OsideNews, a North County community news website founded in 2013 by Oceanside resident Steve Marcotte, has been acquired by Roman Koenig of Mercury Current LLC, publisher of the North Coast Current, an Encinitas-based community news website.
Marcotte, a longtime North County photojournalist, said he started OsideNews after getting frustrated while searching for news about Oceanside on the North County Times newspaper’s website and finding the latest story was three days old. At that time, North County Times was owned by The San Diego Union-Tribune, which later merged the publication with the U-T.
“I thought it was ridiculous that North County news was being ignored, so I decided to do something about it,” Marcotte told Times of San Diego. “I learned WordPress software and OsideNews was born.”
Marcotte said OsideNews currently has a daily email list of about 10,000 subscribers who can view a half-dozen or so news stories, many of them submitted press releases. Roughly 1 million unique visitors checked-out the website in 2020, Marcotte said.
In 1993, Marcotte relocated to San Diego from Colorado, after working as a firefighter for the West Adams County Fire Department, north of Denver. While in his 40s, Marcotte enrolled in photography classes at Palomar College and spent several years as a photo stringer for the North County Times.
“My wife Shelly is retiring soon from UC San Diego and we will move in April to Utah to be closer to family,” said Marcotte, 64. “I’m not a writer. It can take me three hours to write the first paragraph.
“It is bittersweet as I pass the torch to Roman. I want to say thank you to so many people for supporting this little endeavor. Roman has close ties to North County having worked at the North County Times, where we first met. He will do a better job at telling stories than I could. Oside News cannot be in better hands.”
Koenig, who worked as an assistant news editor with the North County Times (1995-2000) and The San Diego Union-Tribune (2000-2005), founded the North Coast Current in 2002 and launched the present online version in 2012.
“I contacted Steve last year after he posted a notice about looking for a buyer for OsideNews,” Koenig told Times of San Diego. “North County doesn’t need the loss of another local community news outlet.
“OsideNews has been a labor of love for nearly a decade, and I deeply appreciate Steve’s faith in me to keep it going. The Current celebrates its 20th anniversary this month. It’s a timely combination.”
In addition to operating the Current, Koenig serves as an adjunct professor and lecturer teaching courses on media writing and digital journalism at San Diego State University, as well as cinema and mass media courses at San Diego City College.
In 2020, Koenig finished writing “Black Market News,” a thriller about an underground journalist who exposes a future United States dominated by a massive conglomerate. The book received a Gold Medal from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association.
He’s also an independent filmmaker. Koenig said he hopes to begin production this summer on a political drama about a white school board president who gets her comeuppance for her intolerance.
Koenig said his planned changes for OsideNews will include a focus on Oceanside and shared content from the Current with limited posts of press releases from San Diego-area businesses and North County community groups. Under Marcotte, OsideNews featured stories originating from credit unions, commercial brokerages, nonprofits and utilities, plus all sides of the political spectrum, including meeting announcements of North County political groups.
91X Re-launches with Alternative Roots Format
Radio station XTRA-FM 91X has announced it has re-launched with a format that taps into the variety of the station’s massive music library, embraces the discovery of music new and old and strives to be anti-corporate and different.
Two weeks ago on Feb. 14, to mark the start of its 40th year on the air, the station began playing songs from its library by title in alphabetical order. It took nine days to complete the promotion billed as “91X, From A to X…Y, Z.”
According to Garett Michaels, 91X program director, “Coming off the incredible success of ’91X, From A to X…Y, Z,’ and the amazing positive reaction from our listeners, we want to present 91X in a way that stays true to our roots and independent ideals.
“When 91X launched in 1983, it was a category of one, which ignored convention and blazed a new trail. With that spirit in mind, we are re-launching 91X in a new presentation that has no current industry definition, so we are calling the format what we are: 91X. 91X is 91X again, unlike any other station anywhere. And isn’t that what local radio should be?”
Michaels said no changes will be made with on-air talent and several weekly shows will remain in their respective time slots. Those shows include “Resurrection Sunday,” “Church of Bob,” “Project X” and “91X Loudspeaker.”
Local Media San Diego operates 91X along with XHTZ-FM Z90.3, XHRM-FM Magic 92.5 and KFBG-FM 100.7 BIG-FM.
Civilian Agency Adds Two New Hires
Civilian Agency recently hired new staff members Padma Nagappan and Joe Camero for communications and public relations roles.
Nagappan, senior public relations manager, previously served as senior science and research communications strategist at San Diego State University and a health and environment reporter for KPBS, The San Diego Union-Tribune, U.S. News & World Report and Everyday Health. She has a master’s degree in marketing and international trade from Madurai Kamaraj University.
Camero, senior public relations manager, has more than 20 years of corporate, agency and nonprofit experience. He previously was an independent public relations consultant and a communications specialist with Cox Communications in Lake Forest.
Civilian, based in San Diego, also operates offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento.
PRSA to Discuss ‘The Future of PR’
The Public Relations Society of America’s San Diego-Imperial Counties chapter will host a webinar on “The Future of PR” from noon to 1 p.m., Friday, March 4, over Zoom.
Panel members will include young professionals who recently began working in public relations, including Mariah Hugo of Katz & Associates and Karissa Duran of Mixte Communications. Also speaking will be Abril Sosa-Pineda, a San Diego State University student.
Cost to attend the webinar is free for members, $10 for nonmembers. For more information, visit www.prsasdic.org.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.
