Times of San Diego marks its 10th anniversary Thursday, and is honored to be recognized by the San Diego City Council with a proclamation saluting the website’s “vital local journalism.”
“The City of San Diego recognizes the outstanding contributions of Times of San Diego and celebrates the tenth year of vital local journalism,” according to the proclamation presented to the council by President Pro Tem Joe LaCava.
The independent news website was unveiled to the public on March 14, 2014. During the decade since, the staff has grown from four to 12. Over 68,000 articles have been published, and the San Diego Press Club has ranked it the “best news site” seven times in the past eight years.
And local readers have responded. In April 2014, the first full month of publication, there were just under 60,000 readers. The latest data from ComScore shows more than ten times that — over 600,000 monthly readers — making Times of San Diego the county’s most-read independent news source.
This growth has been aided by strategic partnerships that put Times of San Diego’s articles on major tech platforms, including Google News Showcase, Apple News, Microsoft Start and NewsBreak. We’re leveraging the internet ecosystem to deliver San Diego news wherever there are local readers.
Times of San Diego has changed dramatically in a decade, with coverage expanding to include key regional and state news. But the website’s goal remains the same — timely, accurate and comprehensive coverage of news that affects residents of San Diego County.
Our team of contributing editors, photographers and writers publish an average of 20 articles daily covering all aspects of this community. Major topics include politics, crime, business, sports, education, arts, military, science, health, life and opinion.
“Congratulations on getting to the 10th anniversary. I enjoy reading the stories on your website,” said Councilman Raul Campillo before voting on the proclamation. “They’re very informative. And you often gets stories up a lot faster than other news outlets.”
Times of San Diego continues to operate under a business model designed to ensure that high-quality news coverage is available to all. The site is entirely free to the public, supported by local and national advertising as well as contributions from our readers.
Also free is a daily email newsletter sent at 8 a.m. with the top news over the past 24 hours.
Thriving for a decade in the rapidly changing media business means we’re doing something right. In a study for the Google News Initiative, Times of San Diego was recognized by the Financial Times Strategies consulting group as an “archetype of sustainability” for local news in the digital age. The consulting group examined over 450 publishers around the world and narrowed them to 11 examples of business models that can sustain a “core mission of providing original journalism to the communities they serve.”
Times of San Diego has broken major stories and received numerous professional awards over the past decade. But what is most gratifying to the team is the loyalty and support of our audience.
If you like what we do and want to help support our work, consider a small monthly contribution — the cost of a latte — via PayPal or PressPatron.
Thanks to you, our readers, for trusting Times of San Diego and helping it grow.
