''The Ojai Post'' was a

collaborative blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

published online in

Ojai Ojai ( ; Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east–west trending Western Transverse Ranges and is ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, since 2006. It was the only daily

local news In journalism, local news refers to coverage of events, by the news, in a local context that would not be of interest to another locality, or otherwise be of national or international scope. Local news, in contrast to national or international new ...

source in the Ojai Valley (the primary

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

in Ojai is the ''

Ojai Valley News The ''Ojai Valley News'' is an adjudicated newspaper published weekly in print and daily online. Locally owned and operated by Ojai Media LLC. The newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written New ...

'', printed on Wednesdays and Fridays). The Ojai Post was non-commercial and had no advertising. The site states that it is currently on hiatus. The original blog posts are no longer archived at the site.

History

The Ojai Post made its debut on February 27, 2006 with a blog post by founder Tyler Suchman entitled ''Welcome to The Ojai Post!''. It was inspired in part by

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

, which was launched on May 9, 2005. The website received considerable visibility in the community with its coverage of the 2006

Day Fire The Day Fire was a devastating wildfire that burned of land in the Topatopa Mountains, within the Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County, California, Ventura County, southern California. History The fire was the largest of the 2006 Cali ...

, the sixth largest wildfire in California history. In 2007, The Ojai Post was a key

hyperlocal Hyperlocal (also reckoned Hyper-local) is an adjective used to describe something as being "limited to a very small geographical area", and in particular, to anything " tremely or excessively local", in particular with regard to media (commu ...

news source for coverage of the

Zaca Fire The Zaca Fire was a very large wildfire in the San Rafael Mountains, northeast of the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County, California. It was the single largest wildfire of the 2007 California wildfire season. The fire started on July ...

, California's second largest fire in recorded history. In 2007, The Ojai Post successfully advocated for a

chain store A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many p ...

ordinance. Ordinance 798 was passed on November 27, 2007 by the City Council of Ojai, amending the Ojai Municipal Code to regulate chain stores. This ordinance began with multiple posts on The Ojai Post in opposition to a proposed

Subway (restaurant) Subway IP LLC, trading as Subway, is an American multinational fast food restaurant franchise that specializes in submarine sandwiches (subs) and wraps. It was founded by Fred DeLuca and financed by Peter Buck in 1965 as Pete's Super Submar ...

, followed by a Formula Retail Business Initiative drafted by Ojai Post author and local resident Kenley Neufeld and submitted to the City of Ojai. In 2009, The Ojai Post led coverage of a black bear that came out of the adjacent wilderness, went up a tree in a downtown residential area and was shot out of the tree by the

California Department of Fish and Game The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is an American state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages ...

. The bear was subsequently nicknamed the "Aliso Street Bear" and, alternately, "Elliot." The story received extensive coverage in the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is ...

News,

Ventura County Star The ''Ventura County Star'' (Marked online as VC Star) is a daily newspaper published in Camarillo, California and serves all of Ventura County. It is owned by Gannett, the largest publisher of newspapers in the United States. It is a successor t ...

and other news outlets. On May 28, 2010, The Ojai Post switched to a new technology platform, migrating from

Movable Type Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable Sort (typesetting), components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric charac ...

WordPress WordPress (WP, or WordPress.org) is a web content management system. It was originally created as a tool to publish blogs but has evolved to support publishing other web content, including more traditional websites, electronic mailing list, ma ...

Authors

As a

, The Ojai Post provided un-moderated front page posting privileges to over 35 authors.

Notable authors

* Bret Bradigan, former Publisher of the

* DK Crawford, restaurant critic and freelance writer * Suza Francina, former mayor of Ojai * Gay Hendricks, best-selling author on personal growth and relationships * Howard Smith, past Chairman of the Board of the Ventura County Economic Development Association * Lisa Snider, host of Radio Ojai and freelance writer * Kit Stolz, reporter, story analyst and writer for the

Grist (magazine) ''Grist'' (originally ''Grist Magazine''; also referred to as Grist.org) is an American non-profit online magazine founded in 1999 that publishes environmental news and commentary. ''Grists tagline is "Climate. Justice. Solutions." ''Grist'' ...

, Sierra and others * Tyler Suchman, founder of The Ojai Post *

John Wilcock John Wilcock (4 August 1927 – 13 September 2018) was a British journalist known for his work in the underground press, as well as his travel guide books. The first news editor of the New York ''Village Voice'', Wilcock shook up staid publish ...

, co-founder of the New York

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

References

Notes

External links

Official ''The Ojai Post'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ojai Post American blogs Mass media in Ventura County, California Ojai, California Companies based in Ventura County, California