Letters

LETTERS: VOL. 2, ISSUE 5

The District WeeklyWed. May 07
 

This Week: Pale Ale, Tyranny and Propoganda (sic)

BEER GOOD
Cheers to the new feature! [Julian Shrago’s “Beer of the Month,” April 16]. It was refreshing to read a straightforward and knowledgeable take on beer, forgetting all this talk about “beer as the next wine.” Beer is beer—and it’s good. India Pale Ales are my favorite brews, and Pizza Port and Beachwood BBQ are two of the best places to get a top-notch pint in Southern California. Julian provided a fine summary of IPA and did a finer job of describing the beer’s characteristics. Damn, I’m off to get some hoppy suds myself.

MATTHEW RALSTON
Seal Beach
Via letters@thedistrictweekly.com

TYRANNY AND INJUSTICE BAD
Regarding John Tecumseh’s opinion on the Press-Telegram [Letters, April 30]: If the P-T becoming more liberal is what makes this gentleman think it is a better paper, then I believe he has lost sight of what the role of the paper should be. The P-T has a moral and ethical obligation to report the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth—and then let the citizenry come to their own conclusions. If a person wants a decidedly liberal or conservative point of view, he or she should read publications that clearly state that is their goal. But under no circumstances should a general news outlet ever push a particular political or ideological agenda, regardless of the leanings of its readership. A misinformed citizenry, because they only get one opinion or one side of the story, is one that will follow blindly down the path to tyranny and injustice.

P. TAYLOR HODGES
Long Beach
Via letters@thedistrictweekly.com

UNEDITED OPINION OF A P-T COPY EDITOR
There has been a lot of noise made by the two extremes at the Press-Telegram [Dave Wielenga’s “‘Dad Roasts Devil Tot,’” April 2], from all the company propoganda (sic) spewed by Rich and Larry to all the Guild martyrdome (sic) propaganda. Yes, Rich [Archbold] saved his own job at expense of good newsmen like John Futch. Yes, Rich has mandated that the mindless drivel that Krikorian turns in is untouchable and must run in full. No matter how trite or worthless the column may be. Yes, the majority of the columnists are out of touch with what is really going on at the paper. All of that is true, and it sucks. But, to blindly think what the guild wrongly claims is wrong as well. First and foremost there were no news copy editors laid off, none, zero, zip. All five of us were among those who were transfered (sic) to the Breeze office. So all the union rabble rousing about the loss of local desk people reading the Long Beach copy is patently false. More importantly, as soon as we were in the new building the guild took a none to (sic) vieled (sic) shot at the new Breeze crew on their Stress-Telegram blog. After I disagreed with their stance and the condensending (sic) tone that they took towards those who used to work I became the target of several hostile anonymous comments. I signed my name to what I wrote. My former co-workers however, did not. The Guild, which tries to rally support for their cause stoops down to the same backhanded and foul tactics as those they fight. Not to some random outsider. But to someone who was a dues paying union member up until the transfer. The Guild seems intent to fight for the jobs of the incompetent and the undeserving, not for the great and talented journalists who are now scrambling for work. Their tactics have brought nothing but division, the majority of us who got the transfer to the Breeze now want nothing to do with our former union. They don’t deserve our support. Nor do they deserve the support of anyone else.

DAVE FEENSTRA
Copy editor
The Daily Breeze/Press-Telegram

  • SingledOut
    True, a living wage would be nice and a staff that stays at the paper for more than a couple of years so they can get some sources under their belt. So the Randy Gordon's of the cities don't gobble up the city and get away with it like a fat kid in a candy shop.
  • Octomorph
    The Molinas have inroads into nonprofit. Interesting dream, but if we want a local newspaper with quality, there has to be a way to pay reporters, editors and columnists, and choose staff members who know how to report, edit and write. The problem isn't with the funding; it's with who's running the show, and this one has about as much chance of a long run as a summer stock revival of "Song of Norway." Whoever owns the paper has to choose the staff wisely, and listen to what the readership wants.
  • SingledOut
    The Molina purchase is an interesting Idea, but I think that non-profit might be the way to go for Journalism.
    The Press-Telegram needs some old PT fan to will them some large amount of cash, put it in a hedge fund ( that invests in the baby boom generations death, a guarantee ) and let it self generate cash for the papers production. Or let Dean Singleton/MediaNews buy more papers on the backs of our local readers.
  • Andy
    Is that the Long Beach Magazine that costs as much as a downtown parking ticket and has about 10 pages?
  • Octomorph
    Let's hope that MOlina, should he buy the P-T (and wouldn't that be great) leave journalism up to journalists and appeal to the entire demographic of LB. Triteness is right.
  • LBRez
    Maybe Molina not that he's cut his teeth on the Long Beach Magazine and its triteness is ready to shoulder the challenge of a "real" publication and make a bid for the P-T. I read it daily, although it takes less time. I enjoy their compilation of editorials from across the ideological spectrum and the letters/call ins to see what the people are thinking (although the same people usually with predictable letters hating or defending Bush/Dems/GOPs).

    The sports page is useless except some coverage of sports at The Beach--they never seem to have the Dodgers score unless the played on the East coast and finished by 5:00 pm local. Oh, and hugs or not the have Krikorian who some how gets paid to write about the alchoholic adventures of his buddies--his Friday columns read like a weekly frat house hot sheet.

    Someone local, with youth, vigor, vision and obviously cash, please buy or make a serious offer for the P-T! If you follow the sale of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis/St. Paul you note it is definitely a buyers market in daily journalism.

    Dave: one of my kids favorite books when little was "Hug", maybe you can send a copy to Krikorian.
  • Andy
    Lots of folks are right here, but the main issue is that we've entered a period where old management is still trying to make newspapers profitable using an outdated revenue structure. Traditional media can no longer "scoop" the internet, but it can provide stories, images, and advertising that people will want to pay for.

    The CEOs of the conglomerates see declining readership and ad revenue and cut costs and merge operations because that's all their Jurassic business model tell them to do.

    I work in interactive advertising for a large, large vehicle manufacturer whose management is similarly impaired. They hear and spout words like "digital strategy" and "consumer generated content", but if it ain't a TV spot or print ad, they don't get it.
  • Octomorph
    Hi, LBRez--A scoop is a scoop, and Bill Pearl knows a breaking story when he smells it. As I said, he's a one-man op, and does admirably.

    I take the Times as well as the P-T. The Times publishes a paper journalism product you want to read. Let's take the Times, in fact, and the story of the manhole covers: After the P-T had printed its first article, the Times subsequently printed one that went way deep (I'm prone to unintended puns and wordplay, sorry) into the backstory, detailing a world black market for the covers and the prices they're paying for it. The P-T never touched on this aspect.

    I had initially subscribed to the P-T to read about what's going on in my backyard. Now, I'm reading about Miami, towns in the Midwest--stuff I can't even remember, all pulled off the wire. We had a good local paper before; now, I have no idea what the P-T is doing. Yesterday (Thursday), we had an incredible local news day; today, not much of anything. John Canalis was reduced to a blurbmeister; the story about Jason Gewurtz (which the District picked up last week, I think) stood out by what it almost didn't say. There was a nostalgic tone in the mention of Tracy Manzer, excellent reporter whose ubiquitous byline we hardly see now. I can't remember what was on this morning's front page, but one of the stories had to do with some nonessential nonevent in another state, again plucked off the wire and dressed up with a headline and placed page right. I don't even want to bother reading Saturday's; I know what to expect by now.

    You're so right about the direction that the Web is taking. The Report and Post stand alone with no paper version, and have loyal readerships. The District has both, but their paper publication isn't an afterthought or a come-on to its Web site; the site is an enhancement to the print. The P-T's site, while not as exciting, is far better than the paper product. However, print journalism isn't going away soon. People still want their paper with their breakfast. It's portable and convenient, is full of coupons, and if you spill coffee on it or drop it in the toilet, it won't short out. Journalists--those worth their mettle, and the P-T still by grace of God knows what has a few--deserve better treatment than they're being given, and readers deserve a local paper--a good one.

    Dave--you gotta eyeball everything you send out.

    What this late-night diatribe boils down to is this: someone who knows about and respects local journalism needs to be running the show here, and the show needs to be a focused production, not a circus with more rings than anyone can count.
  • Doug Krikorian
    Dave Feenstra still needs a hug.
    I don't mean a short one, I'm talking about the inappropriate long ones that they give to kids with A.D.D. they usually resists but then finally give and let it all out with tears, followed by pointing to the doll where the bad man touched him.

    Sergeant Hulka: "Lighten up, Francis."

    Source: -Movie ( Stripes) , 1981
  • LBRez
    Octo--LBReport did not "scoop" the P-T; because of the media he was able to put the press release information from the Water Department on his site before the P-T came to print with the release information and interview with H2O Dept spokesman. If the P-T has somewhat relevant site they could post many of the releases that drive their stories "live" perhaps creating buzz about the next day's paper for readers to want to read the full story. But that would be actually expanding their thinking of what their market is, what their competition is and what would drive eyeballs to the ink.

    Much of the P-Ts, and other papers, demise is their inability to convert in the news/opinion delivery industry with the expansion and growth of the internet.

    They are stuck because the have historical newspaper management and they need internet/new media mentality to drive people to the paper and sell subscriptions and therefore advertising. Thus local sites like The District Weekly, LBPost and LBReport with forward thinking management continue to grow and involve the community in news and opinion and the P-T withers away.

    One more thing, Krikorian personifies the dinosaur nature of the paper and its irrelevance (sic).
  • Dwight K Snider
    Citizen Journalist Quote of the Day:

    Whoever can speak, speaking now to the whole nation, becomes a power, a branch of government, with inalienable weight in law making, in all acts of authority. It matters not what rank he has, what revenues or garnitures. The requisite thing is, that he have a tongue which others will listen to; this and nothing more is requisite.

    From "On Heroes and Hero Worship" by Thomas Carlyle, 1841.(Source: The Fourth Estate, from Wikipedia.)
  • Disappointed
    I'm not in the paper biz, but I think I know more about it than Dave Feenstra knows about unions.

    Unions are all about collective bargaining. Collective as in "everyone." They don't pick which employees are important enough to fight for, and which ones can be thrown away. Personally, I would never want to belong to any union that didn't protect all its members, or who thought some members weren't entitled to the same rights as everyone else.
  • Earl Williams
    Dave, you need a hug.
  • D. Feenstra
    Wow. Upon closer inspection, I did really do a brutal job of typing that up.
  • Octomorph
    I'm not sure what point Mr. Feenstra was trying to make--I don't work at the P-T and am not privy to the jabs and jags that are going on at the paper. I will say that, as a reader, I've seen what was once a great read for local news go further and further from point of excellence. I'm not sure whether to cancel my subscription in protest, or to keep it to support the remaining excellent writers and reporters, whose work I'm seeing less and less.

    The P-T in the last year or so has reinvented itself more often than Madonna has. News about Long Beach is sandwiched in between wire stories, and the front page doesn't get any Long Beach news unless someone gets robbed. I sorely miss Wendy Thomas Russell and Samantha Gonzaga, and Greg Mellen seems to have had his series of fame with "Davik's Heart." John Canalis has been removed from the editorial page, and now we get flatline opinions about our city or matters that don't concern us locally. LB Report, with its one-man operation, managed to scoop the P-T on the manhole thefts, and I read somewhere that the LB Post featured the story of the home invasion at the residence of L'Opera's owner way before the P-T reported it. Saturday's edition is generally a wash; I read the headlines and then pick up the L.A. Times.

    To me, sending copy editors, who perform an important function in keeping the paper accurate and readable all while maintaining invisibility, to a nonunion office is unconscionable. And, while we're on the subject of copyediting and invisibility, I've been hit in the face with more inexcusable errors than I can count. Just the other day, I found a sentence that read something like "they stood between he and it."

    As for the letter you mailed the district, you really should have proofed it. I found a few more things that the letters editor missed in the form of incomplete sentences, and missing articles and referents. As a copy editor, how can you expect what you wrote to be taken seriously?
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