When you run a local news site, you never know what each day will bring.
One day, I am incurring the wrath of the Menifee 24/7 haters by reporting facts about Mayor Ricky Estrada and the City of Menifee’s appeals policy. The next day, I’m dragging my tired old butt out to one of the few fires in Menifee history that threatened multiple homes, filing live reports on Facebook in a cloud of smoke.
It isn’t an easy way to make a living – especially when you don’t charge readers a subscription fee and you survive off advertising. Good thing I’m retired (yeah, right).
Anyway, it seemed the right time to give our audience a refresher on my motivation to operate Menifee 24/7 and how it works. Thanks to Facebook comments, everyone in town seems to know the answer. Many of them are wrong, but that’s OK. I’ve learned over 48 years as a journalist that if you’re not making at least some of your audience angry, you aren’t doing your job.
In other words, not everyone wants to hear the truth.
So now that I’ve angered a few more people, let me explain our mission. Simply put, it is to provide coverage of all newsworthy events in Menifee, including city government, traffic, club news, crime, local sports, and local businesses. Beyond that, it is to uphold the standards of journalism, which are taking a beating in today’s world of slanted media coverage on a national scale.
I’m old school. Some people say I’m biased. My take is that I’m reporting facts they don’t want to hear. One of the primary jobs of a true journalist is to hold public officials accountable. No one else in the professional media is doing that in Menifee; I know, because I used to work for local newspaper companies that have laid off large portions of their work force.
The way I look at it, neither the folks at the City of Menifee nor any other public entities in town should believe they have the freedom to do anything they want without scrutiny. But by the same token, they deserve to have someone who publishes facts that destroy myths about them being spread on social media.
This brings me to my next point: An upcoming series of articles I hope will help you understand a little better about land use in Menifee. That seems to be a hot topic these days. Not that I’m an expert on the subject, but I deal with a lot of people who know more than you or me, and I have spent many hours in interviews and research on the subject.
The series will be in three parts:
— On Sunday, we’ll look at the history of land development in Menifee, including the initial community meetings regarding land use, official committee meetings with Riverside County officials, and early sales from farmers to land developers that jump-started the expansion.
— On Monday, we’ll look at the process of residential and commercial development in Menifee, including Planning Department procedures, county regulations, and state-mandated policies.
— On Tuesday, we’ll look at the subject of “warehouses”. This will include the difference between warehouses, business parks and logistics facilities; a look at the current market for industrial buildings in Riverside County; and specifics of projects currently in the planning stages. City officials and real estate developers will be quoted, and I hope residents’ concerns will be addressed.
These news articles will be lengthy, but they are intended to take a close look at topics of the most interest to residents. Studies indicate that “nobody reads anymore.” We hope that in this case, you will take the time to read all of the information, then ask questions if necessary.
Again, our commitment to you is to provide complete and factual information. We are just one of thousands of local news organizations across the country trying to do the same in the face of a diminishing media market. For an interesting look at this industry, you are invited to watch this video from Broadstreet Publishing, “Born to Run the Local News”.
As always, thank you for your support.
A Doug’s Life: One man’s take on local news, with a Menifee twist
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Del Oro Townhomes project approved by Planning Commission
When you run a local news site, you never know what each day will bring.
One day, I am incurring the wrath of the Menifee 24/7 haters by reporting facts about Mayor Ricky Estrada and the City of Menifee’s appeals policy. The next day, I’m dragging my tired old butt out to one of the few fires in Menifee history that threatened multiple homes, filing live reports on Facebook in a cloud of smoke.
It isn’t an easy way to make a living – especially when you don’t charge readers a subscription fee and you survive off advertising. Good thing I’m retired (yeah, right).
Anyway, it seemed the right time to give our audience a refresher on my motivation to operate Menifee 24/7 and how it works. Thanks to Facebook comments, everyone in town seems to know the answer. Many of them are wrong, but that’s OK. I’ve learned over 48 years as a journalist that if you’re not making at least some of your audience angry, you aren’t doing your job.
In other words, not everyone wants to hear the truth.
So now that I’ve angered a few more people, let me explain our mission. Simply put, it is to provide coverage of all newsworthy events in Menifee, including city government, traffic, club news, crime, local sports, and local businesses. Beyond that, it is to uphold the standards of journalism, which are taking a beating in today’s world of slanted media coverage on a national scale.
I’m old school. Some people say I’m biased. My take is that I’m reporting facts they don’t want to hear. One of the primary jobs of a true journalist is to hold public officials accountable. No one else in the professional media is doing that in Menifee; I know, because I used to work for local newspaper companies that have laid off large portions of their work force.
The way I look at it, neither the folks at the City of Menifee nor any other public entities in town should believe they have the freedom to do anything they want without scrutiny. But by the same token, they deserve to have someone who publishes facts that destroy myths about them being spread on social media.
This brings me to my next point: An upcoming series of articles I hope will help you understand a little better about land use in Menifee. That seems to be a hot topic these days. Not that I’m an expert on the subject, but I deal with a lot of people who know more than you or me, and I have spent many hours in interviews and research on the subject.
The series will be in three parts:
— On Sunday, we’ll look at the history of land development in Menifee, including the initial community meetings regarding land use, official committee meetings with Riverside County officials, and early sales from farmers to land developers that jump-started the expansion.
— On Monday, we’ll look at the process of residential and commercial development in Menifee, including Planning Department procedures, county regulations, and state-mandated policies.
— On Tuesday, we’ll look at the subject of “warehouses”. This will include the difference between warehouses, business parks and logistics facilities; a look at the current market for industrial buildings in Riverside County; and specifics of projects currently in the planning stages. City officials and real estate developers will be quoted, and I hope residents’ concerns will be addressed.
These news articles will be lengthy, but they are intended to take a close look at topics of the most interest to residents. Studies indicate that “nobody reads anymore.” We hope that in this case, you will take the time to read all of the information, then ask questions if necessary.
Again, our commitment to you is to provide complete and factual information. We are just one of thousands of local news organizations across the country trying to do the same in the face of a diminishing media market. For an interesting look at this industry, you are invited to watch this video from Broadstreet Publishing, “Born to Run the Local News”.
As always, thank you for your support.
Doug Spoon