Voice of OC Tuesday announced a distribution agreement with the Associated Press that will deliver the nonprofit newsroom’s news coverage to newspaper readers throughout California.
The Voice of OC agreement is part of an effort to develop a wider audience for the groundbreaking work being done by nonprofit news organizations statewide, said Kate Butler, AP’s vice president for newspaper markets.
“We welcome Voice of OC to this initial stage of a larger project in California that builds on our original national nonprofit work,” Butler said. “Voice of OC joins a dozen or so others as part of a broader initiative to provide nonprofit journalism organizations an additional distribution channel for their work while giving AP member papers access to more news content.”
Voice of OC Editor-in-Chief Norberto Santana Jr. announced the agreement during a reception Tuesday night at the Newport Beach Vineyards and Winery.
“For all working journalists, the AP represents the highest standards for ethics, transparency and accuracy,” Santana said. “Voice of OC is honored to help the AP connect newspapers across California with the important work being produced by the nonprofit news movement.”
Santana also announced the formation of the Community Editorial Board, which will showcase the commentary of Orange County’s top leaders in government, politics and the nonprofit sector.
Together, these leaders will hold regular moderated forums aimed at tackling the toughest public policy issues facing Orange County, ranging from social services and health care to infrastructure and crime.
The vision for the Voice of OC Opinion page is to provide an online forum spurring robust debate among community leaders about the issues of the day with an aim toward finding real-world solutions to the toughest issues facing taxpayers and our collective quality of life.
In the coming months, you’ll be hearing often from the following writers:
Lucy Dunn, Orange County Business Council
Rusty Kennedy, Orange County Human Relations Commission
Jennifer Muir, Orange County Employees Association
Matt Cunningham, Pacific Strategies
Tony Bedolla, Orange County Professional Firefighters Association
Anne Olin, The Olin Group
Tefere Gebre, Orange County Labor Federation
Gene Howard, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Orange County
Dan McQuaid, OneOC
Julie Puentes, Hospital Association of Southern California
Rick Stein, Arts Orange County
Adam Probolsky, Probolsky Research
Eric Altman, Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development
Michael Ruane, Children & Families Commission of Orange County
Jean Pasco, the Orange County Archives
Jose Moreno, Los Amigos of Orange County host and Anaheim City School District board member
Mike Matsuda, North Orange County Community College District board member
Nick Anas, Orange County Young Democrats
Jon Fleischman, FlashReport
Ava Steaffens, KidWorks
Pam Pimentel, Moms Orange County
Rueben Martinez, Libreria Martinez
Christine Iger, Iger & Associates Government Interface Consultants