By pretty much all accounts, Santa Monica Next had a good year. Santa Monica’s youngest and scrappiest news organization actually grew our readership well past the online readership of the Santa Moncia Star and even slipped ahead of the Lookout. We did this with a part-time editor and a volunteer staff who not only wrote articles but also kept their ears to the ground so we could break and analyze news more nimbly than larger publications.
Later today, we’ll kick off our annual End of the Year fundraising drive and we’ll talk about all of our plans to expand and how your donations can help us do that. But as a small non-profit publication, there are plenty of ways to help us out, both big and small, as we expand our coverage and our audience. Of course, if you’re so moved to make a donation, you can do it here.
The easiest way is to follow us on social media and like, respond, or share our stories. You can find Santa Monica Next at Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter/X. Our work is also a big part of the conversation at the Santa Monica Subreddit.
Another easy way is to drop us a line with tips, corrections, questions or anything else. You can respond in social media, in our neglected comments section, or email damien@santamonicanext.org.
If you’re a writer or publisher and want us to add you to our “wire service” of websites that we monitor to possibly republish their writings (with permission and a link back to the original article). Currently, we republish articles from our sister websites (the Streetsblogs and LongBeachize), Frank Gruber’s Healthy City Local, the Santa Monica Conservancy and a handful of other websites. If you’re interested in widening your audience and adding to our coverage, just drop me a line at damien@santamonicanext.org.
We have a second stream of incoming stories in our “community news” section, which is where we republish newsletter articles or media releases (if they are broadly newsworthy and factually accurate). This year we’ve published news provided by the City of Santa Monica, Santa Monica College, SMMUSD, Santa Monica Democratic Club, SMPD, Santa Monica History Museum, County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, Santa Monica Police Athletic League, the Pier Corp, and many more. If you have a list you blast news out to and we’re not on it, please add me! damien@santamonicanext.org.
Last, of course we do publish guest pieces, both news and opinion pieces from time to time. After a few articles, you might get added to our bullpen of writers who we ask for help when I am out of town or on assignment for one of our other websites. If you’re interested in hearing more about this, you can of course email me at….damien@santamonicanext.org.
