Today is the 5th anniversary of The Raincross Gazette, and I've never been more optimistic about the future of this newsroom or our beloved city of Riverside.
I vividly remember when a former City Manager became a paid subscriber in early January 2021—it signaled both how valuable this work could be and how much responsibility I had to get it right. Eight months later, he asked to cancel his autopay and stop receiving our newsletter entirely. In all honesty, that was a pretty crushing blow.
Maybe two years later, when I met him again, he said, "I've got to hand it to you—you've got staying power." It meant the world to me. However much I'm lacking in journalistic expertise, I've got far more commitment to the kind of local news coverage Riverside deserves and once knew.
So, in the spirit of "staying power," I want to mark today by sharing what yours has unlocked. Your loyalty as subscribers, your commitment as advertising partners, and your dedication as contributors—all of it has made possible something I've been working toward for years.
After months of planning and preparation, I closed a deal a few days before Christmas that brought substantial new investment into our newsroom. This investment strengthens our capacity while preserving complete editorial independence—I remain responsible for all editorial decisions, and our commitment to serving Riverside remains unchanged.
Here's what this makes possible for Riverside:
- Dedicated City Hall coverage returns. By the end of this week, I will begin hiring a full-time civic reporter to bring dedicated focus to Riverside's local government. I'm aiming to have them on staff and covering Riverside in the next 2-3 months!
- More voices, more neighborhoods, more stories. We now have a small, but dedicated budget to pay for independent writers to help strengthen and expand our coverage.
- A stronger editorial foundation. To manage what I hope will be lots of incredible new content, Amy's Content Manager role is now a full-time position.
- Sustainable operations. The Gazette is now able to pay me a real salary which will enable me to step away from most of the additional "side hustle" work I've been doing to make ends meet these last several years—which means I can focus full-time on building the newsroom Riverside deserves.
As excited as I am about what's ahead, in this moment, I am so grateful for the people who helped the Gazette get this far.
- Thank you to those early subscribers who began contributing $5 a month in our first months of publication and who have stayed loyal supporters ever since. When I'm feeling at my lowest in this work, going to our membership database and looking at the names and longevity of people who have been faithfully supporting this work never fails to lift my spirits.
- Thank you to the people who always speak well of the Gazette and me, especially when I make mistakes, who see this work through the lens of possibility, and who encourage their friends and neighbors to subscribe.
- Thank you to the Pick Group of Young Professionals for connecting me to this city's civic infrastructure, and to Dr. Cheryl Marie Hansberger and Sue Mitchell for encouraging me to launch the Gazette.
- Thank you to my former business partners—Dex Alexander, Bethany Cordes, and Merea De Paz—who believed enough in this idea to invest $10,000 from our company to get the Gazette off the ground.
- Thank you to our early financial supporters who believed in what this could become—Andrew and Chelsea Woodard, our first presenting sponsors; Chani Beeman; and Brent and Ana Lee—each contributing thousands of dollars in those earliest months when we were still finding our voice.
- Thank you to California Baptist University and Altura Credit Union for being our first institutional advertising partners. This work would not exist without those organizations choosing to direct some of their marketing budget my way.
- Thank you to our contributing writers and photographers who bring depth and perspective to our coverage: Larry Burns, Glenn Wenzel, Ken Crawford, Norm Ellstrand, Mike Gardner, Aidan McGloin, Anthony Solarzano, Seth Zurer, Brenda Flowers, and Dr. Bob Sirotnik.
- Thank you to Amy López, whose work as our Content Manager has not just improved the quality of our work but elevated it significantly. You embody the spirit and values of this newsroom, you say yes every time I ask you to try taking on something new, and I am beyond grateful for you.
- And thank you to Lindy, who believes in me and this city enough to let us drag our family through the most financially challenging years of our life, because you know this work matters and because you believe in me. Thank you.
As we kick off our 6th year, this investment gives us runway to reach sustainability—but only if we grow together. To sustain this beyond 2026, we need to double our total subscribers, nearly triple our advertising income, and grow our membership by nearly half.
With this expanded team, I can focus my time and energy on those targets—not on reporting myself, but on building the newsroom that can employ the trained reporters Riverside deserves.
I love you with every fiber of my being and spirit. I'm not committed to another 5 years, but to another 50.
We're just getting started.
