THIS IS A DAY WE ALL KNEW WHAT WAS COMING...Yeah, newspapers are dying left and right, still, the fate of the Oakland Tribune is sad news.
Especially when you consider Oakland is on an economic bonanza with a vibrant new downtown and eclectic restaurant scene; in fact, the hottest restaurant destination in the Bay Area.
The Trib had a lengthy list of great writers and columnists; back in the day, Ralph Wiley, Ron Bergman, and Bill Fiset graced its masthead --it was a dynamic newspaper with terrific features and offbeat columns --it was the birth place of "East Bay Today", which morphed nationally into the national daily, "USA Today."
"Eastbay Times" is no substitute for Oakland Tribune; the Bay Area News Group is but a sad sack. Don't they realize Oakland's rebirth? They have no business acumen; then again, the newspaper business is falling apart left and right.
So it goes.
You are so correct, Rich; the Bay Area News Group is a sad sack of dog shit!!!
ReplyDeleteI know you live in Oakland, Rich - as does my son (and I worry for both of you, daily) - but you must admit: your town's not all sweetness and light anymore.
ReplyDeleteTonight's blurp from Kristen Ayers bemoans O'land being protrayed as the 'Wild Side of SF' in some tourist rag.
One must ax, why is Kristin so disturbed, is her lovely head up her lovely ass? I pack my Glock everytime I visit. (She'd be well advised to do the same.)
This news group went belly-up a few years back and was bought by a hedge fund, I believe, if what I read is correct. But, who can trust a newspaper these days. Just look at the amount of fact errors, subject-verb disagreements, lack of AP Style, and, of course, spelling errors galore. It is too bad the Trib is gone, but take a look at The Merc: awful journalism, day in, day out, with the exception of a few writers who know how to spell. Print is a dinosaur. Delivering papers to residences will soon be a thing of the past. Just my view as a former publisher, editor and reporter.
ReplyDeleteOakland "the hottest restaurant destination in the Bay Area" You're kidding, right Rich. This was a demonstration of your Stand-up Comedy routine, right? Oakland 3-5 noteworthy bistros and sea food cafes; but it is no destination.
ReplyDeleteNo, in fact, I'm NOT kidding--why don't you click the links I posted and see for yourself or are you just an anti-Oakland ass? Probably.
DeleteRich, I grew up in Oakland (went to Oakland Tech), but I left for college, I saw a different world. I came back to live on the Peninsula and now in the suburbs.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to mention the great Perry Phillips, the Food and Entertainment Columnist.
ReplyDeleteThe reason Oakland is on the rebound is because a certain large segment of the population the past few decades is being priced out of the city.
ReplyDeleteActually this is a repeat of history that people have forgotten. Some folk may recall "The Palo Alto Times" a thriving paper back in the day. It was bought by the "Tribune Company", now back from bankruptcy today.
ReplyDeleteTribune decided to merge both the Palo Alto Times and The Redwood City Tribune, based on a spreadsheet no doubt rather than looking at the demographics. A blue collar vs. white collar area at the time. Tribune was hoping to carve away at the Chronicle/Examiner to build a regional/peninsula paper.
The whole project died within a few years and the real estate sold to developers for a pretty penny.
So when I saw this "East Bay News" and "Mercury News" post, I thought this was a rewind of history. I do hope for all the employees (editorial and sales) that this turns into a thriving concern because the other option is not pretty.
Complimentary demographics have to be at play in order for this to work both editorially and financially. It may work this time but right now history suggests otherwise.
And don't forget Dave Newhouse's sports column.
ReplyDeleteA sad day for the East Bay. Something is definitely off if you can't make a newspaper monopoly stretching from San Jose to Vacaville work.
ReplyDeleteI worked for the Trib in the late 60's as a copy boy for the photo dept. Bob Stinett, Ron Reisterer, Fran Ortiz, Lonny Wilson...a whole lot of talent there, but over the years, the union got it's back broken and the photo staff either quit or retired, leaving pretty much nothing.... sad.
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