Santa Monica Daiily press
Santa Monica Daily Press is an independent daily newspaper founded in 2001, serving Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades residents with local news, a podcast, and a PDF archive via subscription, advertising, and legal notice revenue.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2001
- HeadquartersSanta Monica, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Santa Monica Daiily press does
Santa Monica Daily Press (SMDP) is an independent, privately held daily newspaper founded in 2001 and headquartered in Santa Monica, California. It serves local residents of Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades with daily coverage of city government, politics, crime, business, community events, lifestyle, sports, and opinion. SMDP operates a single integrated editorial product distributed across a website (smdp.com), a printed newspaper edition, a PDF archive of past issues, and an owned podcast, supplemented by syndication of statewide commentary from CalMatters and wire content from the Associated Press.
The publication is built on the Ghost content management system with the Gazet theme, a standard third-party publishing stack with no disclosed proprietary technology layer. It maintains an unusually broad social distribution footprint spanning 15+ platforms (Facebook, X, Bluesky, Discord, Instagram, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Reddit, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Telegram, Pinterest, WhatsApp, RSS). Content production is staff-driven (lead bylined journalist Matthew Hall, with additional contributors and community "Guest Author" submissions from local organizations), with no AI tooling mentioned in any source material.
SMDP generates revenue from three streams: digital subscriptions (free registration with paid tiers for full access), local advertising and sponsorships on web and in print, and a dedicated legal notice filing service that monetizes statutorily required public notices. Pricing for subscriptions, advertising rates, and legal notice fees is not publicly disclosed. The customer base is geographically concentrated to a single metro submarket, with no enterprise or institutional customer logos identified. Leadership consists of co-founders Carolyn Sackariason and Dave Danforth, with Ross Furukawa serving as President and Co-Founder. No parent company, external investors, or M&A activity are disclosed.
Santa Monica Daiily press firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Santa Monica Daiily press
- Legal name
- Santa Monica Daily Press
- Website
- https://smdp.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2001
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Santa Monica Daily Press is an independent daily newspaper founded in 2001, serving Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades residents with local news, a podcast, and a PDF archive via subscription, advertising, and legal notice revenue.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Santa Monica Daiily press industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Local News Publishing
- NAICS
- Newspaper Publishers (513110), Periodical Publishers (513120)
- SIC
- Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)
- akta.pro primary industry
- News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines (MPAJAEAO)
Keywords
Where Santa Monica Daiily press is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Santa Monica
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Santa Monica Daiily press business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Digital Subscriptions: The publication operates a subscription/signup model offering registered member and subscriber access to content, with a PDF archive and print edition available to paying members.
- Advertising & Sponsorships: SMDP sells advertising placements on its website and in its print edition, with a dedicated SMDP Advertising page and multiple sponsorship opportunities tied to events and content sections.
- Legal Notices: The publication offers a dedicated Legal Notices filing service, generating revenue from public legal notice publications as required by law.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Santa Monica Daiily press product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Santa Monica Daily Press (SMDP) is an independent local daily newspaper and digital news publication serving the Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades communities. It delivers daily coverage of local government, politics, crime, business, lifestyle, and community events across multiple formats including a website (smdp.com), PDF archive, podcast, and print edition. The publication combines traditional print journalism with digital distribution channels to reach both residents and advertisers in the Westside Los Angeles area.
Product overview
Santa Monica Daily Press (SMDP) operates as a single-platform local news publication providing digital news coverage, a podcast, and PDF archive subscriptions to the Santa Monica community. The publication covers local government, politics, crime, business, community events, and lifestyle content with no modular product architecture.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- SMDP Website (smdp.com)
- SMDP Podcast
- PDF Archive
- SMDP Print Edition
- SMDP Advertising
Companies that use Santa Monica Daiily press
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Santa Monica Daiily press technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Santa Monica Daiily press partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Santa Monica Daiily press competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- LAist: LA-focused digital local news outlet covering Los Angeles neighborhoods, civic affairs, and culture. Closely comparable to SMDP's digital-first, hyperlocal coverage model and community-engagement GTM, though at a much larger LA-wide scale.
- The Argonaut: Long-running weekly community newspaper serving LA's Westside including Venice, Marina del Rey, and Westchester. Direct geographic and format peer to SMDP — same print + digital local newspaper model serving overlapping affluent LA coastal communities.
- Patch: National hyperlocal news network that operates a Santa Monica-specific edition covering local government, schools, and community events. Direct peer in hyperlocal digital news with overlapping content categories and local advertiser base.
- Lookout Santa Cruz: Independent, digital-first local news outlet serving Santa Cruz County with a subscription-supported model and emphasis on local accountability journalism. Comparable to SMDP as a founder-led, digitally native local daily covering a single market.
- The Malibu Times: Weekly local newspaper serving Malibu and surrounding LA coastal communities. Direct peer in the same coastal Westside LA geography, with overlapping advertiser base and coverage of similar civic and lifestyle topics.
- Larchmont Buzz: Hyperlocal digital news site covering the Larchmont/Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Comparable to SMDP as an LA-area community-funded digital news outlet covering civic affairs, schools, and local business.
- Beverly Press / Park La Brea News: Long-established LA community newspaper serving Beverly Hills, Hancock Park, and surrounding neighborhoods. Comparable in print + digital local newspaper model and in covering affluent LA-area civic and business news.
Emerging players
- Streetsblog Los Angeles: LA-focused digital publication covering transportation, land use, and civic planning. Comparable in hyperlocal LA digital news GTM and in covering Santa Monica city council decisions, though narrower in topic scope.
Broad incumbents
- Daily Breeze: Established South Bay / LA-area daily newspaper covering a wider geographic footprint than SMDP. Comparable as a daily local newspaper covering similar content categories (civic, business, crime), but at larger scale and broader geography.
- Los Angeles Times: Major metropolitan daily covering LA County, including Santa Monica. Comparable as a daily news publisher serving overlapping audiences, but operates at vastly larger scale and competes most directly for premium local advertisers and subscribers.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Santa Monica Daiily press social profiles
Digital presenceSanta Monica Daiily press financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Santa Monica Daiily press leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Santa Monica Daiily press funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Santa Monica Daiily press M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Santa Monica Daiily press
What does Santa Monica Daiily press do?
Santa Monica Daily Press (SMDP) is an independent local daily newspaper and digital news publication serving the Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades communities. It delivers daily coverage of local government, politics, crime, business, lifestyle, and community events across multiple formats including a website (smdp.com), PDF archive, podcast, and print edition. The publication combines traditional print journalism with digital distribution channels to reach both residents and advertisers in the Westside Los Angeles area.
Is Santa Monica Daiily press a public or private company?
Santa Monica Daiily press is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Santa Monica Daiily press founded?
Santa Monica Daiily press was founded in 2001. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Santa Monica Daiily press based?
Santa Monica Daiily press is headquartered in Santa Monica, United States, in the North America region.
How does Santa Monica Daiily press make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Digital Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are advertising & Sponsorships and legal Notices.
Who are Santa Monica Daiily press's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are LAist, The Argonaut, Patch, Lookout Santa Cruz, The Malibu Times, Larchmont Buzz and Beverly Press / Park La Brea News. Streetsblog Los Angeles is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Daily Breeze and Los Angeles Times.
Does Santa Monica Daiily press have an API?
No public API is recorded for Santa Monica Daiily press.
What industry is Santa Monica Daiily press in?
Santa Monica Daiily press's product category is Local News Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAEAO, News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines. Its NAICS code is 513110 and its SIC code is 2711.