Monday, January 5, 2009
As some may know, the Goleta Valley suffered a loss in the family with the recent demise of the Goleta Valley Voice newspaper. Unlike the end of other newspapers that were afforded the dignity of a final issue, the Voice was cancelled without any such opportunity. It’s somewhat ironic that the Voice was not allowed to report or comment on the news of its own demise. So consider this my final Letter to the Editor of the Goleta Valley Voice.
Dear Editor,
I am sorry to see the Voice go. Yes, some believe that there are plenty of other news sources on TV, the Internet, radio, in magazines, and other newspapers. Some would say that in light of the abundance of news blasted at us from every media, the Voice had become unnecessary.
It’s undeniable that we have more “news” reported than ever. Hot-and-cold-running news is available 24/7 on TV and through the Internet, blogs, cell phones, Web sites and now Twitter—all of which can keep us up to date to the very second on world events, or on what your cousin is doing in a brew house in Baltimore.
But is the sheer volume of news a substitute for what the Voice provided? To answer the question with a question, “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” (From T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.) More news does not equate to better, more reliable, or more useful news.
Much of the large volume of news we receive is regarding events that are national or international in nature. Good local news is a scarce commodity. And much of the local news coverage here is about areas other than Goleta — the City of Santa Barbara, the county, Carpinteria, etc. Though The Independent covers some local news, too often it contains only one or two brief blurbs about Goleta. (We are of course very grateful for this, our regular Goleta Grapevine column.)
When the owner of the Voice and Santa Barbara News-Press, Ampersand Publishing LLC (aka Wendy McCaw), announced the Voice’s termination, the News-Press director of news operations said that "Santa Barbara, Goleta and the Santa Ynez Valley remain our core news product," and that the News-Press would “ … incorporate that coverage in the daily pages of the News-Press.”
However, so far the News-Press’s reporting of Goleta Valley news has been less than robust. For example, there’s been little or no reporting that former Goleta Councilperson Jonny Wallis was appointed to Goleta’s Planning Commission, or that the new Goleta Water District has appointed a new General Counsel, or that the Goleta City Council has conceptually supported exploring commercial/residential development across from Costco on Hollister.
But a newspaper provides so much more than just news. The Voice offered editorial commentary and insights by people intimately familiar with our community. Who among the remaining news outlets has the knowledge and experience to provide opinions and perspective about Goleta’s pressing issues? Though some former Voice reporters are now working at other news outlets, professionally they are bound to report news, not provide editorial opinions.
The Voice also provided competitive advertising rates for the numerous local businesses or political candidates seeking to confine their ads to a Goleta Valley audience. In a tough economy, people are challenged to cost effectively advertise to just Goleta residents through the remaining advertising outlets.
The Voice also provided … well … a voice for Goleta residents, printing our opinion columns and letters to the editor. With other newspapers limiting the numbers of letters they will publish, the voice of Goleta residents is muted.
A newspaper’s value is not just to satisfy daily needs for current news. A newspaper also provides a historical record of what happened. Cornelius Ryan, author of the bestseller A Bridge Too Far, acknowledged this as he researched his historical works. In trying to understand World War II battles, his primary research source was local newspapers of the time. He realized that those newspaper accounts were most accurate because they happened closest in time to the event reported and were done by journalists trained in observation and accurate reporting. Sadly, if years from now people want to know what happened in Goleta in 2008 and forward, they will find only a sudden gap when the archives of the Goleta Valley Voice terminated.
In thinking about the Goleta Valley Voice, some will remember it landing in the driveway with a thud, unwrapping the rubber band, unfolding it to read what it had to offer. But let’s stop and remember that the Voice was more than just a collection of paper and ink. Perhaps Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, publisher and CEO of the New York Times said it best: “More than print and ink, a newspaper is a collection of fierce individualists who somehow manage to perform the astounding daily miracle of merging their own personalities under the discipline of the deadline and retain the flavor of their own minds in print.”
It may seem peculiar that I am writing this homage to the Goleta Valley Voice in a “competitor’s” newspaper, The Santa Barbara Independent. But the demise of the Voice raises questions and challenges for the future of all newspapers, all news outlets, and all of us who treasure our daily fix of local opinion, news, and ads.
Dear Goleta Valley Voice, we will miss you.