I’d like to thank Melinda Burns for her commitment to local journalism. It is so sad to see the long, slow destruction of one of California’s formerly great newspapers in the News-Press.
I grew up in Santa Maria and delivered the News-Press when I was 10 years old. The paper had a local news bureau in Santa Maria and the guy who ran it also managed the carriers and sold advertising, all while listening to the police radio for photo ops. We also had morning delivery of the L.A. Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and the Wall Street Journal, a reading habit I continue to this day.
The News-Press had real reporting on national events, not just summarized wire reports. I learned so much reading the local paper growing up; but I have to admit, I didn’t even know it was still publishing. I thought its readers resigned with the newsroom staff.