“4 million view milestone,” my pending move from RivCo and the future of RCNS

FIRST OF ALL…..THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO ENJOY READING MY NEWS REPORTS AND STORIES!!!!

I RECENTLY HIT MY 4 MILLION “UNIQUE VIEWS” MILESTONE GOAL!!!!

<<<STAND BY FOR A TINY BIT OF BRAGGING AND SELF-CONGRATULATING – LOL>>>

Graph showing last 19 months since I first created RCNS. *March 1016 and April 2017 were both months I “took time off” during working vacations in Shasta County.

Having just finished my 19th month after creating Riverside County News Source, it is so impossible for me to fathom having my news articles read more than 4 million times. And those numbers are just from my RCNS articles and do not include any of the three paying papers I work for.

Incredibly, my documented numbers for such a fledgling and not even truly recognized news organization are sometimes simply staggering and leave me in absolute awe that articles I have written could possibly have been viewed and seen by so many people.

Just looking at the last 12 months, my articles have been viewed 2.8 million times. In the last four weeks alone, my RCNS articles have been viewed 312,699 times, averaging 78,174 views per week, at an average of 11,167 views per day.

However, on my best single day ever, I received 59K views in one, single, 24-hour period. I was absolutely stunned. HAHAHA…..I actually still am.

WordPress generated map showing the 177 countries RCNS articles are being read in.

Almost unbelievably, my articles have been read in 177 of the world’s 196 countries; with some of the top countries for viewing my articles being in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, India, Philippines, Lebanon, Ireland, Japan, Israel, Brazil, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Czech Republic, United Arab Emirates, Serbia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Kenya, Kuwait, Columbia, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and way too many more to name.

It seems impossible for me to believe that there are only 19 countries in the entire world that have never seen one of my reports.

Considering the fact that I have absolutely no education in journalism and never even imagined being a journalist/reporter, here I am, doing and being exactly that. Although I truly consider myself less than a “cub-reporter,” as I still have SOOO much to learn, the numbers my little “One-Man Operation” yields are sometimes stunning.

OK…..ENOUGH OF THE MILD CHEST-THUMPING AND BORING STATS

AND ONTO THE FUTURE OF RIVERSIDE COUNTY NEWS SOURCE

SECONDLY-AND MORE IMPORTANTLY – For all those who have been asking about my local reporting and what will happen after I leave Hemet and Riverside County, don’t worry…I actually plan on continuing RCNS at full speed and plan to do as much reporting as I do now.

As it is, because I am bed/home-bound, I do 100% of my reporting sitting in my bedroom or sometimes – when I am very lucky and blessed – out in my back yard. 100% of my reporting is done from my home. All I need is an Internet connection and a phone to do everything I do.

The same way I currently report on Shasta County related news from here, 900 miles away; I will continue to report through RCNS the same way I always have. I absolutely plan to continue building and growing RCNS.

I have absolutely no intention of walking away from what I have built over the last 19 months, including writing over 1550 reports for RCNS, which have received just over 4.2 million unique page views, since I began my little “One-Man News Organization” in November, 2015.

Even after I head to Shasta County to begin a new life, ya’ll can still count on being able to read my RivCo-based news articles and stories.

Ya’ll can’t get rid of me that easily!!!

Much love and respect to all my family, friends and loved ones!

Whether I know you in person or from online, I truly cherish all your continued love and support!

<3

An open letter to all my readers from Monday, May 30:

Sadly, it looks as though my family’s nearly 25 year Hemet/I.E. adventure will soon be coming to an end.

My time here in this beautiful valley has been so memorable and so much fun and I truly adore my Hemet/San Jacinto “family.”

I have met so many wonderful people in this valley, some in person, most online, but all people whom I consider true friends that I love and do honestly care about.

Unfortunately, when I lost my leg, my health and my law enforcement career more than 11 years ago, it began a downward financial spiral that few I know could ever survive.
Recover from…yes. Survive intact…absolutely not a chance.

Ten years after my accident and without any viable income for a decade, I was lucky/blessed/fortunate enough to practically be handed the gift of being able to create a whole new life as a journalist/reporter…something I have absolutely no education for, no experience with and had never even considered.

BUT I LOVE IT!!!!!!

I truly believe I have found my new calling and my next career path in life. Too bad it took more than a decade of worsening financial situations to find writing as a potential career path.

Even though I was and still am almost 100% home/bed bound, I felt and feel connected again. I was beyond ecstatic and joyful as I once again felt alive and useful and part of my community; however, financially-it was way too little and way too late to make a real difference.

Even after I started writing news stories for three different paying papers there was just no way to even begin catching up, let alone financially recovering.

Getting paid at ten cents per word as I do (for my 30 to 40 paying reports each month) would be fantastic…if I wasn’t “capped” at $50 max per article. Last time I figured out my true pay, I was making less than 2 cents per word….which simply does not add up to any real living money, it is more like pocket change.

So, within a few weeks, Robin and I will be leaving the home and town we have lived in and raised and/or helped raise more than a dozen of “our own” children and adopted children as well as more than 60 foster children over 13 years.

Now, as we struggle to pack up decades worth of memories, with all but one of our children now adults and moved out with their own families and with only one minor child left – who turns 18 this year – it would seem as though there is a certain timing and purpose to us now finding ourselves in the devastated financial position we are in and it really seems like all the signs are saying the time is now.

So, we are downsizing from a magnificent 3,500 square foot, six bedroom house with a pool and back yard entertainment area to an RV (how, I have absolutely NO idea) and we will soon be heading north to Shasta County to join many of our children and grandchildren who have moved up that way over the years.

At this point unfortunately, it would take more than a financial miracle to change our current direction – it would take a complete Divine Intervention; but we have accepted where we are currently and where we are soon headed and we are at peace.

We are terrified and cry almost daily over the losses we continue to suffer in the face of such a huge pending change, but we are still at peace, knowing that God’s will has been, is still being and will continue to be done in our lives.

As I wrote yesterday and I honestly believe, every painful ending is just the potential for a beautiful new beginning.

Always remember, even if you are stuck in bed or unable to get up and leave the confines of your own home (or RV as will soon be the case…LOL) you can still find beauty, joy, hope and love to focus on rather than choosing to focus on the pain in life.

LIFE IS AN ADVENTURE. LIVE IT TO THE FULLEST!

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News and Anza Valley Outlook and also writes for Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg and breaking his back in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.