Manchester’s media monopoly

By David Mannis, publisher, San Diego Uptown News

This week we learned that San Diego’s daily newspaper, U-T San Diego, has purchased a group of eight independent, community newspapers in the areas of La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Carmel Valley, Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Bernardo, Poway, and Ramona, all which fall under one publishing group.

It’s wonderful to see that the U-T’s ownership recognizes the importance and value of local community news.

Our San Diego Community News Network (SDCNN) is comprised of three hyper-local newspapers—San Diego Downtown News, San Diego Uptown News and Gay San Diego—that serve three distinct communities in all of their diversity with a combined distribution of nearly 60,000.

We cover the events, the people and the news that make up each of these communities and do so in depth and in a way that doesn’t always make it to the U-T or the local network television stations. We are also proud of the great advertising partnerships we have developed in our four years of operation.

A similar local community news outlet, San Diego Community Newspaper Group (SDCNG), remains one of the few remaining independently owned community newspapers in the county. Since 1989 it has operated the following three coastal papers: The Peninsula Beacon, the Beach & Bay Press, and La Jolla Today (formerly La Jolla Village News) which competes with the La Jolla Light.

SDCNG Publisher Julie Hoisington also mentioned the acquisition in an editorial piece this week in her own papers. Hoisington said that her news group “strives to provide communities with news taking place in residents’ figurative (and sometimes literal) backyards that would otherwise go unreported.” She also said her publications “try to be a true reflection of the neighborhoods they serve and be the independent voice for these communities.”

The motives behind U-T’s purchase would seem—on the surface—to be market share in a declining print market; especially since community newspapers haven’t seen that same decline in the last decade that larger print papers such as the U-T have experienced.

If this is indeed the motivation, it is important to note that another community outlet—the Coast News Group in North County—actually gained market share when the U-T purchased the daily North County Times last year. If logic prevails, SDCNG may also gain.

I also agree with Hoisington that such a move must make business sense which means cuts may be expected, though it remains to be seen whether the U-T will retain all eight papers or gobble them up like they did with the North County Times. Time will tell.

While many may view this move as just another example of big business absorbing the smaller business, it is our hope that the voice of these communities will not be lost and that the U-T will maintain the independence of these papers into the future.

David Mannis has been in the publishing business for over 30 years, producing a number of weekly shoppers, community newspapers, including La Jolla Village News, Beach & Bay Press, and The Peninsula Beacon, as well as several magazines. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Mannis is married with two sons and has been a resident of San Diego for over 50 years.

Letters to the Editor

[See “What makes Caryn run?” Vol. 5, Issue 21 and “Letters” Vol. 5, Issue 22]

Dear Editor and Readers:

Just about anyone who knows either Dale Larabee or me knows we are best friends. When Dale told me that he was going to write a column for your weekly paper, I shared his enthusiasm and encouraged him to develop columns of interest. Since I too write frequently as editor and publisher of my Hoover High Class of 1960 Newsletter, I understand that not everyone likes what you express. Dale and I have forceful personalities where we don’t always mince words. That sometimes comes out in our written communication and in our speech. On more than one occasion, I found myself having to apologize for coming on too strong. At 71 years of age, I have learned to modify my expressions—to cool my jets.

I thought that Dale’s article captured the spirit of this runner. As I’ve seen her run down Adams Avenue I understood her attire in August, but not in February. Not since Todd Leigh’s days of running in only a singlet and shorts in the dead of winter have I seen a runner so scantily clad. In Todd’s case, no one cared or looked twice. What I learned about Caryn from Dale’s article, was that she has brains, a meaningful career and a personality. Seems that the other contributors to the Letters to the Editor also picked up on that.

Michael, you are a person I genuinely like. You add to the neighborhood, especially with your garden and the Little Free Library, but also your basic demeanor as I have experienced over the past 20+ years. Seems to me that one can give Dale a mulligan if you take exception to his written views. Dale and Diane are amongst the stalwarts of Kensington: a founder of Litter Pickers, founder and co-race director of the Miracle Mile, an original KSAC runner (Boston Marathon with Ken Macintyre, Mike Wexler , and Eddie Nares), participant in the parade (without any resemblance of having a marcher’s coordination). As a regular on Facebook, where my high school and college classmates from the extremes of the political right and left regularly blast away at my middle-of-the-road to moderate liberal views, I counsel that we are all friends, and should confine our vitriolic expressions to other venues. Michael, whether you liked or disliked Dale’s article—it isn’t that he was making the big bucks as a columnist or that he was writing inappropriately for a neighborhood paper. Dale was doing what comes natural to him, serving the community in the best way he knows how. If everyone were to match him in contributions to how we live, the community at large would be better off.

Sincerely, Peter B. Stafford

[See “Letters” Vol. 5, Issue 22]

Dear Mr. Lesniak;

Ain’t life grand! How do we explain why the smallest heads get the biggest mouths. It is easy to criticize as evidenced by Mr. Lesniak’s letter of October 25th. The writer who we see as doing nothing but criticize seeks to destroy an author who has spent 40 years of life contributing in so many ways to Kensington.

Two proverbs stand out: Talk is cheap and If you can do, do. If you can’t do, criticize.

Mary Ellen, Kensington