Craig Smith rose to the prominence in media circles in the 2000s with his popular tipster media blog. He was the go-to-source for local media news and saw the popularity of the blog rise amid the News-Press drama. Smith first launched the blog to cover the Michael Jackson trial, but quickly he became a voice for those wanting to tip him information about News-Press stories in and out of the building. From there he covered the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and became instantly recognizable on the street.

Smith recalls his days running the blog, what it was like to get information and reporter, and how he came a citizen journalism himself, with regular courtroom coverage. Check out this fantastic conversation, where Smith drops names such as Jerry Roberts, Barry Cappello, Starshine Roshell, Scott Hadly, Dawn Hobbs, Barney McManigal, Nick Welsh and so many more.

Joshua Molina is a journalist and college instructor who interviews a wide variety of people on the issues of education, housing, politics, culture and business. Molina is a former reporter at the San Jose Mercury News and teaches at Cal State University, Northridge and Santa Barbara City College.

Visit SantaBarbaraPodcasts.com or SantaBarbaraTalks.com to sign up for his newsletter and make a contribution to this individually owned podcast.