Thanks For A Great Four Years
Posted by: Jubal | 06/17/2008 5:16 PM
It's been four years to the day since I started OC Blog. Back in June 2004, there was no political OC blogosphere. Despite being covered by two daily newspapers, there wasn't much regular coverage of local Orange County politics. "The Buzz" column had deteriorated to not much more than a weekly calendar of political events.I decided to try filling that void with a blog focused on the sort of local political items and news usually deemed "too inside baseball" to make it past the print media gatekeepers, and launched a very plain looking OC Blog on June 17, 2004 on the obscure Blog City platform. Thus was born OC's first persistent political blog.
The one nice thing about Blog City was you could input e-mail addresses, and whenever you published a new post, it spat put an e-mail notification to your list. So, I fed in the e-mails of 30 or so OC politicos and started posting.
During the past for years, that initial tiny audience has grown exponentially: today, Red County generates approximately 550,000 page views and 45,000 unique visitors per month. Our look has also changed long the way, as you can see here, here and here.The blog itself has marked some major milestones. In August 2006, it was acquired by the new Red County magazine and formed the foundation of its online component. It has evolved from an OC-specific blog driven by a blogpen of contributors with odd pseudonyms, to a network of blogs covering various regions in the West -- although OC Blog remains the engine that pulls the Red County train. Our most recent addition was Red County Washington State, which is fast building a following in the Pacific Northwest. Red County Placer was the go-to destination for coverage of the Tom McClintock-Doug Ose battle in the 4th CD special election. Red County Virgina will launch later this week.
OC political coverage has changed dramatically due to the efforts of this and the other blogs that comprise the OC blogoshere. Four years ago, political coverage was sparse. Now it is coming out of our ears. C political junkies get their fix 24/7 here, on Total Buzz, Orange Punch, TheLiberalOC.com, Orange Juice and Bolsavik.com. Now, almost nothing is considered "too inside baseball" to merit a post. The largely cooperative competition among the blogs has improved the quantity and quality of local political news, made elected officials and campaigns more accountable and led to a even more informed political electorate.
It's been a wonderful four years. This experiment has grown and succeeded beyond anything I imagined when I first decided to launch OC Blog. First and foremost, a huge thank you is due to our readers and commenters, who make every day a lively one. Furthermore, this venture would never have made it this far without the assistance of Blogpen members past and present such as Lurk, Silence Dogood, Kahuna, Tomahawk, Mark Leyes, Chuck DeVore, Publius, Roscoe, OC Dutch and others.
An especially big thanks go to Red County Editor Scott Graves, who is constantly figuring out ways to make Red County bigger and better.
So muchas gracias for sticking with us for the past four years, and we look forward to more to come.
CATEGORY:
FEATURE, OC Blogosphere
you can see the documentary I made about him at recallingrocco "dot" com....
Congrats!
Matt congratulations on the success of OC Blog and Red County. Had it not been for OCB and RC the Liberal OC and OJ would not have been as successful as they have been. I appreciate your work and the fact that you remove me from the land of the banned when I apologize. LOL. Keep up the good work.
Paul Lucas
PS I still think you are a right wing whackadoo at times. But most of the time your so so. And sometimes you’re actually OK. :o)
Too bad this blog "jumped the shark" once Red County came in.
Matt - congratulations and nice job
Matt,
Your blog did inspire me to resuscitate the Orange Juice blog - which I had put on hiatus after developing tendinitis. Those days seem like a million years ago now.
At any rate, while you and I don't often agree, I do think that you are due congratulations. Your blog gave the OC blogosphere a pulse. That you have been able to take it across state lines is impressive.
However I wonder how the "Red County" brand will fare when Obama slams McCain in November and the Dems take huge leads in both houses of the U.S. Congress?
Happy Birthday Red County! Jubal you have done a great job and I am proud to be a member of the team...even though I have been overwhelmed and unable to blog lately. :-(
SHUT UP Art...can't you even give a kudos with out an attempted stab? If you have nothing nice to say you should duct tape your mouth er um hands as it were!
Wow four years goes by so fast...
Matt, congratulations on all of your success, and the well-deserved role that this blog has in the 'sphere.
Orange County truly is a -- smaller, yet more open place -- because of your efforts, and those of the blog pen crew.
To think, it wasn't that long ago (or was it?) that we were spending evenings in your folks' home, debating issues as the conservative round table. I guess nothing has changed, except instead of the Cunningham living room, we're all here -- and the audience, it's a LOT bigger.
CONGRATS!!
Jon
Yeah, congrats to OC Blog/Red County. Glad I can be a part of this great team.
Four more years!
Art -
Just remember that old axiom about PR and lobbying: what's bad for business is good for business.
Congrats Matt on all the success OC Blog/Red County has had. I remember like it was yesterday when I first started blogging about the same time as you. I'll especially remember the epic battle we had over the 48th CD. Man that was a long time ago.
Dear Jubal/Matt/Scott:
Thank you for giving us a place to "duke it out" on conservative and liberal issues. I have not enjoyed blogging so much as when I discovered your Blog. Thank you for letting me be a part of it, although I've been pretty busy lately and have not had time to blog as much, that will change this summer and I'll be busy blogging and posting away again.
God Bless America and God Bless RED COUNTY BLOG!!! 8-)
Lady Fingers
I'd imagine keeping a blog like this going is hard work. Thank you, Matt.
DDD
Matt, OC Blog/Red County has paved the road for localized political debate. Were it not for you and the members of your blogpen 550,000 readers per month would have nowhere to go for their political news and views. I can only imagine what is in store for us on your 8th anniversary.
However I wonder how the "Red County" brand will fare when Obama slams McCain in November and the Dems take huge leads in both houses of the U.S. Congress
I agree the Dems will increase their congressional majorities, Art. I think it's a toss-up whether Americans will put into the White House a guy who less than four years ago was casting votes in the Illinois state legislator, and he is continually shocked about the backgrounds and beliefs of long-time friends
But if that nightmare scenario came to pass, the shock of the lunatics taking over the asylum will be a boost to Red County.
GOP control of the Congress and the White House didn't exactly hurt the Left Blogosphere.
Art - I agree with Flowerzz here; offer congratulations without the slam.
Dan I truly believe he is incapable of such a thing. Art next time I'll bring you the duct tape and do it for you since you have NO self control.
HAPPY BLOGDAY!
You've don't a great job these past four years. Keep up the good work!
-tylerh