The "Oakland" Tribune's without Peggy Stinnett and Brenda Payton. The website reads, "no current entries." The paper itself is less than a blog; it's a collection of AP reports and stuff I can get on the police blotter. Only it's sports section has any sign of life. Other than that, it's a zombie paper.
It wasn't always this way. When I was columnist for The Montclarion from 1993 to 1996, we had a friendly war with the Oakland Tribune to cover the Big People and The Big Stories. Today, the combination of The Internet and high newsprint costs have clobbered and hammered the size of news staffs such that what was once is no more.
Oakland's now without any newspaper that covers what's really going on, leaving the politicians to do either good -- or ill -- without a watching eye. The only blog on cyberspace that comes close to filling this gap is the one you're reading and for a host of reasons that are hard to top and part of the overall SBS business model.
And Oakland Focus is just going to get better. The Soul of Oakland needs a window and a voice.
It wasn't always this way. When I was columnist for The Montclarion from 1993 to 1996, we had a friendly war with the Oakland Tribune to cover the Big People and The Big Stories. Today, the combination of The Internet and high newsprint costs have clobbered and hammered the size of news staffs such that what was once is no more.
Oakland's now without any newspaper that covers what's really going on, leaving the politicians to do either good -- or ill -- without a watching eye. The only blog on cyberspace that comes close to filling this gap is the one you're reading and for a host of reasons that are hard to top and part of the overall SBS business model.
And Oakland Focus is just going to get better. The Soul of Oakland needs a window and a voice.
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