GET ME REWRITE, GUT THE PRESS: Back when I was
still a recovering Catholic, the story of
Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden used to
infuriate me beyond belief. It seemed incredibly unfair that every
human born since those two would come into the world indelibly
stained with Original Sin just because Adam and
Eve disobeyed the Almighty and ate the apple.
Under this scenario, we’re all born with three
strikes against us; we don’t even get a chance to screw
up. But now that I am a fully recovered Catholic and these matters
no longer get under my skin, I see the wisdom in such
theological pessimism. Its basis — from which all
else follows — is the infinite perversity of the human
species. The original-sin scenario recognizes that even if
we have within our grasp everything we need to be perfectly happy,
we’ll mess it all up the very first chance we get.
This inescapably pathetic fact of life is now playing itself out behind the scenes
at our daily newspaper, the Santa Barbara
News-Press. From the outside looking in, that paper should
be a journalistic Garden of Eden. In an era of corporate chain
journalism, the News-Press enjoys the distinction of being locally
owned — by reclusive billionaire Mrs. Wendy P.
McCaw. Its executive editor Jerry
Roberts, a former star with the San Francisco Chronicle,
has put together an impressive team of talented and hardworking
reporters. One might think life at the News-Press would be so
hunky-dory that Mrs. McCaw could spend most of her days collecting
and polishing awards for journalistic excellence. Those awards
have, in fact, been streaming in, but they haven’t prevented life
at the daily from degenerating into a living hell.
It appears meltdown is just moments away. In this case, the straw
that broke the camel’s back looks more like a heavy metal I-beam.
For violating a policy that did not exist — specifically, offending
Montecito movie star Rob Lowe — one beloved and
respected high-ranking News-Press editor has just been effectively
fired. For the same violation of the same non-existent policy, two
other editors and one reporter have been seriously chastised, with
letters of reprimand placed in their personnel files. It’s widely
expected that when Jerry Roberts returns from vacation this week,
he will either quit or be fired. Barney
Brantingham, columnist-at-large since before forever, has
reportedly already quit, depriving the News-Press of its most
publicly recognized face and voice. In addition, as many as three
other senior newsroom staffers are rumored to have written their
resignation letters or have resigned already. In other words, it’s
a self-inflicted blood bath.
Adding considerable insult to all this injury, Mrs. McCaw just
appointed Travis K. Armstrong — the poison
pen who infuses the paper’s editorials with so much
caustic contempt — as the latest publisher. In addition, it appears
Mrs. McCaw may have given Armstrong — who faithfully reflects Mrs.
McCaw’s peculiar blend of environmental, libertarian, animal
rights, and let-them-eat-cake antigovernment politics —
unprecedented and exceptional authority. As
publisher, Armstrong has reportedly been given the explicit right
to edit and change news articles as he sees fit. It’s a given in
any newspaper that publishers — who represent the paper’s business
interest — are on occasion tempted to mess with news. Safeguards to
prevent this sort of meddling are supposedly built into the system;
to the extent these safeguards fail, papers lose credibility. Given
the exceedingly bad blood between Armstrong and the news department
(which had the temerity to publish a story on his recent
drunk-driving arrest, though he managed to squelch the subsequent
article about his guilty plea and sentencing), this new arrangement
promises to be especially poisonous.