Voice of OC is proud to announce it was accepted Friday for membership in the 125-year-old California Newspaper Publishers Association.
The 800-member trade association, known as CNPA, represents newspaper companies statewide, from small weeklies, high school, community college and university newspapers, to the largest-circulation dailies. This year its board voted to accept digital news organizations, like Voice of OC, as special, nonvoting members.
“It’s a deep honor to be associated with the oldest newspaper trade group in the state,” said Voice of OC Editor-In-Chief Norberto Santana Jr. “Just like the CNPA has been on the forefront of protecting the public’s right to know for so many years, it’s especially comforting to see them embrace the digital age with the same kind of vigor.”
Voice of OC is the second online-only news organization accepted for CNPA membership; the first was the northern California-based Center for Investigative Reporting.
CNPA’s mission “is to champion the ideals of a free press in our democratic society and to promote the quality and economic health of California newspapers.”
Among other activities, the CNPA lobbies the Legislature on behalf of open-government issues such as the Brown Act and the California Public Records Act.
This year, for example, when Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders agreed to let local governments ignore the 45-year-old Public Records Act, the CNPA and other open-government groups rallied such strong statewide opposition that within 24 hours Brown and other top lawmakers reversed their position.
Please contact Tracy Wood directly at twood@voiceofoc.org and follow her on Twitter: twitter.com/tracyVOC.