For the best perspective on an upcoming “renovation” of the San Diego Sun, my award-winning hyperlocal news site that covers downtown San Diego, consider the words of American journalist Sydney J. Harris:
“Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.”
In December, the visual presentation of the website and the newsletter thousands of readers receive as emails will look different. Better, actually, and more expansive.
The content and mission will not change. The San Diego Sun will continue to be downtown San Diego’s lively source for issues and insights that matter to locals, written by a veteran journalist and longtime city resident.
Behind the scenes, the funding mechanism for The Sun is…resetting.
This site was one of 120 chosen to be part of the Facebook/Meta’s inaugural Bulletin platform for independent journalists. It was a good run. Backend support by the Bulletin team was exceptional.
Through this partnership, professional relationships were forged with experts in the field of online journalism and newsletter strategy. In particular, media consultant Dan Oshinsky, who runs Inbox Collective, has become a respected advisor.
Oshinsky recommended that several Bulletin editors consider the benefits of Indiegraf. And that’s the team the San Diego Sun has joined.
More on that to come in a future post.
For now, this isn’t a farewell. It’s “see you on the other side.”
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Within weeks, you’ll see a new look to The Sun emails. And there will be a sleekly organized, intuitive-use, searchable website in place.
One bit of business to be settled is good news for monthly or annual paid subscribers to the newsletter. Everyone who’s paid for a month or a year will get their money back.
Please don’t cancel your subscription–only active subscriptions will be refunded. The “how-to” note on that good news is to follow.
There will be no paywall on the new website. The new site will offer sponsorship and advertising opportunities.
And I respectfully hope supporters will respond to appropriate calls for financial contributions while The Sun strives to keep independent journalism alive.
In it’s first year of operation, The Sun won 10 writing awards from the local chapters of The Press Club and the Society of Professional Journalists.
New restaurant openings and cool annual events are covered with equal passion and professionalism as stories about homelessness and other serious issues that affect downtown San Diego quality of life.
So, a bit of a different look is coming to the site.
Plenty of wise people agree: There’s nothing permanent except change.
Henry Ford once opined that if he asked his customers what they wanted, they’d have said, “Don’t change.”
A little later in the American business timeline, Jack Welch advised: “Change before you have to.”
In my case, nobody really asked for change and I wasn’t looking to make one. However, like the baby bird pushed from the nest, it’s time to fly.
I’ve seen the Indiegraf mockups and am impressed. I hope you will be, too.
In the meantime, all you have to do is keep reading.
