Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

More Loss of Press Coverage

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Dick Hall-Sizemore
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by Dick Hall-Sizemore

In the past two years that I have been posting on BR, I have relied heavily on the coverage of the General Assembly by the Daily Press of Newport News, particularly the reporting by David Ress. It seems that he is now off the Virginia state government beat and now mostly covers news related to the military. That is a shame. For the top story from yesterday related to the legislature, Sen. Amanda Chase’s reaction to the effort to censure her, the Daily Press reprinted a story from the Petersburg Progress Index. With the further decline in coverage by the Daily Press and the Virginian Pilot, the residents of the second most populous section of the state will learn less and less about what their state government is doing.

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17 responses to “More Loss of Press Coverage”

  1. Steve Haner Avatar
    Steve Haner

    Oh no! He’s long been one of the best. The PI was a sad rag when I worked there in 1972, and with my parents in Colonial Heights I was a long time reader. Not good when it is becoming a prime source for Capitol Hill coverage. I have pictures on my vanity wall that include Dale “Iceman” Eisman and Jerry Alley from the Pilot, back in the day when we were all wages slaves to the Batten family together. I’m glad I got to do it when I did…..

  2. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    re: ” the residents of the second most populous section of the state will learn less and less about what their state government is doing.”

    Worse than that. They will now, more than ever, get their “news” from bloggers and FB folks… and believe it and these days, more and more loons personally targetting local leaders they disagree with. Just listen to the personal attacks on leaders on Northam. More and more leaders have to have security.

  3. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    Once Alden Global buys the rest of the stock it will be much worse.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      To this point, there are two schools of thought. One says “news” from legitimate journalism is finished. The other says that legitimate news still is a desired product and that for better or worse, and right now, the worst, they have not found a viable business model to evolve to.

      I note that even the most strident critics of newspapers these days, will turn around right after excoriating them, quote them as a factual report.

      1. Steve Haner Avatar
        Steve Haner

        Back to the point, confirmed Ress is still kicking at the paper but not on that beat anymore. Chesapeake Bay, military, mental health, energy…I would say I’ll miss seeing him in the halls but….gee…not this year. Not in the halls myself…

    2. John Harvie Avatar
      John Harvie

      So is WAPO better or worse after being bought?

  4. Nancy_Naive Avatar
    Nancy_Naive

    It’s been years since I used a copy of the DP to wrap fish for the freezer. Now, it’s not suitable for the used coffee grounds. It’s about a Virginian as is the Chicago River.

    1. John Harvie Avatar
      John Harvie

      We had a better way. When home, rinsed out a 1/2 gallon cardboard milk container and put in as many CB blues as will fit (un scaled), fill with water and freeze. When ready to eat, thaw, scale, and grill! Fresh as just caught.

      We just trolled a surgical tube with hook behind the transom and once in a while got dinner. Worked well with 12 knots out of the east.

      1. djrippert Avatar
        djrippert

        Trolling at 12 knots for bluefish in the Chesapeake Bay? I fish all the time sometimes with the surgical tube and hook (aka eel) but never faster than 5 knots at most.

        1. John Harvie Avatar
          John Harvie

          Don, it’s 12 Knots of WIND speed … boat speed only about 5 to 6, sometimes less if against a current.

          You stink potters were always too fast for my taste.

          1. Nancy_Naive Avatar
            Nancy_Naive

            https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KK23L46SXUo&feature=youtu.be

            12 knots? You’ll like this. Did you see the broach last night?

  5. Emilio Jaksetic Avatar
    Emilio Jaksetic

    Times change, and newspapers are not immune from the effects of those changes. Sadly, not all changes are positive or beneficial.

    For a look at Virginian newspapers in the 1800s — Virginius Dabney, Pistols and Pointed Pens: The Dueling Editors of Old Virginia (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1987).

  6. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Times do change, and institutions evolve. As bad as some feel that newspapers are biased, they can’t hold a light to the alternative media which almost never develop reputations of being trusted and many are just flat out into misreprestation, lying and worse… conspiracy theories, etc.

    “News” is a “market” and as time goes by, it could well be that some blogs, some FB, some alternative media will develop into truly objective sources and perhaps, like with the Daily Press, because of certain individuals.

    For example, if David Ress formed his own blog or other place, would he attract a following and would that following be willing to pay for his reporting?

    Some of us already are willing to pay for online news so I’d not rule that out depending on the cost and coverage…

  7. ksmith8953 Avatar
    ksmith8953

    I recently subscribed to the digital version of the Progress Index. I thought it would be good for local news since I live there. I actually look forward to reading it every morning. Provides good state and national news. Inexpensive too.

  8. sherlockj Avatar
    sherlockj

    Thanks Dave.

  9. vaconsumeradvocate Avatar
    vaconsumeradvocate

    Sadly, this is one more nail in the death of local papers. They don’t seem to realize that removing important things like this are hastening their demise. It’s a shame because we need these papers. Too few people must agree with me because they’re getting weaker and fewer and number all the time.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      Maybe I’m the rare person or a weird person but every morning at what my wife refers to a O dark 30… I read the “papers” – the Free Lance Star, then the Washington Post, then the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

      I compare headlines… I compare an contrast the reporting.. If 2 or 3 of them tend to agree, I tend to think it’s real. If one paper reports something and the others do not… I don’t put as much faith in it.

      But the real point is that I depend on those papers to understand what is going on in the world and most of it is true and factual with some bias “spin” depending….

      But I just don’t see demand for reporting going away.

      We say it will.. but I doubt that people actually don’t go and read the “news”.

      Maybe young folks do not… and get their news from social media and I’m a dinosaur?

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