With the recent downsizing of The Press Democrat , one can only speculate what is to become of their headquarters located at 416 B Street in Santa Rosa.
American newspapers,” Niday decided to do something about it. In September, Niday announced plans for Press Onward , a nonprofit, community-based digital newsroom with a simultaneously simple and ambitious promise: “To restore robust local news, strengthen civic engagement and safeguard democracy right here at home.” The Press Onward announcement described the state of local journalism in Sonoma County as in crisis—with the Press Democrat gutted by corporate ownership leaving its remaining staff under resourced to effectively cover city councils, school boards or pressing topics like housing and the immigrant community. Press Onward , in its mission statement, vows to “deliver transparent, independent and community-centered journalism that informs, connects and empowers the people of Sonoma County.” Says Niday: “[ Press Onward ] is a response to the money being the incentive, not the journalism.” …… Just as a Press Democrat under Alden Global Capital ownership has its antecedents, Press Onward’s forebears are in such nonprofit digital newsrooms as the East Bay-based Cityside , Lookout Santa Cruz and CalMatters, which covers statewide issues out of Sacramento. Lance Knobel, Tracey Taylor and Frances Dinkelspiel cofounded online news site Berkeleyside in 2009. They launched the nonprofit Cityside Journalism Initiative in 2019 and expanded their coverage area by adding the Oaklandside news site in 2020,
followed by Richmondside in 2024. The expansion of Berkeleyside and conversion to nonprofit status under the Cityside umbrella came at a time of media consolidation in the East Bay, when several MediaNews Group publications—including the dailies Oakland Tribune and Contra Costa Times , along with smaller brands—merged to become the East Bay Times in 2016. “We kind of know the Alden playbook,” Knobel says of MediaNews’s parent company. “The long-term prospects of [the Press Democrat ] remaining a healthy newsroom aren’t great.” He believes the formation of a similar digital newsroom in Sonoma County is sound. “I’m sure there will be an increasing need [for it],” he predicts. Niday’s plan for Press Onward is to start like a “small, scrappy startup”—get the site up and running and grow from there. He envisions launching with a newsroom of six to eight journalists, working out of a central location “where people can come and engage with us.” Press Onward’s financial foundation will be a mix of revenue streams—donations/philanthropy, reader memberships and advertising/sponsorships. Niday is hoping to partner with as many as 20 founding investors for the seed money to get the initiative off the ground. The Phase 1 plan is to hit an initial benchmark of $250,000, at which point Press Onward can enter into an agreement with Newswell, a nonprofit arm of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. Launched in 2024, Newswell is a growing network of nonprofit news outlets which share backend resources like CMS, accounting services, HR, legal advice, and consulting for audience,
January 2026
NorthBaybiz 41
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