A "modest proposal" from Banjo Jones
A few days ago, Banjo Jones posted some thoughts on areas the Chronicle might consider cutting as part of its latest round of downsizing:
I have an idea on one way the paper can handle the layoffs. I don't think it would get rid of the entire 80 employees they're looking to shed, but it'd be a start -- eliminate the entire opinion section where the paper publishes its institutional view of the world.
Such a move could be couched in terms that a lot of mainstream media haters would love; tell them, it's not our business to tell you what to think, we'll leave that you. Think whatever you want. We don't care! We're just gonna report the damn news.
Like Matt Bramanti, Cory Crow, Unca Darrell, and others, we used to spend a fair amount of time debunking and/or mocking the Editorial LiveJournalists and their error-ridden prescriptions, although we have gradually come to the realization that nobody pays much attention to them (as evidenced by the little traffic generated from Dwight Silverman's whimsical linkblog on the online editorial page), and that our own time is usually better spent tossing out our opinions for discussion. So we tend to agree with Banjo that if that page went away, it wouldn't be a huge loss.
Banjo goes on to suggest that the paper might keep some local columnists (since Jeff Cohen fashions himself a great developer of the same -- really!), or it might just as easily whack them. The newspaper's metro/state/DC columnists are such an undistinguished group that it's hard to object to the "whack them" proposal. For that matter, why not also save some money by downsizing that D.C. bureau that rarely breaks important stories, and letting Hearst set up a D.C. bureau from which all its newspapers can draw (not unlike the Chronicle/Express-News combined Austin bureau)?
We're all for whatever can be done to protect the local/state news staffs from further cuts.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/10/08 10:47 PM | Print |
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