My Last Week as Editor of Davis Patch: A Thank You From Justin Cox

By Justin Cox

Davis Patch launched in the summer of 2011 to an audience of zero, besides my parents and a few of my friends who are obligated to support me in all of my endeavors. At that time, I was unmarried and childless.  

Two years later, Davis Patch's stories reach thousands of inboxes and social media feeds every day. I also now have a beautiful wife and a 10-month-old baby. 

I point those things out to illustrate why I look back on these last two years with such satisfaction and fulfillment. I'm writing this now because Friday will be my last day as Davis Patch's editor and I want to say a proper goodbye. 

I have accepted a new job as the Content Marketing Manager for the UC Davis One Health Institute. (Here’s what that means). I could easily fill this space with reasons why the new opportunity is great, but I’d prefer to look backwards instead, because I have plenty to be thankful for. 

No office / Plenty of coffee

This job at Davis Patch is unlike anything I’ll ever do again in my life, and I’m lucky to have experienced it. Armed with a laptop, an iPhone and an Internet connection, I was tasked with delivering local news, while also building a local, online audience in a town with plenty of other local media options. 

I did the bulk of my work at places like Mishka’s and Cloud Forest Café in downtown Davis. (Many free-coffee stamp cards were filled). I also spent the occasional Friday afternoon writing articles in fine establishments like de Vere’s and the Davis Beer Shoppe, which is a nice perk if you ask me. 

Some of my most memorable Davis Patch stories were actually posted from my living room, where I routinely hammered out early-morning articles in my undies.

I don't hesitate to admit that because it was a defining characteristic of the gig: As editor of a Patch site, you wake up with an immediate need to know what’s going on in your town, so the first item on the to-do list is to survey the local scene. If a story needs to be written, showering and breakfast have to wait. It’s exciting. 

Friends made / Stories told 

I met some very high-quality people during my work with Davis Patch, all of whom are doing their part to make this community what it is. I got to know elected officials, business owners, flea market visionaries, occupy protesters, police officers, bloggers, pub quiz MCs, teachers, music festival pioneers, poets, the list goes on. I'm certain I'll keep in touch with some of these great people; the relationships already go beyond the stories I wrote or the blogs that I helped publish. 

One thing I always made clear during my time with Patch was that I had no intention of attempting to replicate or compete with other local publications (because I felt it would have a negative impact on the job). My role was to put my finger on the pulse of the town and connect with the online audience in whatever ways made sense, so that’s what I did – often times on my own, and other times by guiding interns or freelancers or collaborating with colleagues. 

I came to learn that one of Davis Patch’s strengths was getting news out quickly, mostly because of our nimble, non-existent brick-and-mortar newsroom. The byproduct is a nimble, non-existant work schedule. There are benefits and drawbacks to that kind of looseness, but it makes for an exciting life and I'm glad to have lived it. 

My wife woke me up once to tell me that a helicopter had just hovered over our home, delivering a inaudible message through an intercom. Twenty minutes later, Davis Patch had a story about a missing autistic child from North Davis. The article featured tweets from the police, video of the helicopter and details about the child’s whereabouts. 

We received dozens of emails and comments from people who appreciated knowing what the late-night commotion was. It was cool to be able to answer that question for people without delay. And that's just one of many examples. 

Big stories / Memorable moments

Davis Patch grew steadily for five months after the site launched, but when Lt. John Pike deployed his pepper spray on the UC Davis quad in late 2011, growth really took off. During the two days that followed that incident, I personally churned out more than 20 stories, while some of my colleagues helped out as well.  

Some of those stories were traditional pieces of local journalism, but others were attempts to encapsulate the fact that Pike’s image had gone global: We produced original videos, slideshows, live video feeds, social media reactions, blogs, and a whole lot more. It was an amazing and exhausting experience, and a satisfying illustration that we were doing something worthwhile at Davis Patch. 

Another memorable moment was when the Powell family won a Patch-sponsored competition that brought $100,000 to our schools (because of their lighting display during the holidays). The Powells found out about the contest because of a letter I wrote to the Davis Enterprise, and the Enterprise helped promote the competition without me ever asking for their help. I thought that was pretty cool. 

Davis dominated the competition, and now the school district has $100,000 extra to pay for educational technology. 

Quality colleagues / Quality friends 

Working remotely in a town with no other permanent staffers can have an isolating effect, but I’ve been lucky to work with some amazing people at Patch, including: Cody Kitaura, Lauren Gibbs, Josh Staab, Carlos Villatoro, Victor Calderon, Felicia Mello, Alex Gronke, Eve Pearlman and Genevieve Bookwalter. 

You might continue to see a few of those names on Davis Patch, because our editors do a lot more collaborating these days than we did when we launched two years ago. You’re in good hands, because they’re all sharp journalists and editors.  

You may continue to see my name on this site occasionally as well, because I plan to blog about stuff I particularly enjoy, like the upcoming Davis Music Festival. (You should do the same, because it’s easy and you can reach thousands of local people).

See you around 

I feel a deep connection to this town and I feel lucky to have been Davis Patch’s editor. I’m also excited that my next opportunity will allow me to remain local.

And with that, I say goodbye.  

Davis Patch's guest editor will be Lindsey Hickman. If you have any news tips or advice you’d like to share, please send them to davis@patch.com or lindseyh.patch@gmail.com. I’ll give Lindsey a proper introduction soon, but please don't hesitate to send her story ideas and tips. 

You can reach me at my personal email address anytime if you'd like to stay in touch: justincox22@gmail.com. My personal Twitter account has collected dust for the past two years, but I’m going to start using it again soon, too: @CoxJustin.

Thanks for two great years, and I’ll see you all around town.