Wendy Says Adieu to 2008, Promises Hope, Kindness and Faith in 2009
In a front page note to readers today -- Wendy McCaw said the following:
As 2009 begins a fresh start let's not wallow in the difficulties of the year that was but look to the future with hope, kindness and faith.Let's hope she puts her money where her mouth is...given the news around several layoffs this year and the Jerry Roberts arbitration, I have to doubt we shall see the above in practice, but can't I dream? Craig Smith has similar thoughts listed over at his blog. Can we both be wrong? :)
Labels: Ampersand Publishing, Wendy McCaw
posted by Sara De la Guerra | 1/01/2009 07:01:00 PM
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17 Comments:
Congratulations to Jerry Roberts for his $1 million victory over Wendy McCaw in one of the meanest, lowdown, foul legal fights ever perpetrated by a monetarily-rich, yet morally-bankrupt person over a newspaper veteran with impeccable credentials for honesty, integrity and professionalism.
Once again, McCaw's annual front-page self-promotion column spews out lies and half-truths and treats readers as if they were fools.
Too bad all the employees perp-walked out of the building last year and summarily dismissed without even a thank you or severance pay for so many years of loyal service did not band together and protest their mistreatment like the Chicago group that made the news recently by demanding to be treated fairly and humanely by Republic Windows and Doors Factory. Ultimately, they won severance pay!
Unfortunately for all the employees, past and present, of the Santa Barbara News-Press, humane treatment is restricted to salivating lapdogs such as Steepleton, Armstrong, VonWeisenberger and Apodaca.
Someday a memorial should be created at City Hall honoring the journalists who stood up for integrity and risked their livelihoods for the public they serve.
Unfortunately for McCaw, her legacy will rank her as one of the worst, if not the worst, newspaper publishers in the history of the world. Might even make Guinness Book of World Records!
The NewsPress is doing just fine. Say good-by Observor. Enough of your over-bloated, self-important B.I.A.S. And it is doing even better now that Phd Schlessinger no longer graces its pages. There is some damn fine writing in the NewsPress today. Finally.
Thank you Wendy, for saving the NewsPress from being purchased by an out of town tabloid press with XXX ads. That is where it was heading.
And what damn fine writing are you referring to? Check out the investigator's tale of his trip to la-la land. We've gone from Dr. Laura shilling for whichever stores she shops or restaurants she eats at to a play-by-play account of the Investigator's infection.
Where is the Pulitzer Prize nomination form, Observer?
Peter, you keep right on deluding yourself as Wendy keeps violating the law, morality and journalistic ethics. When Wendy finally caves, either by accepting her responsibility as an employer and publisher to do the right thing, or by selling her paper, we look forward to a fascinating reaction from you, through the kaleidoscope.
Peter Pan, please elaborate in detail about all that "damn fine writing".
Maybe everyone else is just delusional about how the Newspress gets scooped almost daily and how it is little more than a reprint service for press releases, especially from Santa Maria?
Are you especially proud of the intrepid writer names "Staff Report" who fills up the pages when especially sleazy content is spun?
Ah Peter, you must have been too long in Neverland to characterize the sub-par writing in the News Press as "damn fine." Please drop by Starbucks and pick up a copy of the New York Times to recalibrate your ability to discern good writing from bad. The News Press does not only suffer from young, inexperienced reporters, but also there are no decent mentors (except for Nora) around to teach these kids the chops. Then there is the coverage issue. With so few reporters, the coverage of local news is random, shallow, and cursory. The News Press has a long way to go to regain its former quality. Whether or not it can do so under its current ownership and leadership remains to be seen.
the New York Times? ROFLMAO...
Enjoyed reading Wendy's web page from the Craig Smith link you provided Sara...Never saw that before and while visiting I saw her accumulation of arguments under 'current issues' and all her historic preservation interests and achievements. I just don't understand her lack of concern about the Plaza and how she can't get her head around Spanish Santa Barbara...until she understands the basic roots of Santa Barbara...we'll just keep getting the frothy 'I studied history' arguments...Wendy needs to break out of standard repertoire...and get with the program.
The NYT?????? You jest.
How do you spell bias? N.Y.T.
Choke, choke. No wonder you can't see bias or know good writing. The NYT stopped being a credible paper back a hens age ago. Why are you still reading it? Biases chattering classes trapped in their own lifeless echo chamber is not good writing.
The variety of opinion pieces in the SB NewsPress is. Travis writes excellent editorials and he calls them as he sees them - his spot on success track record grows.
But you don't know this because you have cut off your nose to spite your face, as granny always said.
I hope we never lose today's NewsPress. Only the liberal papers are on the ropes in case you did not notice: NYT, LATimes ........... not the WSJ or the SB NewsPress.
Jerry should now sue David Millstein, the lawyer first hired by Wendy to go after JR. All Capello did was try to clean up the mess left by Millstein.
Peter, please share whatever you're smoking. Not even Wendy has claimed that the liberal papers are hurting while the conservative ones are thriving. Certainly the SBNP is hurting, and the LA Times is actually still profitable; Zell has foisted so much debt on his Tribune corporation, however, that it has forced the LATimes to cut back. But this year, so have the Charlotte Observer, the Daily Oklahoman, the Raleigh News & Observer, the San Jose Mercury-News, and the Tampa Tribune. This is just the tip of the iceberg. As for the writing in the N-P, the lifeblood of a newspaper should be. . . the news reporting! Not investigation of an airline's service to DC, or the worthiness of local yachtage, or (until recently) being scolded for degree of political correctness. Travis is both factually- and cause-and-effect challenged, but that's OK; he's an editorial writer, he doesn't need to be acquainted with truth or analysis! At least not as long as he works for Wendy!
"The Investigator" is an independent person who does good research and provides a valuable service for our community.
Check out his credentials on his website.
Impressive.
Am I the only person who noticed that The Daily Sound placed Mt. Calvary, (the one on Gibraltar Road---it burned down) IN MONTECITO?
NOWS THERE'S JOURNALISTIC EXCELLENCE FOR YA!
The SBNP is hurting---they didn't have a Christmas party. At least Wendy is working with private funds---Bill Cirone had the chutzpah to spend public funds on a four-hour luncheon with 150 school employees (December 10, 2008)--- he's Beyond Reality.
Ho hum. No one cares because the damage Cirone does is done to the Hispanics and they can't vote and don't have any money.
Gee Peter, I never claimed that the NYT was without bias. I was just extolling the quality of the writing and depth of the reporting. It is not as if the NP is without its own bias. Quite frankly I consider myself able to discern the bias in an article and read around it. It is not Ms. McCaw's bias that bothers me, it is simply the poor quality of the writing and reporting in her newspaper that I find unfortunate. As far a Travis' skills and abilities, I would like to see him test them on something other than the same three subjects over and over again and again, ad nauseum. Also, he needs to wean himself of the copy and paste function on his word processor and start coming up with some new turns for phrase, just to keep us interested in what he has to say. He seems to be a bitter and angry man. Maybe he should take a break from subjects that raise his ire and take on subjects that pique his intellectual curiosity.
ooohkay. The weekend's about over, so you might want to taper off on the hookah and whatever else you're supplementing with. The SBNP? For me, it's just a sad lack of trust I have regarding its current state. They must earn that back. Being asthmatic, I shall not hold my breath. Happy New Year to you all.
An anonymous who forgot to use their identity pointed out a front page story today about $1 eg g McMuffins...hard hitting journalism?
The only hard hitting are the unfair editorials of Travis Armstrong. Today he went after Helene again but failed to back up his assertions -- why doesn't he leave it up to reporters? Because they don't have many real ones left...
I have a theory that maybe Travis is Helene's stealth campaign manager----every one of his crazy attacks on her just gains more sympathy for her because they are so baseless and obviously vindictive.....
For the record:
The Investigator is creepy. No, he is not one of the better written columns. He creeps me out. He does not belong in this town. Please Wendy, dump him. He is not earning his keep.
PP
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