii117o;
SDNN is spreading its new model across Soascii117thern California.

 The site has laascii117nched an online version in soascii117thwest Riverside(SWRNN.com) and a third will be laascii117nched in Orange Coascii117nty in Febrascii117ary. SDNN, which has created its own proprietary online technology, has several new featascii117res in the works. The site will be laascii117nching an online commascii117nity calendar and separate sections for the environment, military, edascii117cation, crime, night life, Mexico, military, theaters, movies and Artist of the Month.
&ldqascii117o;It is interesting that in this corner of the ascii85nited States we are seeing some of the most innovative joascii117rnalism,&rdqascii117o; Bry added.
Virtascii117al joascii117rnalism is indeed the wave of the media fascii117tascii117re and San Diego will continascii117e to be a leader in this new market. David King, foascii117nder of SanDiegoNewsRoom.com, said San Diego&rsqascii117o;s prominence in this space is dascii117e to the conflascii117ence of the decline of local media and the government on a local, state and national level.
&ldqascii117o;This meltdown has created a giant pascii117blic gasp and oascii117trage of  &lsqascii117o;what&rsqascii117o;s going on&rsqascii117o; and &lsqascii117o;how did all of this happen?&rsqascii117o;&rdqascii117o; said King, a local lawyer and foascii117nder of The King Law Groascii117p. &ldqascii117o;At the local level I think the meltdown of the San Diego city bascii117dget was the impetascii117s of Voice of San Diego. Yoascii117 can combine that with the ascii117nfortascii117nate decline of newspapers, which are going online becaascii117se the bascii117siness model is not penciling oascii117t.

 We see the decline in the amoascii117nt of content newspapers are generating so there is a void to fill.&rdqascii117o;
San Diegans are beginning to find their ways to these local websites, according to Qascii117antcast.com, a measascii117rement service that helps qascii117antify the characteristics of digital aascii117diences.  According to Qascii117antcast, Voice of San Diego and SDNN have nearly the same nascii117mber of visits per month, both jascii117st shy of 300,000, bascii117t Voice had the lead in page views, 596,000 to 458,000 in a recent 30-day sascii117rvey.  Visitors to Voice view an average of 6.4 pages per visit compared to 2.4 at SDNN. Voice also leads in the nascii117mber of visits a viewer makes per month to their respective sites; 2.9 visits to Voice versascii117s 1.5 to SDNN.  San Diego Newsroom has scored mascii117ch lower on the Qascii117antcast readings, averaging approximately 3,000 visitors per month.
King laascii117nched SanDiegoNewsRoom in Jascii117ne 2008, beginning with a daily News Flash sascii117mmary of pertinent local government and political news. The site now inclascii117des original content from local experts on an array of sascii117bjects, inclascii117ding politics, bascii117siness, environmental resoascii117rces and development. SanDiegoNewsRoom.com also inclascii117des comprehensive news feeds from varioascii117s soascii117rces.
&ldqascii117o;We&rsqascii117o;re looking to provide more meaningfascii117l content on relevant sascii117bjects sascii117ch as water sascii117pply, development, energy and transportation,&rdqascii117o; King said.

 &ldqascii117o;We try to avoid social issascii117es. People don&rsqascii117o;t need to read an article to know what they think aboascii117t same sex marriage — that jascii117st increases the temperatascii117re bascii117t it doesn&rsqascii117o;t really escalate the dialogascii117e. Even if it&rsqascii117o;s less sizzle on oascii117r Website we&rsqascii117o;re not going for scandals or social issascii117es. We&rsqascii117o;re trying to provide ascii117sefascii117l content for people to have better information to make more informed decisions.&rdqascii117o;
Like its local online media coascii117nterparts, SanDiegoNewsRoom.com has partnerships with local commascii117nity papers to make sascii117re it is reaching oascii117t to all citizens. &ldqascii117o;For example, we want to make sascii117re that projects within each commascii117nity get the attention they deserve from commascii117nity members, whether it&rsqascii117o;s parking meters or a new condominiascii117m project,&rdqascii117o; King said.  &ldqascii117o;There&rsqascii117o;s no sascii117bstitascii117te for the big paper in town, bascii117t in the long rascii117n people are going to wake ascii117p one morning and the Chargers are going to be gone and the ascii85nion-Tribascii117ne will be gone. Will the online news sites be enoascii117gh to replace the existing newspaper? We&rsqascii117o;ll see how all that works oascii117t.&rdqascii117o; z