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A DIFFERENT KIND OF NEWSPAPER WAR
JONATHAN ROWE, COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW - Out here in West Marin
County, California, we live in a quiet, constant state of siege. The
rolling ranchlands and ocean beaches are iconic. Point Reyes National
Seashore, which occupies much of the coastland, draws more than two
million visitors a year. You scan the unspoiled hills and it is not hard
to imagine encampments of developers, waiting like guerrillas for their
moment to descend. . .
The protected seashore is expanding literally to the edge of Point Reyes
Station, which is the closest thing to a hub. More tourists are coming,
traffic is increasing, and second and third homes are proliferating. . .
The resulting tensions are ripe journalistic fodder, but instead of just
covering them, the local paper itself has become a focal point.
The Point Reyes Light is almost as iconic as the landscape it inhabits.
In 1979, the Light became the little paper that could, when it won a
Pulitzer for its investigations of the cult-like Synanon, a local drug
rehab center whose officials once left a rattlesnake in the mailbox of a
critic. But the prize meant less to local readers than did weekly news
about the National Seashore’s expansion plans, run-off into Tomales
Bay, and reckless motorcycle riders who accelerate into blind curves and
fly off coastal Highway One (not that anyone’s grief would be less
than total about that). It was our forum.
But a couple of years ago, the Light changed hands, and the new owner
soon became an embodiment of the worst fears for the area the newspaper
used to symbolize.
Now West Marin has a second weekly, the West Marin Citizen, which has
made a strong start with the Light’s disaffected readers. "Newspaper
war" may be too strong a term; the competition is low-key, as is most of
life out here. Like former spouses at a social gathering, the two
weeklies barely acknowledge one another’s presence. But the advertiser
and subscriber bases are limited (total population is about 15,000) and
few people expect that two papers can survive for long. . .
http://www.cjr.org/feature/the_language_of_strangers.php
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A DIFFERENT KIND OF NEWSPAPER WAR
JONATHAN ROWE, COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW - Out here in West Marin
County, California, we live in a quiet, constant state of siege. The
rolling ranchlands and ocean beaches are iconic. Point Reyes National
Seashore, which occupies much of the coastland, draws more than two
million visitors a year. You scan the unspoiled hills and it is not hard
to imagine encampments of developers, waiting like guerrillas for their
moment to descend. . .
The protected seashore is expanding literally to the edge of Point Reyes
Station, which is the closest thing to a hub. More tourists are coming,
traffic is increasing, and second and third homes are proliferating. . .
The resulting tensions are ripe journalistic fodder, but instead of just
covering them, the local paper itself has become a focal point.
The Point Reyes Light is almost as iconic as the landscape it inhabits.
In 1979, the Light became the little paper that could, when it won a
Pulitzer for its investigations of the cult-like Synanon, a local drug
rehab center whose officials once left a rattlesnake in the mailbox of a
critic. But the prize meant less to local readers than did weekly news
about the National Seashore’s expansion plans, run-off into Tomales
Bay, and reckless motorcycle riders who accelerate into blind curves and
fly off coastal Highway One (not that anyone’s grief would be less
than total about that). It was our forum.
But a couple of years ago, the Light changed hands, and the new owner
soon became an embodiment of the worst fears for the area the newspaper
used to symbolize.
Now West Marin has a second weekly, the West Marin Citizen, which has
made a strong start with the Light’s disaffected readers. "Newspaper
war" may be too strong a term; the competition is low-key, as is most of
life out here. Like former spouses at a social gathering, the two
weeklies barely acknowledge one another’s presence. But the advertiser
and subscriber bases are limited (total population is about 15,000) and
few people expect that two papers can survive for long. . .
http://www.cjr.org/feature/the_language_of_strangers.php
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