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by | Dec 1, 2017

The West Marin Citizen was a weekly newspaper based in Point Reyes Station, California, that covered the western region of Marin County. After a pilot edition, the paper published its first issue on July 5, 2007.[1] In the following years through April 2015, the newspaper engaged in a two-paper competition for limited readership and advertising dollars in a rural area where both were relatively scarce.[2]

Joel Hack launched the Citizen in reaction to the purchase of the Point Reyes Light, a long-established, Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper also based in Point Reyes Station, by Robert Plotkin, who owned the paper between 2005-2010. The change in ownership, after the $500,000 sale by long-time owner and editor Dave Mitchell,[3] had led to a different editorial tone and staff changes.[4] Former Light managing editor Jim Kravets was the paper's first editor.

Contributors included members of the local Latino Photography Project, whose work ran as an ongoing series called "La Vida".[5] In August 2008, the Citizen won six awards from the National Newspaper Association based on the paper's first six months of reporting.[6][7]

In mid-2008, a group of residents formed a limited liability company with the intent of merging the Light and Citizen to create a single community-owned newspaper, but by the end of the year, could not come to terms with the Light's publisher on a price or the terms of the proposed buyout. The group, reconstituted as the Marin Media Alliance, focused its effort towards community ownership solely on the Citizen.[6][8][9][10] The effort was not successful.

In October 2010, Hack retired as editor and publisher, turning the paper over to advertising director Linda Petersen.[11] Under her watch, The Citizen leaned more toward features and reader-contributed pieces, while the Light worked on a more traditional newspaper model of reporters filing news stories.[12] But financial struggles affected both papers and left Peterson with no paid staff. In April 2015, she sold the paper to the Light for $50,000.[2]

References

  1. ^ "West Marin Citizen website". Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  2. ^ a b Kimmey, Samantha (April 30, 2015). "Light buys Citizen". Point Reyes Light.
  3. ^ Fimrite, Peter (May 27, 2010). "Pulitzer Prize-winning Marin newspaper sold". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  4. ^ "Nothing laid-back about paper's readers" by Peter Fimrite,San Francisco Chronicle, June 9, 2007, retrieved 2009-01-06.
  5. ^ Ashley, Beth (December 12, 2008). "West Marin Latinas find confidence, joy photographing people in community". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  6. ^ a b Hack, Joel (January 8, 2008). "Looking ahead: counting the steps along the path". West Marin Citizen website. Archived from the original on March 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
  7. ^ "2008 Better Newspaper Contest Winners". National Newspaper Association. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
  8. ^ Plotkin, Robert (January 15, 2009). "Lys takes on the Light". Point Reyes Light. p. 4. Archived from the original on December 24, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  9. ^ Fradkin, Philip; Steve Costa; Kirk Marckwald (March 5, 2009). "Introducing: Your community-owned newspaper". West Marin Citizen. p. 2. Archived from the original on March 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  10. ^ Rogers, Bob (March 8, 2009). "In wake of newspaper war, West Marin residents seek local control". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  11. ^ Liberatore, Paul (October 31, 2011). "Founder of the West Marin Citizen retires". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  12. ^ Liberatore, Paul (March 15, 2015). "The West Marin Newspaper War comes to an amicable end". Marin Independent Journal.

External links