What The Oaklandside does

The Oaklandside is a nonprofit local news organization founded in 2020 and headquartered in Oakland, California, covering city hall, education, public safety, housing, immigration, health, arts, business, sports, and the local food scene (via its East Bay Nosh vertical) for Oakland residents. It operates as part of the Cityside Journalism Network alongside sister outlets Berkeleyside and Richmondside. The publication distinguishes itself through investigative and accountability reporting, FOIA-driven journalism, and deep community engagement, including a paid high school student fellowship and community advisor programs.

The product portfolio is built on the Newspack publishing platform and centers on a free, ad-and-grant-supported news website at oaklandside.org, complemented by three email newsletters (Daily Oakland News, Weekly Oakland News, and East Bay Nosh), the Oaklandside 510 podcast distributed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, an events calendar, and a high school student reporting fellowship. Mailchimp handles newsletter distribution; there is no mobile app. Coverage is free to all readers with no paywall.

Revenue is generated through three streams: recurring reader donations and memberships processed via checkout.fundjournalism.org, grants from foundations including Report for America, the Stuart Foundation, and the San Francisco Foundation, and sponsored content from local organizations. The business model is donor- and grant-dependent rather than transaction-based, and the organization carries no private equity or venture capital ownership.

Name

The Oaklandside

Legal name

The Oaklandside

Website

https://oaklandside.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Oaklandside is a nonprofit local news organization founded in 2020 that delivers free, investigative journalism about Oakland, California, covering city hall, schools, housing, public safety, and community life, funded by reader donations, foundation grants, and sponsored content.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Membership: The Oaklandside relies on reader donations and membership support. The site features a donate button and membership form at checkout.fundjournalism.org. Coverage is free for all of Oakland, supported by voluntary contributions.
2. Grants and Foundation Funding: The newsroom receives grants from organizations including Report for America, Stuart Foundation, and San Francisco Foundation to support operations, fellowships, and specific programs.
3. Sponsored Content: The site features sponsored content sections. Examples include sponsored articles from organizations like the Order of Malta Clinic, JPMorganChase, and The Law Office of Scott R. Herndon.

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Oaklandside is a nonprofit local news organization that publishes free digital journalism covering Oakland, California, across topics including city government, schools, public safety, housing, immigration, arts, business, environment, and food. Its primary product is the oaklandside.org news website, supported by email newsletters, a podcast, and community engagement programs. Coverage is provided at no cost to readers and is sustained through reader donations, memberships, grants, and sponsored content.

Product overview

The Oaklandside is a nonprofit local news organization offering a single unified digital platform for Oakland journalism. The core product is the news website delivering articles and investigations across multiple coverage areas. Supporting the website are three email newsletters (Daily, Weekly, and East Bay Nosh food newsletter), the Oaklandside 510 podcast available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, a High School Student Reporting Fellowship program for student journalism training, and an events calendar. The portfolio is built on the Newspack publishing platform and uses Mailchimp for newsletter distribution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• East Bay Nosh: Food and restaurant coverage section of The Oaklandside
• Oaklandside 510

Products and services

• Oaklandside News Website The primary digital news platform delivering local journalism covering Oakland through articles, investigations, and multimedia content across categories including city hall, education, public safety, housing, arts, business, and food. Free to all Oakland residents.
• Daily Newsletter Free daily email newsletter delivering the latest Oakland headlines to subscribers Monday through Friday.
• Weekly Newsletter Free Saturday newsletter providing a longer, in-depth look back at the week in Oakland, featuring original reporting and curated content from other local sources.
• East Bay Nosh Newsletter Twice-weekly food and restaurant newsletter covering the East Bay food and drink scene with exclusive tips and restaurant news, operated as the East Bay Nosh sub-brand of The Oaklandside.
• Oaklandside 510 Podcast Audio podcast covering Oakland news, featuring discussions on local government, culture, and community issues. Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
• High School Student Reporting Fellowship Paid fellowship program placing 12 Oakland Unified School District high school students in the newsroom to collaborate on education coverage, receive journalism training, and contribute to reporting. Supported by the Stuart Foundation.
• Events Calendar Calendar feature listing Oakland community events, including panel discussions, screenings, and newsroom events organized or hosted by The Oaklandside.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Cityside Journalism NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Oaklandside is part of the Cityside Journalism Network, which also includes Berkeleyside and Richmondside. This is the parent organization structure for local news coverage in the East Bay.
• Knight-Wallace FellowshipminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJose Fermoso joined The Oaklandside newsroom on a Knight-Wallace Fellowship to examine reasons for Oakland's unsafe streets.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• The Colorado Sun: Denver-based nonprofit digital newsroom with a statewide footprint, supported by donations and memberships, that offers a useful comparison for a regional, donor-funded local news operation that has scaled beyond a single city.
• LAist: Southern California Public Radio (KPCC)-affiliated nonprofit local news outlet with a large multi-platform presence, serving as a broader-incumbent comparison for a metro-focused, multi-channel, donor-supported digital news operation.
• CalMatters: Large-scale California-focused nonprofit news outlet covering state policy, funded primarily by philanthropy, providing a benchmark for the kind of statewide scale that a single-city outlet like The Oaklandside could potentially expand into via the Cityside network.

Direct peers

• The Tyler Loop: East Texas nonprofit community news platform co-founded by The Oaklandside's current Editor-in-Chief Tasneem Raja, operating a similar donor-supported model and data-driven local reporting.
• Mission Local: San Francisco-based nonprofit digital news outlet that provides free, in-depth local coverage supported by donations and grants, with a comparable neighborhood- and civic-focused beat and a strong investigations reputation.
• Block Club Chicago: Nonprofit, neighborhood-level digital news outlet covering Chicago, supported by reader donations and memberships, with a comparable newsletter-driven, community-embedded local news model.
• Berkeleyside: Sister publication within the Cityside Journalism Network, also covering an East Bay city (Berkeley) with a comparable nonprofit, donation- and grant-funded local news model, newsletter portfolio, and community engagement approach.
• Richmondside: Cityside's third East Bay outlet launched in June 2024, operating the same nonprofit local-news playbook, Newspack platform, and shared back-office as The Oaklandside.
• Voice of San Diego: Established nonprofit local investigative news outlet in San Diego funded by a mix of donations, memberships, and foundation grants, focused on civic accountability journalism in a single metro.

Emerging players

• The 19th News: National nonprofit newsroom covering gender and politics, started in 2020 with a donor- and foundation-funded model, providing a peer benchmark for a recently launched, award-winning, philanthropy-supported digital news startup.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/theoaklandside
• Instagraminstagram.com/theoaklandside
• TikToktiktok.com/@theoaklandside?lang=en
• Xx.com/oaklandside

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Oaklandside