Posted on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 19:37 — by jerryb
Dear Readers I am a former CCT reporter who first cut her teeth as a reporter there six years ago. In that time, I tried my best to help produce quality, probing and unique stories. I believed, and still do, that questioning and a variety of voices and perspectives is not merely essential to the communities we served, but vital to our society as a whole. But in the five months since I've left the CCT newsroom, I've been heartbroken by the series of management events taking place there -- decisions that have beleaguered workers and threaten to undermine the Contra Costa Times. On Feb. 19, CCT's publisher, and previous executive editor, John Armstrong announced that EB-BANG, owned by Denver-based Media News, would be offering buy-out packages to all employees in an effort to hastily shave off "unspecified" payroll costs. The move, Armstrong explained, was in response to "the challenging Bay Area economic climate, and the prospect that it will be with us for another 12 to 18 months." There is not enough space here to enumerate the pitfalls of this strategy seen in newsrooms across the country in response to the obvious economic challenges. On a larger scale, CCT is just another news outlet to line up on the slippery slope. But these newsroom cuts affect not merely reporters, print men, and other newspaper workers. You, dear Contra Costa and Alameda readers, will also feel the [bleep]. The proof will be in the breadth and depth of reporting, in print and on the web -- gone will be the days of thoughtful and thorough coverage of the community; obliterated and homogenized will be the coverage of such 'regional beats' as science, in an area that touts that largest scientific centers in the country; absent will be the voices of hard-earned experience and sourcing. And this is just small peak of the future we face. Dear reader, it's true that you may not have a say, or care for that matter, in what happens to the LA Times, the Chicago Tribune, or other newsrooms where gouging has trumped creative solutions to the economic challenges. You do, however, a stake in your local newspapers, as much as the workers who produce it every day. The Contra Costa Times is a living, breathy system, that doesn't work without you. To wit: Please exercise your power, your role in the CCT by making clear to management that you will not tolerate evisceration of your news. Demand they treat their employees humanely and decently by providing more information about their economic goals. Require transparency as we hold politicians to the same threshold. And support reporters’ efforts to unionize the newsroom.
Thanks for reading.
Cassandra Braun
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 499
Concentration of media ownership has multiple trade-offs, most of them bad. The dumbing down of the news follows in the footsteps of the dumbing down of education and the general dumbing down of everything. No one seeking absolute power ... whether it be broad power across an entire nation or just local fiefdom power ... has much patience (or stomach) for an enlightened clientele (or electorate). Discernment, critical thinking, analysis, and memory are traits that all lead to individuals willing to challenge authority and stand up to power. Cut-and-paste molds of conformity and sterility are not acceptable to those with an open mind and the knowledge and experience to use it. Reporters and all newspaper workers possessing these traits will be the first to go ... you can bet your sweet bippy that even faint echoes of the word "union" associated with individuals will put them near the top of the lay-off list.
Cassandra's call to support your local paper and to demand from its owners that they be more clear and forthright is a noble one. Local control of the paper by the people who create it and who read it makes a whole lot of sense, to me.
But don't stop there. Take back your local school, while you are at it. I worked for 20+ years in a single-school district and another dozen in a district with just 3 schools (K-3, 4-5, 6-8). While here are prices to pay and benefits that get lost when the resources are not as broadly dispersed as in a large, unified district, what you gain is night and day different. Alienation and powerlessness mark the mega-district. Kids are just faces, their problems internalized and not known by adults; adults may attend a board meeting but find their voice is feeble, or try to speak with the local principal only to be shuffled along to the next rung up the hierarchical bureaucracy. In small schools, personalities and individual issues sometimes get in the way, but the freedom of being able to make choices not dictated from above; the power of local families and workers in the school to actually make policy, implement it, modify things that don't work, and work together for common goals; the fact that everyone knows one another on a first-name basis and can have direct input into the process is truly liberating and empowering.
What about your local grocery store? It doesn't need to be a chain store to offer the things you need (maybe not all the things you want) ... nor does it need to be owned and operated by a faceless and nameless board of directors. Farmer's markets are springing up everywhere, successfully, as local farmers (not the lords of agribusiness) directly connect with consumers ... many are starting to add a barter & labor exchange feature to the process, as well.
These are small steps, and apply to practically everything we do. Local control. Personal responsibility. Community-focused. Bottom-up management. Support your local paper, make it focus on substantive local issues and present the complex and often disputed points of view that exist in your own backyard (rather than the sterile and standardized pap of celebrity updates, murder and mayhem, and fuzzy-warm sophistries that typify modern infotainment). Make its operation transparent.
After that, the next step is to make your government more transparent and bring an end to the secret deals made behind closed doors that are too sensitive in nature to air publicly, or that only our leaders are privileged to hear so they can be assured they are hearing the "honest" truth.
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 323
But what I see is a global change in how we get out information. It used to be you had the newspaper, tv, and radio. Now you can access all of that 24-7 targeted to just the information you are interested in. I don't blame any business that acknowledges that they have to make changes based on profitability and changing demographics. They do have to pay the bills and if they can't do that then they can't exist. It does sadden me to think we probably will never again see the likes of a Herb Cain or Art Hoppe. I am hearing more of my favorite media writers moving into electronic media. Let me pose a few questions to you. 1. If you are going to sell a car or sofa where is the place you'd go first to list it. 2. If your looking for a service for anything where do you go first. 3. If I am a business and I want to attract new customers where should I focus a good part of my efforts. You may not all be like me, but I go to the net first. I opened a phone book the other day to look for something for the first time in 6 months. The reason was the internet gave me TOO MANY choices. I wish all of our great newpaper writers could make a good living and keep us informed through print media. But if advertising dollars are going away that's not going to happen.
What's your view? Peas
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carl: This place got a pool? Ty: Pool and a pond....... Pond be good for you.
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 529
Herb Cain/Art Hoppe, there's writers to miss. They had the right style for for their time (and ours). You have to admit even if the net is more informational there's something about getting up in the morning and grabbing the newspaper off the driveway a la Tony Soprano and sitting down in the recliner while sucking down some coffee with the paper spread out on your lap!
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 323
I guess I should have mentioned that I also prefer sitting quietly reading the newspaper. I still enjoy going to the library. My kids just stare at me when I hand them a newspaper article to read. I still get 3 newspapers. It would be more if I could find the time to read them more. I just think it's advertising revenues going away that is creating the problem. Peas------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carl: This place got a pool? Ty: Pool and a pond....... Pond be good for you.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1854
That's a good point about electronic media taking replacing some of the print media, especially with advertising. I'm been a TIME's subscriber ever since I can remember and it's the only paper I read, mainly because of the local news. I've tried the Chronicle free subscriptions once or twice, but I just wasn't reading it. I know other people have their favorite columnists and Roy likes the movie reviews with the little man jumping out of his chair, but the TIMES has always been good enough for me.
I've enjoyed all the articles on East County by Cassandra Braun, Roweena Coetsee, Simon Read, Sarah Krupp, and others. I always felt pretty informed on what has been going on.
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 499
Cassandra Braun is gone, for sure. See the article at the head of this thread. The others can respond to a request that they take a golden handshake; if they don't, they might get terminated for no other reason than the big boss is trying to cut losses. I would remind you that the Big Boss is in Denver, and has absolutely no stake and no interest in Contra Costa or the people that read his newspaper for that matter. As some have pointed out, he is interested only in advertising revenue (and some subscription revenue). Since advertisers also seem to drive the election cycle (at least they seem to have a much stronger voice about who gets air time than do you or I), and advertisers undoubtedly had something to do with the switchover to this very user unfriendly message board, I suggest you rethink just how much power you want to keep giving to "advertisers".
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1151
Ol' Dean Lesher is up there somewhere with either a scowl on his face or a tear in his eye. Maybe both.
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 323
I'll have to go sit in the corner of the Washbag with a bottle of Vitamin V. Maybe Tom Brokaw will stop in for a game of stickball.
Paese ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carl: This place got a pool? Ty: Pool and a pond....... Pond be good for you.
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 499
It's hard to say what motivates people to start a newspaper. At one point, maybe the Lesher's of the world thought they were performing a community service. Some got big enough to think they actually could manipulate and control not only public opinion, but drive national and foreign policy as well (can you say "Rosebud"?). Today, as with many other things in our lives that used to be relatively simple and pure, everything is reduced to numbers and efficiency. If it doesn't produce "x" amount of dollars or if it maims "y" number of participants, or if it garners "z" percentage of voters ... then it must be [good, bad, replicable].
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1151
I wish there was an equal place for both. During the day if I need a quick update on breaking news I'll check the online version. But for a Luddite like me, nothing can replace sitting in a comfortable chair reading a newspaper where my wife and I can pass interesting articles back and forth and chat about what's going on. Holding a three dimensional object in your hand which can stimulate ACTUAL COMMUNICATION with another human being seems to be a lost art. If I'm eating lunch by myself I'd be lost without a newspaper to read while I'm eating.
Since I don't buy or sell things that often I can't speak to the advantage of the online version. As far as services go, the yellow pages have always worked fine.