www.montereycountyweekly.com november 23-29, 2023 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 23 Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, is upon us. The next day is Small Business Saturday. Then comes Cyber Monday, followed by the signature day for philanthropy on Giving Tuesday. Don’t be shocked, but I occasionally defend America’s consumerism. And as is hopefully clear to readers of the Weekly, I recommend shopping locally, and donating generously to nonprofits. Today, however, I also want to ask you to consider using your credit card to buy some press freedom. Last week the newspaper industry observed what I’m calling Red Alert Wednesday with the release of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism’s annual State of Local News Report. The news is dire: “Newspapers are continuing to vanish at an average rate of more than two a week,” it reads. “Since 2005, the country has lost almost 2,900 newspapers. In addition to losing almost a third of its newspapers, the country has lost almost twothirds of its newspaper journalists—43,000—since 2005.” By comparison, coal mining is doing better than journalism. According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, the U.S. coal industry has shed 44 percent of its workforce since 2005. But unlike the reduction in coal miners, the decline of newspapers is a threat to democracy. The free press is historically recognized as a vital antidote to political corruption and authoritarianism. It is the only commercial enterprise specifically enumerated for protection in the Bill of Rights. The forefathers recognized a forceful and independent press is a pillar of the republic. That has not changed. Penelope Muse Abernathy, the lead author on the Medill study, connects the dots ominously when she writes: “Historically, strong local newspapers have created a sense of community and nurtured grassroots democracies. Through their journalism, newspapers helped set the agenda for debate of important local issues… Reduced staffing means fewer stories. Transparency and accountability suffer. When a regional daily newspaper lays off journalists, investigative pieces that expose corruption and wrongdoing aren’t written.” In their 2021 book News Holes: The Decline of Local Journalism and Political Engagement, Danny Hayes and Jennifer Lawless, a pair of media academics, use data to show the demise in local news has reduced political engagement during the last two decades in cities and towns across this country. As Squid reported in the Nov. 16 edition, the Gannett-owned Salinas Californian again has not a single local reporter covering that city of 150,000 residents. And after a four-year run, readers in 2023 said goodbye to the Pacific Grove Press. We here at the Weekly are holding our own. Part of that success is that we have a deep history and strong connections across the community and we’ve continued to invest in our newsroom. We have also adopted some of the techniques that the Medill study suggests are key to reversing the decline in local journalism. One is to appeal to our friends and ask them to pony up to help. John Palfrey is president of the MacArthur Foundation and along with other large donors in the last year, put together a $500 million philanthropic campaign called Press Forward to collaborate with policymakers and publishers to spur a local news resurgence. He argues even more money is needed. “[Individuals need to] stand up and support their local news providers—whoever that may be in any given area,” Palfrey writes in The Atlantic. “They will need to add it to their list of philanthropic commitments—or at least to their list of subscriptions, alongside Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix.” The Weekly, in collaboration with the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation, launched the Fund for Independent Journalism in Monterey County in 2021. This fund allows donors to make tax-deductible contributions to the future news ecosystem in our community any time, and now via Monterey County Gives! The Fund is well on its way to the goal of raising $60,000. Please consider this your official invitation to spend the equivalent of an annual Netflix subscription before Dec. 31 to support the free press. Erik Cushman is the Weekly’s publisher. Reach him at erik@mcweekly.com. Read, White and Blue A free press is a pillar of democracy, and it relies on all of us to thrive. By Erik Cushman Half Empty…Squid loves a good competition. As a sea creature, Squid especially loves competitions that involve water. So Squid was sad to see the water polo season for the Salinas High School junior varsity girls’ team end on a sour note with Athletic Director Art Hunsdorfer reportedly firing Coach Stacey Cheatham Wilson in front of the players. The JV team had a game scheduled the same day as the Salinas High homecoming game; most players notified Wilson they would miss water polo due to the conflict. That meant too few players and Salinas forfeiting the game against Hollister on Oct. 5. Shortly thereafter came Wilson’s unceremonious firing, which players and their parents spoke up about at a Nov. 14 meeting of the Salinas Union High School District board. Yvonne Gray described the standoff: “I believe [Hunsdorfer’s] behavior taught our young ladies…that a man can use his size and status to yell out in anger to a female employee and this would be acceptable.” SUHSD declined to comment on this personnel matter. If Squid’s ever in deep water and gets fired, Squid will just swim away—too bad humans can’t do the same. Off the Island…Speaking of antics at school boards, Squid’s been tuning into the Carmel Unified School District lately. The board tried to push through a superintendent appointment as if hoping everyone would forget about the drama of the past year, which led to former supe Ted Knight resigning in exchange for a $770,000 payout. When the board met on Nov. 15, several people spoke up against that, including representatives of two unions; Tamara Michie of the Carmel High School PTO; and Marcus Michie (Tamara’s son), the student representative to the board. While the board ultimately agreed with critics and opted to proceed with a public input process, there’s fallout for the Michies. Marcus was set to attend a one-day student conference on Nov. 29 in San Francisco, hosted by the California School Boards Association, as past student reps have done. (Because he is under 18, his mom was planning to attend as well as a chaperone—total registration for both of them, to be paid by CUSD, was $700.) But Tamara reports that on Nov. 21, they learned from CUSD administrators that Marcus was on a waiting list and there was no space for him. She called CSBA and lo and behold, got him registered, no problem. In an email to the school board and district leadership, she wrote that while on the phone with CSBA learning all that was needed was payment, someone from CUSD logged in—only to cancel the registration. “This feels like retaliation,” she wrote. Sure does. Squid did not hear back from CUSD, but will be tuning into the next meeting, with shrimp-flavored popcorn at the ready. the local spin SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. Coal mining is doing better than journalism. Send Squid a tip: squid@mcweekly.com
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