Voice of San Diego

"voiceofsandiego.org" is a nonprofit, independent online newspaper focused on issues impacting the San Diego region.

The newspaper's mission is to consistently deliver ground-breaking investigative journalism for the San Diego region, to increase civic participation by giving citizens the knowledge and in-depth analysis necessary to become informed advocates for good government and social progress.Infobox Newspaper
name = voiceofsandiego.org
caption =
type = daily news website, Monday through Saturday
format = online
foundation = 2005
owners = nonprofit
headquarters = San Diego, California USA
editor = Andrew Donohue and Scott Lewis (executive editors)
staff writers = Emily Alpert, Darryn Bennett, Kelly Bennett, Will Carless, Rob Davis, and David Washburn
photo editor = Sam Hodgson
political = nonpartisan
website = [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org voiceofsandiego.org]

History

[http://www.voiceofsandiego.org "voiceofsandiego.org"] is considered a pioneer in the burgeoning movement of nonprofit online dailies. Since its founding Feb. 9, 2005 by philanthropist Buzz Woolley and veteran newspaperman Neil Morgan, it has earned a reputation for aggressive investigative reporting, insightful commentary and its new media model. The Christian Science Monitor called it "a ray of hope for a troubled industry."

It was founded in part out of a growing dissatisfaction with the local coverage of The San Diego Union-Tribune, the region's major metropolitan daily newspaper. The paper had a reputation for less-than-stellar local coverage and was perceived to be more of an advocate for the city's rich and powerful than as a watchdog and public servant.

"voiceofsandiego.org" focuses largely on local quality-of-life issues. It began primarily as a reporting source on local government and politics, and has slowly grown to include coverage of education, housing, environment, public safety, and science and technology. In addition to its in-depth news stories, produced by professional journalists, it also publishes house editorials, fact-based columns from Scott Lewis ( [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/opinion/slop/ Scott Lewis on Politics] , or SLOP) and others, and contributions from community members.

The online daily's news coverage focuses on in-depth, analytical and contextual stories, with an eye toward bright writing and investigative and enterprise stories.

The site updates regularly throughout the day with breaking news and analysis via its news and commentary blogs, including [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/survival/ Survival in San Diego] , a news blog focused on local housing, job and economic concerns; [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/this_just_in This Just In] , a running news blog kept by beat reporters; the [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/opinion/slop/ SLOP blog] , a commentary blog on local politics; [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/toscano/ Nerd's Eye View] , a blog analyzing the local economy; and [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/cafesandiego/ Cafe San Diego] , a blog hosted daily by different community members.

It began in 2005 with a staff of four. It now has a paid staff of 11, including two editors, six beat reporters, a photographer, a website manager and a development manager. It relies on a funding mix of foundation grants, member donations and advertising.

Recognition

With the state of newspapers in flux and their business models failing, "voiceofsandiego.org" has been [http://www.governing.com/articles/12papers.htm looked] to as one of many [http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Newspapers_24/The_emerging_online-only_local_paper.asp emerging models] to help journalism adapt to new technologies, reader behavior and advertising priorities. It has been used as a model for the MinnPost in Minneapolis and the [http://www.stlbeacon.org/ St. Louis Beacon] , as well as similar endeavors being undertaken around the country.

Its staff has also garnered many awards for its journalism. Staff writer [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/author_lookup/?byline=will_carless Will Carless] ' three-part [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/voice_special_reports/the_forbidden_city special report] on life in a makeshift migrant camp took home the Best of Show award at the 2006 San Diego Press Club awards and the 2007 San Diego Society of Professional Journalists awards, beating out competition from the region's largest print organizations. To compose the piece, Carless spent a week living inside a migrant camp nestled into the hills around the region's million-dollar homes, providing readers with a vivid account of the lives of the men caught up in the national immigration debate.

Nationally, the Society of Professional Journalists awarded "voiceofsandiego.org"'s [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/author_lookup/?byline=andrew_donohue Andrew Donohue] its Sigma Delta Chi award for online investigative reporting in 2007 for an [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2006/10/02/news/01affordable.txt investigation] into a local affordable housing agency.

Other "voiceofsandiego.org" special reports have included pieces on the [http://voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/03/31/news/01whales033108.txt thinning gray whale] ; the police chief's [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/voice_special_reports/police_chief/lansdowne.txt false public statements] regarding crime statistics; questionable [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/voice_special_reports/valencia/valencia111307.txt redevelopment deals] ; [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/voice_special_reports/no_ex-councilman_left_behind major] [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/voice_special_reports/v_and_e pension] [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/voice_special_reports/county_pension problems] ; the [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/01/28/government/599water012408.txt personal water use] of a supposedly environmentalist politician; and probing profiles into [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/voice_special_reports/feldman/feldman.txt important] local [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/voice_special_reports/acle/acle.txt figures] .

In 2008, it was [http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0212/p03s01-usgn.htm profiled] by the Christian Science Monitor, which wrote:

"The police chief's rosy crime statistics were a lie, it turned out. The councilman who urged water conservation was discovered to use 80,000 gallons a month at his home, more than five of his colleagues put together. And the school board president, according to an investigation, spent a full third of his time out of town and out of touch.

"The Voice of San Diego, a nonprofit online media outlet, doesn't have enough journalists to field a softball team. Yet it has managed to take on the powerful with the panache of a scrappy big-city paper."

"It provides "the best coverage of city politics that we've had in years," raves Dean Nelson, a journalism professor at San Diego's Point Loma Nazarene University."

"The success of the tightly focused Voice, which relies on donors, offers a ray of hope for a troubled industry. Plagued by shrinking circulations and advertising, newspapers are shedding staff and downsizing their offerings. Even the pages have gotten smaller."

In July 2008, [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/07/11/government/509sedcbonuses070708.txt an investigation] by "voiceofsandiego.org" revealed a system of clandestine bonuses awarded to top officials of a city of San Diego redevelopment department, the Southeastern Economic Development Corp. The story, part of [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/voice_special_reports/sedc a series of investigations into SEDC] , found the agency's top two officials had awarded themselves an estimated $250,000 in pay above their salaries over the course of four years, payments that were unknown to SEDC's board and the San Diego City Council. Mayor Jerry Sanders has since [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/07/15/news/02sedcboard071508.txt shut off funding] to the agency, its president was [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/07/24/news/01smith072408.txt ousted] , and an investigation is ongoing.

External links

* [http://www.voiceofsandiego.org Official site of voiceofsandiego.org]
* [http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0212/p03s01-usgn.htm] "Nonprofit journalism on the rise," Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 12, 2008]
* [http://www.governing.com/articles/12papers.htm "Black Out: Big City Newspapers Aren't Telling Their Readers the Things They Need to Know," Governing magazine, Dec. 2006]
* [http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Newspapers_24/The_emerging_online-only_local_paper.asp "The Emerging, Online Only Local Paper," Media Life Magazine, Sept. 2007]
* [http://www.minnpost.com Official site of Minnpost.com]