This California city lost its daily newspapers. It faces a crisis over what comes next

Richmond , California , has not had its own daily newspaper for years .

The city's main information source has been the Richmond Standard , a news website funded by Chevron .

Richmond is one in a growing number of California communities that have had to navigate civic life without a newspaper.

The issue of California 's growing news deserts is a hot topic in the state Legislature .

The West County Times, the lone paper covering Richmond , was facing a menacing economic shift: the rise of the internet.

Advertising dollars — long the financial mainstay of traditional newspapers — moved online, budgets dwindled.

Chevron , which had long been one of the biggest influences on local politics, stayed.

Progressives were alarmed that there was now a leading source of local coverage.

Richmondside is the latest offshoot of the Cityside Journalism Initiative , a nonprofit online news platform launched by journalists looking to reinvigorate local news coverage in the Bay Area .

Richmondside's new editor, Kari Hulac , said the publication would have two full-time staffers and two interns.