Local Print Media Changes

PILOT RAMPS UP ELECTRONIC COVERAGE, REDUCES PRINT
Those of you who subscribe to the Daily Pilot, our newspaper of record for more than a century, found an interesting article along the bottom of the front page Sunday.  Editor John Canalis announced that changes were being made and that the Daily Pilot - which has not really been "daily" for some time now ever since they abandoned publication on Mondays - will now also forgo publishing a print edition on Tuesdays, as well.  That means those of us who rely on the print version of that fine newspaper will now only receive it Wednesday through Sunday, bundled inside our Los Angeles Times.  You can read Canalis' article HERE.

RESPONDING TO A SHIFTING MARKET
This move apparently stems from a desire to be more in step with the way many, if not most, readers receive their news these days - via electronic means.  And, as much as I enjoy getting ink smudged on my fingers as I thumb through the pages of four newspapers each day, I confess to being one of those who makes frequent online stops at the Pilot and the Orange County Register each day.

THE REGISTER GOES THE OTHER DIRECTION
This move on the part of the management of the Daily Pilot - and their parent company, The Los Angeles Times - stands in stark contrast with plans recently announced by the new owner and publisher of the Orange County Register, Aaron Kushner.   His plans, outlined HERE, are to ramp-up their print presence and he's been hiring reporters and other print newspaper specialists like crazy over the past month or so.  In fact, he recently hired the Daily Pilot's ace reporter charged with covering Costa Mesa, Mike Reicher, for the same beat.

WHICH ONE HAS THE RIGHT IDEA?
Only time will tell which tactic is the correct one, but it has me worried.  If the Daily Pilot diminishes as a reliable, timely news source in our area, I don't believe that's good for those of us who rely on it for important information.  If the Register has mis-calculated and this grand experiment - which flies in the face of every other major news outlet in the country - turns out to be wrong, we will be left with much less in the way of news coverage.

MARTIN AND ME?  PUH-LEEZE!
In my opinion, the gathering and reporting of local news simply CANNOT be left to those of us who blog about things happening in this city.  We provide some news and a lot of opinion - and admit that right up front.  And, we unabashedly fold in our own bias' as we provide information to you.  The residents of this area require reliable, professionally reported and edited, local news coverage.  And, that coverage needs to be timely - old news is no news, as the saying goes.

HOPING...
So, with fingers tightly crossed, I hope BOTH experiments work out - for all our sakes.   We'll see...

Gangs, Caspa on Radio, Local Bloggers and Tomorrow's Council Meeting

GANG ISSUE IN STUDY SESSION
Over the weekend I finally watched my tape of the Costa Mesa City Council Study Session from Tuesday, May 13th. I'm glad I did, because if I had relied on the "report" from one local blogger about the proceedings I'd have had a very different opinion of what occurred.

GOGERTY ON ENFORCEMENT
CMPD Captain Les Gogerty provided a brief overview of the current gang program in Costa Mesa - a program that focuses on enforcement since the council rejected an element that would have addressed the intervention/prevention segment a year ago.

INTERVENTION/PREVENTION PLANS PRESENTED
Deputy District Attorney Tracy Rinauro, whose full time job is working on gang intervention/prevention, did an excellent job of giving information on intervention activities in Anaheim and, quite recently, San Juan Capistrano. Many of those program elements she discussed sounded like they might be effectively used in our city.

SPARKS WERE A'FLYIN'
One thing is sure - Mayor Eric Bever and Councilwoman Katrina Foley continue to be flint and steel. The tension between them was palpable during the presentations by Gogerty and Rinauro. It was clear to me that Bever has no interest in doing more on the gang issue until results of the enforcement-only policy can be quantified. This is a typical response by him and his pals. Their solution to a gang problem is to rid our city of anyone who MIGHT become a gang member. You can translate that to mean anyone with brown skin. It was obvious that Bever was angry because Foley had requested the information that was presented to the council in the Study Session. It's one more example of how the so-called "improvers" want to control the information available to residents.

CASPA ON THE RADIO
Costa Mesa resident Dr. Humberto Caspa, author of the new, hot-off-the-presses book, "Terror in the Latino Barrio: The Rise of the New Right in Local Government", will be interviewed Wednesday morning, May 21st on radio station KPFK, 90.7 FM from 8-9 a.m. For those of you able to block off that hour Wednesday morning I suspect you'll find Dr. Caspa's comments of great interest.

LOCAL BLOGGER LOSING IT?
Speaking of local bloggers, I'm not quite sure what's going on over at the CM Press. I fear the poor guy who owns it may be showing signs of early dementia. Twice in the past month he has used duplicate numbers for his entries - number 330 and number 366 each had two separate entries using the same numbers. In the most recent edition of #366 he used a big chunk of his text to tell us all what a wonderful, interesting life he has had. I wonder if he did that as a memory jogger - because he's forgetting who he is these days.

WATCHING THE WATCHTOWER
New bloggers "Mr. & Mrs. John Smith" over at the CM Watchtower continue to post strange entries. Twice this month they've made claims of being the "Best Local Blog Around", yet provide no source for that acclaim. I have this mental image of them saying, "You're Number 1! No, you're Number 1!" I'm still not sure what their focus is - they seem to dislike almost everyone. Perhaps, as the campaign season approaches, we'll get a better idea of what they think will improve our city. I'm not sure just who these folks are, but I think I've got a good idea. More on that at a future date.

SPILLED "ORANGE JUICE"
And, over on the SantaAnaCentric Orange Juice! blog, the infighting continues. In a Herculean effort, they changed platforms over the past week or so. The new look is going to work, but it appears to be a much more labor-intensive effort. Time will tell. In the meantime, spats continue between their various contributors. Watching them argue back and forth, accusing each other of deleting comments and posts, makes me very happy that I'm a Lone Ranger here.

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING TOMORROW
The City Council meeting Tuesday, May 20th, promises to be very special. Scheduled events include the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem by the All American Boys Chorus; presentation of Vanguard University's National Champion Women's Basketball Team; proclamations for both Killybrooke and Sonora schools for academic achievement and topped off by the recognition of city employees who reached 25 and 30 years of service. Whew! After that the remainder of the agenda will be boring with a capital "B".

More Questions About The New Guys

MY ORIGINAL ENTRY
The middle of April, on the 16th, I posted an entry here entitled, "Welcome To The New Guys On The Block", which can be read HERE. Since that time two of the blogs in question, the CMTRUTH and CM Watchtower, have posted a few entries of interest. I'm still trying to figure out the thrust of their message.


CMTRUTH
In the case of CMTRUTH it's clear that the author has some significant knowledge of local law enforcement. It's also clear that the author has strong views about another blogger here in town. The insights provided there are worth considering.

CM WATCHTOWER
The CM Watchtower is an enigma. Clearly, the author is not a patient person. His (or her) approach to this city is interesting. He (or she) demands that any candidates for elected office in Costa Mesa toe his line. Recent entries have taken an interesting turn.

A REWARD?
In one recent entry a reward of $1,000 has been offered for any "dirt" dug up about Costa Mesa Council candidates. However, this blog provides no way to respond if you find anything. It looks like this blogger is just blowing smoke.

WHAT REALLY IS THEIR MISSION?
The most current entry presents a reaffirmation of it's mission statement, which includes the following two sentences: "We are a fact-finding group of residents. Our goal is to keep our city politicians in line where they belong." I don't know about you, but for me that conjures up images of vigilantism, with mobs carrying burning torches and pitchforks.

WE ALL ARE ACCOUNTABLE
I agree that the elected members of our City Council must be held accountable for their actions. I don't agree with what appears to be the tactics planned by this group. How, for example, do they plan to use that "dirt" that might be dug up about candidates? Do they plan to use it for blackmail or extortion?

WHY ANONYMITY?
It would be easier to take this group seriously if they didn't hide behind the veil of anonymity. They provide no method of communication with them, much like another unsavory blogger here in town. With him, and apparently with this group, too, communication is a one-way street.

THINK TWICE
I hope these folks give some serious thought to their actions before they go off the deep end. They may think they are anonymous and, therefore, beyond the reach of the law. They are not. They, like the council members they criticize so vociferously, are accountable for their actions. Let's hope they don't learn that lesson the hard way - at the wrong end of the legal process.

Welcome To The New Guys On The Block

Well, the wonderful world of blogging has gotten a lot more interesting recently.

A couple months ago an anonymous person who calls himself "John Smith" launched a blog he calls CM Watchtower. I'm still trying to figure out his focus, but he does have opinions - like most of us who thrash around in the blogosphere.

Then, in the past few days, another anonymous blogger launched CM Truth, after the pen name he, or she, has used to post on this blog and elsewhere. There is no ambiguity about his focus, as you will see when you read his first few submissions. He writes about a person in town who used to be the subject, obliquely, of many posts here - but no longer.

And then, over at the Daily Pilot, Managing Editor Brady Rhoades launched his blog, Rhoades Less Traveled. As I understand it, this will be the first of many such blogs presented by members of the Daily Pilot staff.

It is, indeed, going to be interesting to see how these new blogs go. So far, only Rhoades seems willing to entertain comments on his. CM Watchtower initially had a link for comments, but yanked it when I tried to post one. cmtruth has a link on his but no comments have appeared so far. Maybe he's just teasing us...

In any event, welcome to the newcomers...