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The Sacramento Press is a for-profit online local news organization that covers Sacramento, Calif.
The Press was launched publicly in 2008 by Ben Ilfeld, who ran the site until 2013, when he sold it to local marketer David Terry.
It had an editorial staff of three in 2012, along with numerous unpaid contributors, about 110 of whom wrote articles each month. By late 2013, prior to its sale, the staff had dwindled to one editor. The site laid off two executives in 2011. The site was not profitable at that time and remained unprofitable in 2012. It reported $275,000 in revenue in 2010 and projected $300,000 in revenue in 2011, and reported $30,000 a month in 2012. The site reported 200,000 pageviews and 75,000 unique visitors per month as of 2012.
In December 2009, the Press started up a local online ad network called SLOAN; as of May 2010, SLOAN had 30 sites as part of its network.
In November of 2010, Ilfeld and co-founder Geoff Samek rebranded Sacramento Press and its subsidiaries as Macer Media (”macer” is Latin for “lean”).
Video:
Sacramento Local Online Ad Network (SLOAN) Introduction from Ben Ilfeld on Vimeo.
The Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity is a nonprofit organization that focuses on investigative reporting at state and local levels. The center, based in Bismarck, N.D., was founded in 2009 by the Sam Adams Alliance, a conservative thinktank, and several of its employees have come from positions in conservative publications and political offices,…
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