Daily Voice: Progress Report IV

Hey, folks.

Thought it was time to give you an update on the progress of the Daily Voice.

We are winding up the final stages of our three-month soft launch, during which we've been able to introduce a series of features, break news and aggregrate Newport-Mesa news and features from around Orange County and across the country.

Sept. 8 is our official launch date. Between now and then, we'll be adding even more features, including sections on real estate, going green, dining, faith, sports, schools, arts and enterainment, nightlife, and more. We also will be running ads on our site beginning the day of our hard launch. If you need to do local marketing and want to reach a very loyal and affluent audience, we've got some very attractive introductory rates. Shoot us an e-mail to learn more.

For you techies out there, we started this website on the fly using Squarespace. It functions well, but it's not really made to handle a daily news operation. We're in the process of switching to a better platform provided by the folks at TownNews. This will take a couple of months, so please don't mind our dust.

We are in need of self-starting, motivated interns who want to jump in, work hard, have fun and learn. We have the following internships available:

• Reporters: These journalists will cover news and features in Newport-Mesa, including government meetings, crime stories and beach features. If comfortable, reporters will appear in Daily Voice videos.
• Videographers and photographers: These journalists will shoot news and features in Newport-Mesa -- everything from a CEO interview to the latest swell at The Wedge.
• Social network marketers: These PR and marketing folks will help increase the Daily Voice's profile within social media and also help place stories in traditional media.

To apply, please send a short (but impressive!) introductory e-mail with an attached resume to lana@newportmesadailyvoice.com.

That's it for now. If you're enjoying this fresh, independent source of Newport-Mesa news, please spread the word. We appreciate your support.

Tom Johnson, Bill Lobdell

Co-publishers

Gone Golfin'

Hey, readers. The Daily Voice is a sponsor of today's Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce's annual golf tournament. This means our small but mighty editorial army is out of commission for the day. Thanks for reading, and we'll be back at daybreak tomorrow, if not before.

Daily Voice Progress Report II

On the one-month anniversary of our launch, we thought you might like an update on the progress of the Daily Voice.

Thanks to you, we're thriving.

Our readership continues to grow each day (on our peak day, we had 1,556 unique visitors and 2,524 page views), we are adding features almost daily (in total, we plan to roll out 38 features, in addition to breaking news), our mighty three-person operation has delivered a number of nice scoops, we've developed a low-cost ad program that we will roll out next week (we've already signed up seven advertisers), and we've done all this without harming a single tree.

We still could use your help in several areas. Here's how.

1. We could use some citizen journalists interested in helping us report on our community.
2. We need interns who want to work hard, learn a lot, and produce good journalism in a fun atmosphere.
3. We will unveil our community calendar next week, so if you have an event, please hit the link at the top of this page and submit the information. (One caveat. The Daily Pilot's calendar features events throughout California -- this weekend, the featured event is the Mammoth Lakes Music Festival. The Daily Voice will promote only events that take place in Newport Beach or Costa Mesa.)
4. We are always thankful for any story tip you could provide.
5. We would love it if you could make this your home page and spread the word about the Daily Voice.

Have a great weekend.

Tom Johnson and Bill Lobdell

A local news operation is born

Ten months ago I walked out the doors of the Daily Pilot. For me it was a sad day. I guess I had always kind of figured that someday they’d just find me slumped over in the chair in my office and that would be it. Not a bad way to go.

In the following weeks and months, I took up residence in a small office 50 feet from the back door of the Goat Hill Tavern. You’ll recognize some of the names of my new office mates: Bill Lobdell, author and former editor for the Daily Pilot; Lana Johnson, the former promotions director for the Daily Pilot; Ron Katzman and Janet Vinograd, two of the best sales reps. ever at the Daily Pilot.

While some of them toiled in a successful web business called Greer’s OC, the bigger question for me and others was “What’s next? Where’s the income stream?”

Some people called from the community and suggested a return to the Pilot. Others pleaded with us to start a new, even better newspaper.

We looked and considered pretty much everything.

As our search turned to investors and capital, acquiring the Daily Pilot became a common theme. We explored bankruptcy court, where the Pilot resides and even got the attention of the Tribune’s investment banker in New York. But, in the end, everywhere we looked, no matter what the size of the rock, money was hard to find. This wasn’t the best time to raise money for a news operation.

For about 24 hours, we were depressed. But then we had an idea.

Which brings us to today.

Welcome to our new endeavor, the Newport-Mesa Daily Voice.

No large backers. No deep pockets. Just a group of us committed to providing Newport-Mesa with more local news, commentary and information, at a time when many news organizations are folding up shop.

We’ll start with some baby steps, but will grow up soon enough with the help of additional contributors and reader input. Stay tuned and you’ll see: the latest news posted whenever it happens; a fun and unique way to cover prep sports (we’ll tell you the secret this fall); community commentary from a diverse group of locals; and video for better editorial coverage and better results for advertisers.

We’ll also aggregate content from other local favorite sites so you can find everything about Newport-Mesa at one website.

As always, Newport-Mesa deserves a watchdog, a community forum where issues can be debated, a place where whatever is happening in the community can reside, and a community cheerleader when a cause needs championing.

It’s going to be blast. Here are a couple of things you can do for us: first, tell 10 friends about what we’re up to and then, have each of them tell 10 friends and so on. Also, when you have a good story idea, please tell us ASAP. If you want to be a contributor, please shoot us an e-mail. And please submit to us your organization’s events so we can publicize them.

We hope you’ll find that we’ll feel like an old, comfortable pair of shoes.

--Tom Johnson