A mere 64 pages this morning… It has been said there is more sheer information in one Sunday edition of the New York Times than the average person learned during their entire lifetime in the Middle Ages. By comparison, the ongoing death spiral of the San Diego Union-Tribune makes you wonder why they need modern printing presses at all, if the amount of content could have been produced pre-Gutenberg. Today’s Sunday UT is all of 64 pages, not counting the huge ad sections and marketing inserts.
Randy Dotinga at voiceofsandiego.org provides some further excellent analysis in The Paper’s Been Cut in Half. Worth the read.
When is free speech not free speech?… On a college campus, of course. Or, perhaps, in a federal courtroom. Maybe both:
A federal judge ruled yesterday that a nondiscrimination policy at San Diego State and Long Beach State universities required for formal campus recognition does not infringe on the rights of religious groups that demand fidelity to Christian ideals.
Read the entire Saturday Union-Trib story.
San Diego: A whopping increase in six figure salaries… City Councilmember Carl DeMaio shines the light on the $100K club. In case you missed my Wednesday FR post:
"Yes, you read that right!" said DeMaio. "You thought the Wall Street bailout mess was bad! Take a look at the 44% increase in the number of city workers earning $100,000 or more each year. Stay tuned for more data in the coming weeks on why the city has a spending problem, not a revenue problem."
Read it all here.
Free Market solutions?… The offer is still open to SD area (or any) mayors and city councilmembers to weigh in with ideas they have put forward to address their local budget problems. Read the invite. Some have replied; most have not.
In the meantime, I did receive a couple of complaints, ala that the folks I am asking for solutions are the ones who created the problems. One question: "What makes you think they have any idea on anything other than trying to look good to the public for their next election or re-election campaign."
Fair enough. To be clear, however, I have asked the elected officials if any of them have proposed free market solutions to address their funding problems. Some of them have proposed good solutions. Let’s see their answers. To say that all of them have created the problem is very broad brush. Not all 120 legislators in Sacramento have created the state problems. Often, not all five city councilmembers have caused a city’s fiscal problems. Those with good solutions will hopefully come forward, and those ideas can be shared with others. That is my goal. If folks look good as a result of proposing real solutions, thus benefiting their re-election, so be it. Uhh, and maybe they deserve re-election.
Have a great week!
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Barry on Twitter
February 8th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Thanks for sharing the info on the UT. I know a lot of print companies are having difficulty finding advertisers. I happen to be a newspaper purist and I enjoy reading the print copy of my paper with my coffee every morning. I will read the online edition if I’m out of town, but I really like the print version. I think I’d be a little sad if it went away completely, but I do realize its a sign of the times. Unless the economy picks up soon, it looks like printed papers will be a thing of the past.
February 8th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Barry and Kelly:
The Union-Tribune went through a fundemental change 30 years ago.
Until that time the newspaper faithfully reported what WE the people
of San Diego were doing… in our clubs, businesses, churches and
local government.
That was a winning formula ! …..But it was then discarded.
Instead the newspaper began to lecture us on what we SHOULD
be doing, and turned away from people and events that did not
fit their prescription.
Not surprisingly, that approach caused the paper to lose touch,
and longtime subscribers stopped renewing.
This is one declining daily newspaper whose wounds are almost
entirely SELF-INFLICTED.
February 8th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Jim, that says it. As usual, you get to the very crux. Thanks.