[1][2] The Mendocino Voice was founded in September 2016[3] by two former employees of The Willits News,[4] a legacy newspaper based in the town of Willits, California, and a property of Digital First Media (DFM).
The founders, Adrian Fernandez Baumann[5] and Kate Maxwell, have cited a lack of local news stemming from the acquisition of small northern California newspapers by DFM and its control by Alden Global Capital, as reasons for starting a new local news service.
[6][1][2] In the late 2010s The Mendocino Voice became among the most read in Mendocino County, and was cited by The Sacramento Bee,[7] The New York Times[8][9] and the Los Angeles Times,[10] and featured on the BBC and KQED.
[11] In 2019, The Mendocino Voice was selected, jointly with KZYX, to host a Report for America fellow.
[14] As with many such publications it is a member of the Local Independent Online News Publishers group.