Ken Doctor’s local news venture inches closer to sustainability

For years, Ken Doctor was a go-to resource on the economics of news, and he was well-known for his deep dives into the balance sheets of major media companies. Then in 2020, he decided to put his money where his mouth is and launch a local news venture in Santa Cruz. He’s now resurfaced to give an update on how that venture is going:

We’re on track to meet our goal of sustainable recurring revenue by next summer. We’re not declaring success yet, but we’re tangibly close, even as we ready ourselves for expansion into other communities. The work is tough and painstaking. We’ve made mistakes; fixing them costs us time and money — the two pressure points for all new ventures. We’ll undoubtedly make more.