By NYU Staff

At the conference of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) in Baltimore earlier this year, cynics and journalists alike queued up to speak with Andrew Donahue, the 30 year old editor of voicesofsandiego.org. They were there to hear a rare tale these days: how a local news site cast in a nonprofit model has managed to stick around.

Philanthropist Buzz Woolley and veteran newspaperman Neil Morgan, conceived the idea of Voices of San Diego in February 2005,  for want of meaningful local coverage. It reports on public affairs, policy, quality of life, local environment and education. It is aimed at generating greater civic engagement. Speaking on  the phone from his office in San Diego, Donohue says it was important to start small and remain focused on a specific set of issues. “Don’t be afraid to start small,” he says. There are 10-12 professional journalists in the team in San Diego up from four when it first started.

Donohue is convinced that readers do want to sit down and read 4000 words of an investigative story. The web, he says, gives him flexibility about following up on story updates, based on feedback from readers and local sources. “Staying on the story becomes easier. A kind of a serial narrative.” Readers tell him that it is an exciting way to keep investigative reporting alive. The website also showcases the impact of its stories for readers to see. On many occasions mainstream news organizations take cues from the stories uncovered by the website especially those relating to local politics and government.

Being a nonprofit, keeping costs low is an imperative. The reporters taught themselves basic web skills to cut on costs. Editorial accounts for 77% of the costs including overhead and administrative costs. 
The organization is left with 10% of the revenues to ‘play around’.  His advise to news entrepreneurs is ‘know your personality’. It is an easy trap to be everything to everyone. But defining what you are early on helps, he says.

Of the many accolades Voices of San Diego has already received, Donohue and his colleagues won the prestigious Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. 2008 award for an investigation uncovering a clandestine bonus system and widespread conflicts of interest at the city of San Diego’s redevelopment agencies. Fellow journalists in the investigative reporting fraternity looked on with hope as Donohue picked up the IRE award in Baltimore beating out competition from some of the largest print organizations.

In the midst of a crumbling newspaper industry, Voices of San Diego is seen favorably as one of the few successful funding models for nonprofit journalism. It is reckoned as a solution for tackling journalism’ challenges of technology, reader behavior and declining advertising revenues. Voices of San Diego boasts of more than 1000 members today.