Editor and Publisher Reports

It was just a few years ago that a group of local citizens bought the Half Moon Bay (Calif.) Review from Wick Communications, a sale that included the 122-year-old newspaper, a pair of magazines and the building they occupied. And just a few months ago, those same local entrepreneurs decided to expand their small, local media empire and purchase the Pacifica (Calif.) Tribune, which has served their neighboring county for almost 90 years. Today, these two combined publications make up the new Coastside News Group, a locally owned, for- profit media company that continues to serve these two California communities. In this segment of E&P Reports, Editor and Publisher's Mike Blinder interviews Coastside News Groups publisher Debra Hershon and editorial director Clay Lambert on how they were able to find investors to invest in local journalism and what it takes to build and maintain a local media company that is owned by local investors.