Our Story
Mendo Local News is a project of Mendo Local Public Media, founded in September 2025 to fund public-interest reporting in Mendocino County and the surrounding areas. We support independent journalists with financial and technical resources needed to produce high-quality journalism on topics critical to community well-being, civic engagement, and government accountability.
Mendo Local Public Media will address gaps in local news reporting by providing development services and technological and operational support to independent journalists and publications.
MendoLocal.News highlights the type of fact-based reporting we support and features articles produced by Mendo Local Public Media staff and volunteers and by the journalists that we fund.
We offer free subscriptions to Mendo Local and to the Mendo Local Weekly Roundup featuring local news and opinion from various publishers focusing on Mendocino County. Readers can subscribe separately to the weekly roundup by adjusting their account settings.
While our content can be read without signing up for a subscription, when you subscribe, you express support for local news, local publishing decisions, and fair compensation for local reporters.
Mendo Local Public Media and our partner, the Independent Coast Observer, are the only locally owned, locally published, and locally edited nonprofit local news providers in Mendocino County.
Editorial policy (added Sept. 12, 2025, updated December 20, 2025)
Our editorial policy is intended to lay out the reporting, publishing and fundraising standards of Mendo Local Public Media and its showcase site: MendoLocal.News. This policy will also function as our code of ethics.
Independence:
All editorial decisions regarding articles published on MendoLocal.News are and will be made by newsroom leadership and newsroom personnel. Mendo Local Public Media board members and philanthropic supporters have no influence over the content produced by the independent journalists and publishers that are funded by the Mendo Local Public Media Foundation.
Mendo Local Public Media was founded to support fact-based reports on local issues. In the event that we accept funding to cover a particular topic, we will retain full editorial control. We recognize that articles may include data points that may conflict with the agendas of some of our philanthropic supporters, and we pledge to report articles as completely as possible without providing donors preferential treatment or slight.
Projects funded directly by donors will be identified with a tag at the end of each story.
Donors who contribute more than $25,000 to coverage of a particular issue will receive project plans and written updates. They will not receive previews of individual stories.
We will identify donors who contribute more than $5,000 a year in a donor roundup published on Mendolocal.org. We will not accept anonymous donations.
Accuracy:
The reporting funded by Mendo Local Public Media and published on MendoLocal.News is fact-based. Reporters share primary and secondary documents with the MendoLocal.News editor, often in the form of shared NotebookLM collections or PinPoint repositories. Facts included in articles are checked against documents in these collections/repositories as part of the editing process.
Corrections and Clarifications Policy:
Listeners and readers are encouraged to send corrections to editor@mendolocal.news. We also respond to corrections that are pointed out to us on social media. When a correction is made, we identify the correction with an editor’s note that includes the date and time the article was updated.
Our goal is to address all errors in digital content from major errors to typos as soon as possible, and ideally within a few hours.
Impartiality:
We report for our community. Our goal is to inform, explain and illuminate, not to inflame sensibilities. We strive to approach issues with a perspective that is curious, neutral, and biased toward fact. We include context and strive for completeness. To that end, we will revisit stories in order to provide updates and additional details, and we will tell stories from different points of view.
Transparency and AI:
The work that is published on Mendo Local or distributed to the Mendo Local network is authored by the journalists we fund. While we may use AI tools like Grammarly or Chatgpt to double check spelling and grammar, our stories are written and edited by humans.
Fiscal Sponsorship & Financial Statements
Mendo Local Public Media is a fiscally sponsored project of The Tiny News Collective (“TNC”, EIN: 85-3963369), a Delaware nonprofit organization exempt from federal taxation pursuant to IRS Code 501(c)(3). TNC equips visionary news entrepreneurs in underserved communities to transform journalism from the ground up, making it more equitable, accessible and connected. Through coaching, tools and strategic support, Tiny News Collective nurtures a network of indie media founders to launch and grow community-rooted news organizations that endure.The Tiny News Collective will administer charitable contributions received on behalf of Mendo Local Public Media. Such funds will be tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. You should confirm such deductibility through your own tax advisor.
Our first Form 990 for 2025 will be posted for review once it has been reviewed by our board and our fiscal sponsor. Subsequent 990s will be posted for review.
Budget Transparency
Mendo Local Public Media was launched on a budget of just $3,400, but keeping MendoLocal.News running in 2026 will take considerably more. We’re sharing our 2026 budget and will be providing budget updates throughout the year.
Disclaimer
Content published on Mendo Local is provided for general informational and journalistic purposes only. Nothing published by Mendo Local Public Media should be construed as legal, medical, financial, engineering, or other professional advice.
Reporting on technical or specialized topics is based on interviews, documents, and publicly available information believed to be accurate at the time of publication. Readers should consult qualified professionals and primary source materials before making decisions based on information published here.
Permission to reuse
Please note that all our work is copyrighted and can’t be used without permission. However, we are happy to work with other publications and broadcast organizations who share our mission. Please contact us below to put a licensing agreement in place.
Our Board of Directors
Dan Tynan, Board President.
Daniel Tynan is an American journalist, television and radio commentator who specializes in technology, humor, and humorous takes on technology.
Michelle Hickey, Board Secretary
Elise Cox, Board Treasurer
Elise Cox worked as an editor and reporter for the San Jose Mercury News, Knight Ridder, U.S. News & World Report and other publications prior to moving to the Mendocino coast in 2022. She began reporting stories for KZYX in August 2024 and became news director in December 2024.
Paul Brancato, Director
Paul Brancato is retired violinist (San Francisco Symphony) who moved to Sea Ranch in 2020. He is the author of several sets of political trading cards on subjects like the JFK assassination. He is also a wine aficionado and volunteers for Meals on Wheels, and for Gualala Art Center.
Mike Geniella, Director
Mike Geniella is an award-winning journalist whose career included working for newspapers in Hawaii and Colorado before joining The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa. For 25 years, he oversaw North Coast news coverage for The Press Democrat.
Sylvester Monroe, Director
Our Community Advisory Board (Digital Ads)
Karen Elowitt, editor and publisher, Independent Coast Observer
Jayma Shields Spence, editor and publisher, Mendocino County Observer
Liam Uicearbhaill, general manager, KLLG
Contact Us
Contact our founder and dog walker-in-chief, Elise Cox, at editor@mendolocal.news or look for her and Sam Dog on Monday night at Tall Guy when her husband, Michael Cox, plays trumpet with the Mendocino Coast Jazz Society.
You may also send a letter to:
Mendo Local Public Media
PO Box 362
Mendocino, CA 95460
