What is The Orange County Reader?

The Orange County Reader is an open forum offering multiple viewpoints and dedicated to a discussion of topics and issues of importance to the residents of Orange County. The site consists of a multi-author blog, an archive of articles, resources of value to the Orange County community, and an active discussion forum, all seamlessly integrated around a single community that we believe are some of the most diverse, intelligent and passionate people on the internet: our readers. Our goal is to provide a public space — a hypothetical town square, if Orange County had a distinct downtown — in which our community can congregate. We use our best efforts to guard our users’ anonymity, provided it isn’t abused. There is no hierarchy, no paid staff, and no artificial distinctions between who is allowed to speak and who has no choice but to listen. All registered users are welcome to participate on the condition that they do so in furtherance of the community and its ideals.

Read our introductory blog and mission statement here.

Who is The Orange County Reader?

It is a collection of five people who each have different responsibilities for operation of the site:

• Lane Meyer, our resident expert on all things relating to employment, foreclosure, and real estate, he also is part of our team recruiting contributors to the blog.
• Dante, our creative consultant, is the other half of our recruitment team, and was a guiding hand in the initial design and execution of the site.
• LizzieBennet, our assistant editor (and so much more), is so talented that she often fills in as needed, silently and behind the scenes, but her influence is everywhere.
• EvaLSeraphim, our in-house grammar tyrant, is primarily responsible for making sure typos don’t get published.
• Lloyd Dobler, the jack-of-all-trades, handles the day-to-day operations of the site now that his initial job of design and layout is complete.

We all share in moderation duties in the forum, just as we all contribute to the blog itself. While the roles above serve to define our primary activities, we all do what we can as needed, and we are equally involved in the creation and maintenance of The Orange County Reader. No single member controls or owns the content of the site.

Interested in Writing for the Orange County Reader?

If you have think you are ready for prime time, we encourage you to consider contributing blogs or articles to the Orange County Reader. Our criteria for writers include the ability to deliver high-quality, original content and to adhere to the guidelines established from time to time by the Orange County Reader and to general standards of journalism. Contact contributors@ocreader.com for more information.