Front page from April 25, 2011
TypeMicrodaily
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Newlon Rouge, Inc.
EditorMatthew Hall
FoundedNovember 13, 2001
Political alignmentNeutral journalistically
Headquarters1640 5th St., Suite 218
Santa Monica, California 90401
Websitesmdp.com

The Santa Monica Daily Press is a freely distributed daily newspaper in Santa Monica which was founded in 2001[1] by Dave Danforth, Carolyn Sackariason, and Ross Furukawa. The Santa Monica Daily Press is the only local daily newspaper in circulation in Santa Monica, California. The Daily Press has a circulation of 28,000 and a readership of 43,600.

The newspaper's publishers are Ross Furukawa and Todd James.

News Products

The Santa Monica Daily Press (SMDP) is the newspaper of record for the city of Santa Monica, California. Founded in 2001, the Santa Monica Daily Press publishes a print edition six days per week (Monday-Saturday).

The Santa Monica Daily Press also has a podcast, Inside the Daily Press, which publishes one to three new episodes weekly. In-house podcasts "The Dive" and "Reporter's Notebook" are recorded at the studio inside the Daily Press office.

Each year, Santa Monica Daily Press partners with the City of Santa Monica and local business organizations for the Santa Monica Most Loved contest, the official city "Best of" contest.[2]

Staff

Its editorial staff consists of editor in chief Matthew Hall and staff writer and Grace Inez Adams.

Daniel Archuleta was the managing editor for seven years before passing away in 2014.[3]

History

The three founding partners — Carolyn Sackariason, Ross Furukawa and Dave Danforth — worked in the business of free micro dailies in Colorado and were attracted to Santa Monica by the similarities it held to Aspen and the news that the city's only daily, The Evening Outlook, had recently folded.[4] In February 2018, Todd James joined the paper as a partner.[5]

Carolyn Sackariason was the first person to hold the title of Editor in Chief at the Daily Press, but behind the scenes she was performing many other roles: reporter, researcher, scheduler, community outreach leader, copy-editor and even delivery person. Sackariason was the first reporter on scene after the 2003 Farmers Market massacre, when 86-year-old George Russell Weller plowed his car through the market, slaying ten people including a 3-year-old girl and 7-month-old boy.[6] When Sackariason moved back to Colorado, Michael Tittinger took over as Editor in Chief.

Tittinger converted the Saturday paper into a magazine-esque edition anchored by a deep dive article that is unconstrained by the quick turn-and-burn nature of the weekday stories. Current editor Matt Hall revived this tradition in summer 2021 and it continues to be an important outlet for investigative and feature reporting. Tittinger also launched a quotes of the week section gathering witty or salient remarks from local figures, which predated the now viral “overheard at” social media accounts and made the community feel more involved with the paper

Editors

Carolyn Sackariason, 2001-2006

Michael Tittinger, 2006-2007

Kevin Herrera, 2008-2014

Matt Hall, 2014–present

References

  1. ^ "New Daily Paper Being Launched in Santa Monica". Los Angeles Business Journal. 25 November 2001. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Congrats to our Most Loved Businesses of 2021". Buy Local Santa Monica. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  3. ^ "Santa Monica Daily Press Managing Editor Daniel Archuleta dead at 38". Los Angeles Sports Journal. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  4. ^ "The Inside Scoop From Outsiders". Los Angeles Times. January 9, 2002.
  5. ^ "New partner buys ownership stake in The Daily Press". Santa Monica Daily Press. March 24, 2018.
  6. ^ "SMDP celebrates 20 years of independent local reporting". Santa Monica Daily Press. November 13, 2021.

External links

Categories