ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

Bradigan opens the article with something of an absolute: you're first or you're not.

An old adage in the news business holds that “If you can’t be first, be best.” We take that to heart, especially at non-daily papers like the Ojai Valley News, because we often get scooped on breaking news - the car crashes, the fires, the storms, the scandals and arrests - by nearby daily papers or local television broadcasts, as a penalty for our less-frequent printing schedules.

So we dig deeper, find new information that provides context and meaning, ask more questions, demand more answers, find new and different approaches to the story. And in the fullness of our effort, we own the story.

That may not apply anymore. Being first is being best.

But I would argue that attracting an audience and competing as a media outlet is far more complex than that. Let's use the Day Fire as an example. The Ojai Post owned the story top to bottom. We were not the first to report the fire at inception, but from the town hall meeting forward, we had the most depth, the most comprehensive resources, the most updates, and provided up-to-the-minute information that was invaluable for residents, reporters, and the families of the firefighters in the mountains.

With the Day Fire, there was no single 'breaking news' point - it was five straight days of breaking news. And the reason we were able to own the story was because of our core competency: understanding the medium and how best to maximize it. We not only posted all the legitimate information we could find, we also provided links to everyone from the USFS, the Police, the Fire Dept to the OVN, but also other local bloggers covering the story from their own perspective.

Before the Day Fire, The Ojai Post was interesting - we had some fun stories and we were building a small virtual community overlaid on top of a vital, organic, real-world community we know as Ojai. But from the town hall meeting on, The Ojai Post became essential, and our traffic reflected it (and still does). Just a few of the dozens of emails I received from residents during the Day Fire:

Thanks for your awesome work. You truly filled a gaping hole in local communications.

...

Thank you for being such a blessing to all of us. For me personally, the information that I have gotten from you and your website has lowered my anxiety level by 50% at least, but it's not to say that it's not high anyway. It has been so strange to realize how difficult it is to get information in this community. I stopped by the Forestry office and they were laughing at me for asking for information from them - not to my face, but definitely had a mocking attitude like they were tired of all the people asking them for info. I think I would have been frantic without the support the constant updates on your website provided.

...

One of the main reasons I wanted to get to know more people in Ojai, was to create a support system in case of big and small emergencies. And you're doing it. Please let me know how I can support the Post, I'm already telling people about it.

...

My sincere thanks for all of the work that you are doing at ojaipost.com, to keep area residents updated about the Day Fire activity. What a relief to have legitimate continuous updates (other local/regional media has utterly failed the community, in my opinion) intertwined with your alert and measured commentary.

...

I'm glad you're keeping the planet up to date on the fire. We live as far away from it as you can be, and yet still live in Ojai (we're near Lake Casitas). Still, there were rumors about it coming down 33, and so on, so it's been good to get solid information. We've been directing relatives to your blog so they know what's happening. Heck, my wife and I check you every couple of hours just to see what's up ourselves - it's interesting to see how the dissemination of information is coordinated among multiple other websites.

This isn't so much to toot our own horn (although that is admittedly fun), but to demonstrate that there is a gaping hole in coverage for stories such as the Day Fire, or the floods or bird flu for that matter. And I think that Bradigan recognizes this and sees their coverage headed in this direction. He writes:

We must train our readers to expect that instant information gratification - if something is going on, you can either go online to read about it, or go on-line to report it so that we can find out what’s going on. The news is no longer stone tablets handed down from on high, it is a collaborative process.

One of Bradigan's hurdles is the paper's demographics. If he has to "train" readers to do anything, then I wouldn't put my money on that horse. Now if he can reach an audience that already finds personal grass-roots media natural and instinctive, then it is much easier to make the leap. The Ojai Post has that audience, which in a community that skews older than most, is difficult to find, keep and nurture.

So I heartily welcome the Ojai Valley News' explorations online, particularly if they can bring the paper's print readers with them. And as a subscriber to OVN's print and online versions, I wish them continued success with a paper well-written.