San Diego, CA – May 22, 2012 Voice of San Diego, a pioneering nonprofit news organization focusing on local investigative reporting in San Diego, is going beyond its online site to publish a print and digital monthly magazine.
Voice of San Diego Monthly is part of the site’s new membership program, which aims to build a community of readers to help support the organization into the future. Members receive the publication for free, along with other benefits. The magazine is also available on demand at MagCloud.com.
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For years, Voice of San Diego (VOSD) has relied on thousands of donors, sponsors, foundations and partners to support its mission. The membership program – developed with a $186,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation – will assist VOSD in building a robust and well-organized community of supporters out of its thousands of existing donors.
“We are not just interested in new local news models, we’re interested in sustainable local news models,” said John Bracken, director of journalism and media innovation at Knight Foundation.
“Voice of San Diego is a pioneer online, and now we’re very interested to see them using the power of print to strengthen the community that sustains them.”
As it has in the past, Knight Foundation’s investment will allow VOSD to utilize new platforms with the launch of the magazine published through MagCloud, a new product by Hewlett-Packard.
“The on-demand magazine allows us to repackage stories and offer it for those who appreciate a print magazine or a digital version for their iPad, yet we’re spared the costs of a traditional publishing system.”
As a nonprofit, VOSD relies on contributions from individual members, major donors, corporate/community partners and foundations to maintain operations. With this support from Knight Foundation, the news organization is crafting a diverse revenue strategy that places greater emphasis on building a community of individual members who see the value in its awarding winning investigative reporting. The Raise Your Voice membership program features exclusive benefits including a new series of members-only communications and experiences, like “Brews & News” happy hours, a new live conversation series and member bus tours of the locations at the heart of VOSD’s top stories. Similar program will be unveiled this summer for community partners, corporate sponsors and major donors.
“We’ve been recognized for years for our investigative reporting and analysis. Recently, though, we analyzed our own service and determined we needed to be clear that the operation’s success depended on the involvement of a vast community of members and sponsors. This grant from Knight Foundation is helping us establish that community,” said Lewis.
In addition, VOSD will soon launch a new website designed to enhance the user experience and better showcase the importance of membership.
For more information, on innovations underway at Voice of San Diego, please contact Mary Walter-Brown at 619-208-7510.
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About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.
Voice of San Diego, 2508 Historic Decatur Rd. Ste. 120, San Diego, CA 91206, 619-325-0525
Contact:
Mary Walter-Brown, Cell: 619-208-7510, [email protected]
Andrew Sherry, 305-908-2677, [email protected]