Voice of San Diego

UPDATE: Currently, Andrew Donohue and Scott Lewis serve as co-executive editors of the Voice of San Diego. You can read Andrew Donohue''s profile, including links to recent updates on the Voice, here.

Profile on Barbara Bry by Kristin Sauve
Media Giraffe Project Researcher

The non-profit Voice of San Diego covers the San Diego region, from Tijuana to Orange County. According to the website, the Voice of San Diego, "serves as a vital resource center to help readers make better choices about everyday topics, encourages civic participation through an interactive forum, provides courageous reporting on a region not fully understood or reported by existing media."

The Voice of San Diego was launched on Feb. 9, 2005. Funding for the organization was provided by individuals and foundations from the San Diego area, "a structure which allows the Voice to be independent and non-partisan."

Bry was the site''s first CEO, and during an interview with the MGP at the time, she said that her motivation for being part of the Voice of San Diego team was, "the opportunity to make a difference in San Diego by providing news and information, creating a competitive media market." She was a former LA Times and San Diego Bee business and political writer. Bry also worked for 10 years at UCSD Connect, an entrepreneurship center. During her stay at UCSD she developed signature programs, such as the forum created for biotechnology companies to be able to get corporate partnership, and UCSD Athena, the premier organization for women technology executives and entrepreneurs in the San Diego area. Bry was also the co-founder of Atcom, a corporation that developed high speed internet access in hotel rooms.

Bry was born in Philadelphia, Pa., and attended the University of Pennsylvania as and undergraduate. Bry then went on to receive her MBA from Harvard Business School. VIEW HBS PROFILE

Bry felt that the biggest problem in journalism was a "herd mentality, the unwillingness to think independently." She felt that the Voice of San Diego could be replicated in other communities around the country, though it would have to be done on a smaller scale than the Voice, as their population was much larger than most other regions. At the time, she said that with backing from the community and if done in a smaller area, "it could be done for under $10 thousand."

Through 2006, Bry is an entrepreneur in residence at the University of California San Diego.