The Modesto area welcomed the launch of a new news outlet titled The Modesto Focus. Journalists, educators and community members gathered in welcoming the nonprofit newsroom and its commitment to free, accessible reporting for Stanislaus County.
The event took place on Thursday, Feb. 12th, at the Modesto State Theatre, where Signal was invited to cover the event. Reporters conducted interviews and collaborated with the publication for social media content.
The newsroom operates under the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, a nonprofit funded by foundations to revitalize local journalism across the region. Every story The Modesto Focus publishes is free to read in both English and Spanish, and other news outlets are invited to publish work the organization has already run.
For Marianne Kaanon (President and CEO of the Stanislaus Community Foundation), the stakes of that model are communal, citing research suggesting correlations between crime and government corruption, local reporting and independent journalism.
“An uninformed community cannot be a thriving community,” Kaannon said. “You cannot hold local government accountable if no one is covering those meetings.”
Marijke Rowland (Editor of The Modesto Focus) claims that the staff answers to no one but the community, which is what sets their publication apart from other news outlets.
“We truly do not have any corporate overlords,” Rowland said. “We are The Modesto Focus. We’re the ones who decide what we publish, what we write about.”
That independence carries through to the reporting itself.
Vivian Aguilar (General Assignment Reporter) covers education and entertainment. She said that her favorite part of the job is watching sources realize the power of their own voices.
“I feel like I’m providing a service in a way that helps you guys understand yourselves in the context of where you are in your community,” Aguilar said. “And that can be so healing.”
The Modesto Focus has placed significant emphasis on bilingual reporting.
Ximena Loeza (Bilingual Communities Reporter) is the only journalist in Stanislaus County with a dedicated, full-time position covering Spanish-speaking communities.
“Not only am I a reporter, but I’m also a Latina. I’m a daughter of Mexican immigrants. My dad is a cook. My mom works in coffee,” Loeza said.
She goes on to talk about what reporting on bilingual communities means to her.
“So when I am reporting on bilingual communities, this is more than just a story for me. This is my community. These are people that look like me. These are people that talk like me,” she said.
More than half of Stanislaus County identifies as Hispanic or Latino, so the newsroom publishes all of its stories in English and Spanish. With plans to launch an SMS text messaging program, they expect to reach community members who face barriers to technological literacy.
“Sometimes when I’m out on the field or I’m out at community events, and I show Spanish speakers a QR code, they’re just going to give me a blank face,” Loeza said. “So I’ve just come to find that the text messaging service is such a great way to be able to bridge that gap, and to be able to give my community the power of knowledge and information.”
The newsroom publishes its free newsletter and stories at The Modesto Focus. Stay tuned for more collaborative content published from The Modesto Focus and Signal.
