Sean Reinhart, our new managing editor, leads our mission for citizen-powered media

Sean S. Reinhart takes the helm as Managing Editor of Oakland Report, bringing 25 years of municipal leadership, a deep talent for writing, and passion for Oakland Report’s mission: citizen-led media.

Sean S. Reinhart

I am thrilled to announce the appointment of Sean S. Reinhart as Managing Editor of Oakland Report. With his prolific and quality contributions, Sean earned this role. He brings exceptional writing and editorial skill, and the passion, judgment, and vision to grow Oakland Report to its full potential.

Sean also brings valuable organizational experience, with 25 years in municipal government in Hayward and Menlo Park, most recently as Director of Library and Community Services, where he oversaw recreation, child care centers, senior centers, and library operations. He retires from that post in January—and has chosen to make Oakland Report his next chapter.

And he’s doing it for now without pay.

Lake Merritt, looking westward toward downtown Oakland and San Francisco Bay. Oakland, California (Image source: City of Oakland)

In fact, everyone at Oakland Report is unpaid. Over the past two years, the community has donated nearly $100,000 (thank you!), yet we have spent only $10,000—including legal costs to incorporate as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

But those numbers are a bit unfair, because they ignore the true engine of Oakland Report: donated time. We estimate that more than half a million dollars of volunteer effort has gone into this publication. All but one article was written by community members—citizens who care enough about their city to research, reason, and write without compensation.

This is the heart of our project. It proves that residents need not be passive recipients, or even pawns, of media narratives. We can tell the story directly and unflinchingly, rooting it in firsthand experience and supported by provable evidence and analysis. And we can do it at a level of rigor that meets—or exceeds—that of institutions with paid staff.

What Comes Next

To fulfill the promise of Sean’s vision and our shared commitment to reasoned, evidence-based civic media, we will eventually need more resources. Not because we intend to replace our volunteer-powered model—it is our superpower, and we’re keeping it. We’ll need resources because critical mass matters. At some point, certain professional functions will be necessary to achieve stability, continuity, and scale.

And we’re not there yet. $100,000 is a huge milestone, but nowhere near what’s required to take that next step with the impact it deserves. And so we continue to pinch pennies, and work for free, so we can reach that critical mass.

Oakland Tribune building entrance at 409 13th Street on Nov. 23, 2025. Founded in 1874, the Oakland Tribune was the last of Oakland’s independent daily newspapers. It ceased operations in 2016, creating a massive void in independent news coverage of Oakland’s local government. (Image source: Oakland Report)

What Will Not Change

What will not change is our community-powered operating model, our independence from interest groups, and our refusal to publish anything that does not meet evidentiary and analytical standards. (We have already left a lot on the cutting room floor.)

Most importantly, we refuse to play the games of implicit judgement and selection bias so common in Bay Area media. (Superfluous, judgmental, emotion-bating adjectives are banned.)

Without those principles, it simply wouldn’t be Oakland Report.

How You Can Help

Two ways:

1. Join us in January at our Oakland Report mixer downtown at 2201 Broadway in Oakland — meet us and hear what’s coming. Enjoy the free food, drink and conversation!

2. Continue to donate. Your support gets us closer to critical mass and ensures this experiment in citizen-led, evidence-based journalism not only survives—but grows.

Together, we’re proving that civic media doesn’t have to be broken. Citizens can tell the truth about their own city. And when we do, this place we call home will get better.

See you in January.

—Tim