As BenitoLink has grown, so has the amount of content we receive. In a typical day our team goes over multiple press releases, articles, and opinion pieces. They refine the details to make sure that when it’s time to publish no sentence goes unread.

BenitoLink takes local journalism seriously and hires professional journalists to provide coverage of important issues, local government meetings, and features that introduce our readers to what's happening in San Benito County. Finding individuals has been possible thanks to your help and support.

Our team consists of about 10 reporters, three photographers, and two interns, including John Chadwell, Becky Bonner, Blaire Strohn, Frank Perez, Carmel De Beraut, Lisa Robinson, Elliot Ruiz, Joshua Miller, Noe Magaña, and Diviana Navarro. Content Manager Nicholas Preciado, Executive Director Leslie David and Marketing Lead Laura Romero are all reporters as well. With our growing team, we have been able to expand the type of content we produce. We now cover more topics on a regular basis compared to our regional competitors. Those topics include local politics, features, sports, community events, crime, and business.  

"We discuss news and ideas as a team at weekly meetings, which allows for collaboration and different perspectives," Content Manager Nicholas Preciado said. "Because most of our reporters are members of the community, we are able to report on regional topics and issues with a local lens. Our hyperlocal focus encourages participation from the community in the form of submitted content such as articles, letters, opinion pieces, event listings, and classified ads." 

With an all-star team, we are able to publish everyday and have fresh news stories, features, and community opinion or columns in the lineup. The quantity of information is exciting, but has become a challenge with the current format and website.

With the help of a generous $10,000 grant from the Community Foundation for San Benito County we are excited to announce that we are working on a new website and will be updating our layout.  

An important aspect of the grant is making the new site more user-friendly. BenitoLink is supported by its readers and the people behind our local businesses. We welcome content from the community itself and want the collaborative process between our site and contributors to be as easy, quick to learn, and as painless as possible.  

"What makes us unique is that we provide a platform for our users to take part in BenitoLink and tell their personal story, share ideas, or simply post an item on the calendar,” BenitoLink Executive Director Leslie David said. "We are listening to our community and the citizens of San Benito County's ideas matter to us. Because we value this interchange and with the help of the Community Foundation, we will be making the site easier to use and continue this growing and exciting community interaction."  

Thanks to the Community Foundation for San Benito County for seeing the value in a strong community-oriented news organization that is here to serve the whole county. 

BenitoLink was originally a project of the foundation and Vision San Benito. Interviews with hundreds of county residents confirmed that locals desired a trusted news source that was committed to covering county and city government, schools and elected leaders.