Dear reader,
Two years ago today, The Riverside Record published its first story.
Since then, The Record has published almost 400 stories, including last week’s 12-story package on local school bonds, and sent more than 100 weekly newsletters to readers across the region (sign up here if you haven’t yet!). In that time, I have also spent more than 200 hours in coffee shops and cafés across the county talking to readers like you as part of my regular “office hours” events.
Earlier this year, The Record also began publishing its stories on Apple News and secured a $20,000 grant for participating in the Google News Initiative Fundamentals Lab program, offered by the Institute for Nonprofit News. We’ve got some more exciting news on the business front coming out in the next month, so keep an eye out for it!
Behind the scenes, I’ve been advocating on behalf of the greater local news ecosystem — calling on legislators to support local news and hold Big Tech accountable — and talking with student journalists at Riverside City College, UC Riverside and Chaffey College about the importance of local news and the role they have in their communities.
Over the next month, The Record will continue to dive into the local ballot measures Riverside County residents will see this November and build on our work from earlier this year to help demystify the voting process.
We will also start publishing work assigned to freelance journalists. If you’re interested in doing freelance work for The Record, send me an email at Alicia.Ramirez@RiversideRecord.org with your resume, clips and what kind of coverage you want to do.
The past two years have been the most fulfilling of my life, and I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for The Record. But before I sign off, I want to thank each and every one of you, our dear readers. None of this would have been possible without your continued support.
Sincerely,
Alicia Ramirez
Publisher, The Riverside Record
Founder and CEO, Inland Empire Publications
The Riverside Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet providing Riverside County with high-quality journalism free of charge. We’re able to do this because of the generous donations of supporters like you!
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