Thursday, September 4, 2008

Carson mayor adds his support


We'd like to thank Carson Mayor Jim Dear for taking the time to examine the issues facing the Press-Telegram, and lending his support to the fight for quality journalism in our communities.

The following is an excerpt from his letter to the company:


The residents of the city of Carson are served by the Press Telegram. Therefore we have a major stake in the way the news is reported. We are concerned with the recent layoffs and staff reductions. It is important to me and the readers to have local news and events reported accurately and in detail. We expect and need to know what is happening in our community.

MediaNews has an inherent responsibility to its readers to serve the communities in which it reports on. I want to be confident that the local news is reported by local Press Telegram reporters who are in touch with the community.

It is understood that the newspaper industry as a whole has seen many changes and must adapt to new technologies to remain viable. However, in doing so MediaNews still enjoys significant profits. It is unreasonable to expect workers to adapt to changes in the way their work is done, be responsible for more reporting because of the shrinking newsroom and then see no increase in compensation.


The support of leaders like Jim Dear is crucial to the fight to preserve local journalism. Mayor Dear joins our coalition of leaders, activists, and community members calling for an end to the short-sighted cuts and decisions that not only hurt the journalists and the community, but which ultimately end up hurting the company, when frustration over content drives readers to other news sources.

If you're interested in learning more, or lending your support, we'd love to hear from you.

Together we can make a difference!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

it's great that the carson mayor has recognized the importance of local news to his community. We should list all the wonderful council members in Long Beach who have been sensitive to that issue, especially bonnie lowenthal, patrick o'donnell, rae gabelich and tonia reyes uranga.-- crusty

Len Cutler said...

You're absolutely right. They were there from the beginning, and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

I don't want to forget anyone, so it'll take a little while to get a proper list together. But your list is an excellent start!

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

the support has been there for months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Why would you want support from the mayor of a crummy town who's also the target of a recall? Does the P-T even cover Carson? I guess you'll seek "support" where ever you can dig it up. Sad.

Anonymous said...

Carson is one of the 24 cities that the P-T promotes they serve and it takes a major incident like a plane crashing into a home before there is any coverage.

Anonymous said...

" takes a major incident like a plane crashing into a home before there is any coverage."

ummm...I think you mean Compton.

Anonymous said...

By they way we don't cover Carson, the Breeze Cover that area no that we have no sports department.