A message from the publisher: Chapters end, beginnings emerge

All good things bring a new beginning…

Well, what can I say? We gave it a shot. (Well, actually two shots.) The goal of The Proclaimer was
always to report news that “the other” media outlets in this valley weren’t covering. I think we made
our best attempt to do just that. But you know, there’s always a metric involved when attempting
something like The Proclaimer or, as Timothy Olyphant says in the movie “The Girl Next Door,” “You have to decide if the juice is worth the squeeze.”

Sometimes it was, but sadly, sometimes it wasn’t. We received some real praise for our attempts at
doing this. In fact Richard Budman, the owner of The Signal, personally wished me good luck when we began our relaunch last year. But we also received a lot of criticism too. Republicans said we were too “left” to talk to. Progressive activists complained we weren’t “left enough.” I don’t know which is true because I thought the point of a news organization was just to report the news. Criticism is fine. Everyone has their own opinion.

I was never interested in financial compensation when doing this. I just wanted to provide to the
community something I felt it lacked. I took a lot of pride in that. But the amount of time the
publication was taking along with “The Talk of Santa Clarita” podcast was just becoming too much. I
needed to – and still need to – focus more on myself, my family and my own personal future for now.
I hope I don’t sound bitter, I’m really not. I’m sad that The Proclaimer and the podcast are both coming to an end but I am proud of the work that Ryan Mancini in 2021, Mai Do in 2018 and the incredible amount of talented writers who helped to shape The Proclaimer for the two years it was published. They did it for the same reason I did, for the love of the community. I can never say too much about Ryan and Mai. Both were editors-in-chief for a full year each and put simply, they both worked their asses off! I am grateful to both of them. More than anybody else, they respectively deserve the credit for the existence of The Proclaimer. Now, with “The Talk of Santa Clarita” out of my hands and The Proclaimer closing its virtual doors, I think it’s time for me to go quiet and step away for a while. I wish all of our supporters the best and want to thank them for the attention they gave us. I hope in some way we were able to provide you with something which benefitted you.

This isn’t a final ending, it’s the end of a chapter of a very long book. A new beginning is on its way and I look forward to the challenges ahead which will come with it. For myself, that new beginning starts with graduate school. After that, who knows? I still very much believe in giving back to the community in any way a person can and I hope, upon finishing school, I can do just that in some other form. Santa Clarita is an amazing town with amazing people and I am excited for the future, for me, for you and this community. I am wishing you all the best! Until next time, I’ll see you when I see you.

Stephen Daniels
Former publisher of The Proclaimer and host of “The Talk of Santa Clarita” podcast
stephenprestondaniels@gmail.com

Stephen Daniels

Originally from Kentucky, Stephen moved to Santa Clarita in 1993 to obtain his Master of Fine Arts degree in Film Production at the California Institute of the Arts. He has several years of experience working for non-profits and community radio. Stephen’s experiences with both inspired him to create the non-profit, Radio Free Santa Clarita, Inc. – an organization dedicated “To inform, educate and (hopefully) entertain the SCV” with different forms of alternative media. He has been the host of “The Talk of Santa Clarita” podcast for five years and has done more than 160 shows interviewing everyone from unique people of interest, to congresspeople and even a presidential candidate. Despite his ties to media, Stephen prefers to not consider himself a journalist. Instead he says, “I’m just a guy who talks to people. I just happen to record it when I do.”