In the months since its launch, Oakland Local has been growing its audience exponentially.
By the end of September, just prior to launch, the site’s staff was putting on the finishing touches and beginning to load content.
Three months later, in December 2009, Oakland Local had 27,320 unique visits and 45,000 page views. By the end of March 2010, the numbers had jumped to 92,227 page views and 45,000 visits – a 40 percent increase.
Other metrics shifted, “to give us an average of 1.7 pages viewed, 1.66 [minutes] spent on site, and 51 percent new visits,” reports site founder Susan Mernit.
Perhaps most important is that the site has recently received funding commitments of $100,000, including: $10,000 from the Harnisch Foundation, $20,000 awarded for cell phone research from the Renaissance Journalism Center at San Francisco State, and $70,000 from the California Endowment.
The site has also made great use of Spot.Us – the crowd-funding venture created by David Cohn and launched in the Bay Area. A total of six stories have been funded this way, including an ambitious package of stories on the business of marijuana. Founder Mernit has said that reporting would probably not have been done were it not for the community funding.
The six writers on the site in December have turned into 15 now, most of who are volunteers.
