After six successful years of providing user-generated, online news, links to mainstream news, and moderated commentary in Santa Barbara, Edhat Online Magazine has announced similar community websites launches in San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

“The dedicated staff of edhat.com will serve the same role in these communities as it does in Santa Barbara,” notes Edhat founder Peter Sklar, “delivering as much information to the public as is possible, and facilitating productive conversations.”

Edhat is community-driven, featuring postings from local residents and visitors about the community, its events and news. The staff reviews and posts links to local news that is interesting or relevant. Sklar calls it "a big online neighborhood block party."

It’s free to receive the daily newsletter, a collection of county news links updated daily. Revenue is earned through these subscriptions and through advertising.

“It is my strong belief that participatory local community journalism is important to the future,” adds Sklar. “And, since no one is coming to us, it’s time to take our Edhat show on the road, and share our successful model with others.”

Citizens of San Luis Obispo are encouraged to visit the Edhat Santa Barbara website to see how vibrant and local the sites in their communities will become once they begin participating on their respective websites.

“There is nothing location-specific that makes Edhat work,” Sklar says. “People in the new towns just need to sign up and participate. Every community is unique, but every community will benefit from the social interaction that Edhat facilitates.”

Edhat.com is ranked as the No. 1 website in Santa Barbara by Alexa and the Santa Barbara Independent, and was named one of the top community websites in the country by Placeblogger.com.

For more information or to subscribe, visit www.edhat.com.