The Santa Monica Daily Press (SMDP) is a free daily newspaper in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 2001[1] by Dave Danforth, Carolyn Sackariason, and Ross Furukawa, and published by Furukawa and Todd James, it is the only local daily newspaper in Santa Monica. It has a circulation of 8,500 copies daily.
News Products
SMDP is the newspaper of record for the city of Santa Monica. Founded in 2001, it publishes a print edition five days per week (Monday through Friday).
The newspaper also has a podcast, Inside the Daily Press, which publishes one to three new episodes weekly. In-house podcasts, The Dive and Reporter's Notebook, are recorded at the studio inside the Daily Press office. It also has a daily digital newsletter "The Current" currently with over 10k double opted in subscribers.
Each year, Santa Monica Daily Press partners with the City of Santa Monica and local business organizations for the Santa Monica Most Loved contest, the city's official "Best of" competition.[2]
Staff
As of September 2024[update], the official website editor-in-chief is Matthew Hall, and the staff writers are Thomas Leffler and Scott Snowden.
Daniel Archuleta was the managing editor for seven years before his death in 2014.[3]
History
The three founding partners—Carolyn Sackariason, Ross Furukawa, and Dave Danforth—had worked with free daily newspapers in Colorado. They were attracted to Santa Monica's similarities to Aspen and saw an opening in the market when the city's only daily, The Evening Outlook, folded.[4] In February 2018, Todd James joined this new venture as a partner.[5]
Carolyn Sackariason was the first person to hold the title of editor in chief at the Daily Press, but behind the scenes she was performing many other roles: reporter, researcher, scheduler, community outreach leader, copy editor, and even delivery person. Sackariason was the first reporter on scene after the 2003 Farmers Market massacre, when 86-year-old George Russell Weller plowed his car through the market, slaying 10 people, including a three-year-old girl and seven-month-old boy.[6] When Sackariason moved back to Colorado, Michael Tittinger took over as editor in chief.
Tittinger converted the Saturday edition into a magazine-like format, centered on a deep-dive article, unconstrained by the quick, turn-and-burn nature of weekday stories. Current editor Matt Hall revived this tradition in the summer of 2021, and the issue continues as an important outlet for investigative and feature reporting. Tittinger also launched a quotes-of-the-week section, gathering witty or salient remarks from locals and local figures. It predated the now-viral “overheard at” pages on social media and made the community feel more involved with the paper
