For those of you out there who have no idea what is going on, A local newspaper, the Santa Barbara News-Press has been taken over by a woman by the name of Wendy McCaw.
Evidently, she took it over, is not playing nice with the unions, has some sort of personal vendetta against Rob Lowe, has reduced the journalistic quality of the paper, and is fighting to make the beach in front of her house private property.
Ladies and gentleman, we have the anti-Christ.
At least, according to Santa Barbara standards.
Everyone loved their little paper, and now it is no more.
So what is everyone doing? Trying to fight to make it back the way it was by writing nasty things about her, organizing protests, etc.
In other words, acting like they are still in University.
People: welcome to the professional world. "Freedom of the Press" means that the government can't censor the paper. It does NOT mean that you can impose your ideas of "journalistic integrity" on the paper.
However, in the quasi-socialistic setting that the people around here seem to prefer, they would rather curse the darkness than light a candle.
In the spirit of capitalism, and taking positive steps, I present you with the only other option: stop buying their paper. Lack of money has been known to make a newspaper change. Also, if nobody is buying it, what they say won't make a difference.
Do you know why the "Enquirer" has been around for so long? People buy it.
If you are afraid that The Santa Barbara Free-Press will stay in business because people who are not up to your level of sophistication might keep them in business, you are being elitist, and need to take a look at yourself and your attitude towards your fellow man.
This is a clear-cut case of the free market deciding. Quit the 60's dream of a protest changing everything. Bumper Stickers espousing the decline of Ms. McCaw only serve to make you look foolish and hopelessly out of touch with economics. Vote with your dollars.
Start here. If Ms. McCaw buys that too, if you REALLY believe that EVERYONE is on your side, form your own newspaper, don't make it a publicly traded company, and put out the news that you think EVERYONE will want to see in a local paper.
If not, I suggest you discover something else to be worried about. It's a big world, I'm sure you'll find something.
2 comments:
Unfortunately Joe, the SBNP used to be a fantastic community oriented hub of information before Wendy McCaw started firing my friends (some who have worked for the paper for decades). I think the protests you mentioned are two fold. First of all, they reflect the efforts of those wrongfully terminated in their effort to fight these terminations legally and in public opinion. I would like to think I would stand with any of my friends if they were wrongfully terminated like this regardless of their industry. A lot of the protesting you hear is very personal. People are simply standing up for their friends. (Not necessarily bemoaning the loss of a community institution).
Second, the purpose of the protest is to create the very thing you suggest: to promote awareness of the "ASSHAT" (your words) and the asshat policies of the paper she owns, encouraging people to vote with their dollars. (I might add that it is working, the Independant, the Daily Sound, as well as Santa Barbara based blogs are taking off with renewed vitality even as readership of the Newpress plumets as locals cancel their subscriptions.) You many have seen "Boycott the Newpress" bumber stickers around town.
Well, here's a thought: are they going to sue to get their money back, or just sue?
Because there is a wise saying in the aviation world: Don't eject over land you've just bombed...
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