AUGUST 2026 NEWSLETTER
CINA members benefit from state ad buy
State Controller’s Office places $500 ads in 22 independent news outlets
By Reggie Ellis | Mid Valley Times | CINA Treasurer
Those still considering membership in the California Independent News Alliance (CINA) should know that many of its members will be receiving enough money this year to cover their membership fees.
Independent news outlets up and down the state, including several CINA members, received ad placements as part of a state bid for advertising services awarded to Mineral King Publishing on behalf of CINA. The ad buy was for the State Controller’s Office to raise awareness about unclaimed property held by the state. The print and online ads directed the public to a website where they can look up the amount of money owed to them, which is currently being held by the state of California.
Unclaimed property might include dormant bank accounts, uncashed paychecks, forgotten safe deposit box contents, or unclaimed insurance checks. If the money goes unclaimed, it is absorbed by state coffers.
Mineral King Publishing owns five weekly newspapers in the San Joaquin Valley, all of which pay dues to CINA. Mineral King Publishing will make $1,000 for ads running in two of its newspapers. That’s $200 more than its annual dues of $800, including $400 for its primary newspaper and $100 for each additional news outlet.
Only one independent, legally adjudicated newspaper was selected in each of the 22 strategic counties required for the bid. The selected newspapers will receive a minimum of $500, $100 more than the minimum annual membership dues of $400.
Affiliate CINA members and friends, California Black Media and American Community Media, representing ethnic media outlets in the state, were major partners in applying for the bid, placing the ads, and obtaining proof of publication from across the state.
This is year one of a three-year campaign contracted by the State Controller’s Office. It is possible more money could be allocated for this ad buy in the next two years depending on the state budget.
Four CINA members attend dinner
Fresno meeting focused on journalism
Greg Little | Mariposa Gazette | CINA Secretary
Four members of the California Independent News Alliance, including two board members, were recently in attendance at a journalism-focused dinner and meeting in Fresno.
Reggie Ellis, board treasurer, and Greg Little, secretary, attended the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative gathering at a steakhouse in Fresno, where various topics were discussed.
Ellis is the president and publisher of Mineral King Publishing in Sanger and Little is the editor and co-owner of the Mariposa Gazette.
Also attending were Paul Myers, vice-president of Mineral King Publishing and Nicole W. Little, publisher and co-owner of the Mariposa Gazette.
The meeting was hosted by the journalism cooperative and was intended for people to share their ideas and thoughts on the current state of the business as well as what the future might hold.
There were also some key players in attendance from the McClatchy Foundation, the group which is administering the Public Media Fund that will be distributing millions of dollars to local media outlets in California.
Priscilla Enriquez, the president and CEO of the McClatchy Foundation, was in attendance, as was Keiona Williamson, the journalism sustainability director and the coordinator of the Public Media Fund project.
Joe Kieta is the executive director of the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative and he coordinated the gathering in Fresno.
Newspapers, online publications and public radio members were all in attendance, as were academic representatives and more.
One part of the meeting was for people seated at the different tables to have a conversation about the state of the media. Then, a representative from each table was given a microphone to relay what was discussed.
During his turn, Greg Little told the audience that although one of the topics they were discussing was the future outlook of journalism, he felt they should also consider looking at the past to see what has worked. He said learning from history, and incorporating some of those successes, could be a key factor in shaping the future.
It was also announced at the meeting that a CVJC summit will be held on Oct. 27 at UC Merced to address many of the issues at hand. That includes the impacts of AI and many more topics.
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CINA Member voices - EDITORIAL COMMENT
Is the press dividing Americans and fueling contempt?
By Laura Rearwin, founder California Independent News Alliance
Distrust in the media is well founded.
The role of newspapers is to hold government and power to account on behalf of the people. When the media is controlled, blocked, censored or manipulated by powerful interests, it becomes untrustworthy.
How we got here:
The shift toward opinion-infused reporting began in 1987 with Ronald Reagan and the end of the “Fairness Doctrine,” which required balanced reporting, enforced by the FCC. Also under Reagan came new rules that allowed for greater media consolidation than before. Then, under Bill Clinton, we got the Telecommunications Act (1996) that opened the floodgate to the mass-media consolidation we have today.
Controlling information flow
Today, 80% of U.S. news organizations and half of all daily newspapers are owned by private equity and hedge funds and, according to the Medill School of Journalism, more than two newspapers per week have closed over the last five years.
Well-funded interests seek to control the narrative and the flow of information to their advantage. With the loss of campaign finance control, these entities often work hand in glove on censorship and propaganda campaigns to control what the public receives through chain-media and social platforms. Those algorithms drive the anger, the fear and profit. The citizens are being used, and Big Media is part of the problem.
Government agencies enjoy the dark — 3 examples
- Even at the local level, government agencies seek to control their own narratives. The city of Ojai rarely advertises in our local newspaper beyond what is required by law. Instead, they spend marketing dollars in Irvine, make their own printed mailed “news” letter, and officials share press releases to their low-traffic Facebook page and website. Meanwhile, the Ojai Valley News has six times the followers of Ojai city, and more than 4.5 million pageviews a year. If transparency were the goal, the city could spend less for more impressions.
- In 2021, Ojai Unified School District’s past embattled administration — either in anger or in secrecy — actually took their legally required public notices out of the Ojai Valley News to publish in newspapers outside the district to the Fillmore Gazette and to The Star. Regardless of whether it was to avoid public transparency or to defund the local newspaper of tens of thousands of dollars — either one hurts our community.
- Even though the state of California encourages County governments to place local rural election ads, and provides reimbursement for them from the Secretary of Sate, the County of Ventura has opted not to do so.
Media literacy in our community
For the past seven years, the Ojai Valley News has had both a publisher and an editor. The advantage of that separation is a stronger wall between news and opinion. Still, canceling over opinion has happened in Ojai. It’s a shame when people give up their right to know what is going on in their community over anger at speech on the opinion page. Opinion is extra, not the point; it is a platform for the voices of our town to speak their minds — our local platform.
The paper is a watchdog for the people, truly here to report without fear or favor. When I hear people refer to an editorial comment as an “article,” or refer to me as “the editor,” I know right away we have a lack of media literacy, because publishers don’t read or edit articles in advance of publication, and articles should not contain editorial comment. It’s also hard when council members refuse to comment or speak to reporters — which is another attack on the press and the public right to know. It can also appear that the news reporting favors certain individuals.
Many news organizations have made the mistake of shaping their reporting to partisan bias, and they are paying the price — in trust.
A complicated national example is when the Washington Post, which built up a partisan audience, opted in 2024 not to endorse a presidential candidate, one that most every reader had already decided to vote for. In the following week, 250,000 people canceled their subscriptions. (Similarly, 8,800 quit the L.A. Times.) For some, the lack of a presidential endorsement was a catalyst, but others sited changes in the big newsrooms. Ojai Valley News copy editor Julie Price Coleman shared her perspective: “I quit (subscriptions to) both the Post and the L.A. Times several months after the election, when I was reading news that had clearly been cherry-picked and whitewashed. As a Watergate-era journalist, I couldn’t believe the things the reporters were not allowed to cover.”
To be sure, part of that lack of news literacy is with big-chain media blurring those lines in their editorial news, and breaking the rules of good journalism, and writing to gain a partisan audience.
The problem of the post-truth era
Unfortunately, it’s hard nowadays to even agree on a set of facts, because information sources have rightfully become suspect.
Good journalism involves freedom of access to information, fact-checking and interviewing all sides of a conflict. Good reporting needs sunlight without censorship. As free speech and privacy rights evaporate abroad, the threat to those rights grows in the U.S.
The trap of political parties and heroes
The self-censorship that comes with allegiance to party and politicians comes with loss of empathy, curiosity and an open mind. Demonizing and name-calling are powerful tools of control. They are used nationally, within parties and within our community to discourage people from thinking for themselves, or even allowing the expression of alternative points of view.
Ownership matters: the hope of independent media
Luckily, independent news reporting is growing. Yes, it means we are hearing conflicting narratives, based on different sets of “facts.” Choosing our sources is challenging. Stretch yourself and explore the new world of independent news. We now have the ability to get more information and consider the source influences. We have gained clarity on how the most powerful abuse the public trust to forward their interests — through politicians and media.
The press should be in the hands of the many — not the few. Press freedom is worth fighting for, because as the independent press is surveilled, censored and attacked, so goes our individual freedoms and right to know. The question is whether we can acknowledge the possible shortcomings of our information, set aside our blue or red team, and listen with respect to the concerns and fears of our neighbors. Can we disagree without contempt?
For more information, interested participants can contact
CINA at 559-909-2996 or via email at info@cina.news
