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The Community Foundation for San Benito County is supporting regular reporting on San Benito County government with a new $8,000 grant to BenitoLink, San Benito’s local news source.
Important decisions are made every week affecting residents of San Benito County and without local news coverage, few in the community would ever know about them.
Funded through the Community Foundation in July, the 2026 Program Grant will help ensure residents can continue to get weekly reports on local government. Most residents can’t afford the time to regularly attend government meetings. BenitoLink, a nonprofit organization, serves the county by reporting on the San Benito County Board of Supervisors—its many committees and meetings—among other important local stories.
With the conclusion earlier this year of a California Local Journalism Fellowship contract, which provided the majority of the costs for a reporter ($70,000) dedicated to county beat coverage, BenitoLink applied to the Community Foundation for temporary financial help to fill this important reporting coverage gap.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors typically has two public meetings a month and approximately three other special meetings per month totaling about 60 meetings in a typical year. Meetings can also spawn a couple of follow-up stories each week containing additional important information.
Besides the Board of Supervisors, the county holds Planning Commission meetings on a regular basis, as well as subcommittee meetings that occasionally include topics of interest and importance to the community.
This does not include the local school districts, public agency and nonprofit meetings, as well as in-depth reporting that can also benefit from the grant funding.
Typically, BenitoLink reaches 40,000-50,000 unique readers every month in a county of nearly 70,000 residents. BenitoLink reporting also serves segments of the community that are disconnected from government activities and local events. The “hard to reach” segments of our community are the least likely to hear about new ordinances and laws or funding opportunities that could help them. BenitoLink is free to the public and can be read on cellphones, which the vast majority of people now own.
Consistent, regular reporting keeps residents aware of issues and prepared for upcoming elections. In-depth reporting provides analysis and visual explanation on complex topics.
BenitoLink thanks the Community Foundation’s volunteer grants committee participants who reviewed all the grant applications from nonprofits all over the county. We also want to thank the people who made the Community Foundation grants possible, and finally the Community Foundation for San Benito County for its critical support of local news gathering.
About the Community Foundation for San Benito County
The Community Foundation is San Benito County’s connection point for giving—bringing together donors, nonprofits and neighbors to build a stronger community.
About BenitoLink
Independent and nonpartisan, BenitoLink is a local news organization with a public service goal to provide online news about government, economic development, public health, social and criminal justice, transportation, education, sports and community events. We also host election forums, town halls and fun events, and provide recognition for contributors, both editorial and financial. Community members post opinion pieces, add comments to articles, and submit their own columns on topics of community interest. As a journalistic endeavor, we provide the checks and balances a democracy needs.
History
In 2011, residents crafted a vision of the ways San Benito County could progress and thrive in the following decade: the Vision Summit Final Report of October 2011, by the Community Foundation for San Benito County. Aligned with that vision, a group of community members launched BenitoLink in 2012, operating as a program of the Community Foundation. Three years of start-up funding came from the Knight Foundation, taking BenitoLink to July 2014, when it separated and became an independent nonprofit. Over the next 12 years, BenitoLink evolved into the community news source that it is today.
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. Producing local news is expensive, and community support keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service nonprofit news.
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