Conejo Post

How useful and informative do you think our local daily newspapers are?  Do you subscribe to any of them, and if so, why?

To let you know where I am coming from, I have always loved newspapers, I have taken journalism and broadcasting classes in college, and I subscribe to all three papers.  And, I believe that a democracy needs a strong, investigative press to inform citizens so that they can make decisions on what to support and how to vote.  So, what is the state of print journalism in the Conejo Valley today? 

Let’s look at the Ventura County Star first.   I have been sad to see each change in The Star that has been made the past few years, due to declining ad revenue.  What stands out for me, looking at at this Sunday paper, is that the mastheads, headlines and photos on the front pages of each section seem to get larger and larger.  Today, the the main front page has above the middle fold, a promo for their story on tattoos with illustration, a promo for a Westlake Village pet spa with photo, and finally some news.  The largest headline and news story featured is about recidivism among mentally ill jail inmates.  I find it good to see a basic investigative story covered on the front page, reporting on a story that most people may not know about.  The other story covered is the tragic  death of a 10-year old boy living in Simi Valley who collapsed during football practice. 

 It is the East County Section that I read the most thoroughly, and find the most info that is useful to me as a Conejo Valley resident.  I always like to read the Star editorials and of course, the letters to the editor.  One thing I don’t understand today however, is that East County has an entire page devoted to the elections coming up in the city of Ventura, with a guest opinion article, and the rest letters to the editor.  What interest do folks outside of Ventura have for this page?

I guess it seems to me like the Star has hd to let so many staff members go, that they are trying to fill up the front pages with banners, headlines and photos.   I am sorry about this,  but there are still a lot of informative and interesting stories that the Star covers, and I think a subscription really helps keep me informed and gives me ideas for the Conejo Post. 

Then, especially for Conejo Valley folks living in Los Angeles County, there is the Daily News, based in the San Fernando Valley.  I think of it as a more “gritty” paper than the other two.  The Daily News front page has banner size and headline size smaller than the Star, and only 1 smaller promo on top for an article about Cirque du Soleil, plus the total savings of all their coupons.  The paper actually has two news stories about the fold.  OK, so one is the about the Dodgers beating the Cardinals, with a photo, but the other is about the health insurance debate in Washington and the headline says the lobbyists are winning.  The thing about the Daily News is, they don’t have many sections, but I do enjoy it, and they cover Los Angeles County and city of Los Angeles news.

Last, there is the Los Angeles Times, which is a newspaper I used to adore years ago, when I lived in West Los Angeles.  Unfortunately, today, I find it pretty useless, but I am getting ahead of myself.  The L.A. Times actually has six stories about the fold on the main page today.  The photo is the same topic as the Daily News…the Dodger victory over the Cards.  Then there is a story about Obama and gays, about Pakistan, with the largest story, “Flawed county system lets children die invisibly.”  It is an investigative report by 2 reporters and says that, “At least 268 children who had passsed through the child welfare system died from January 2008 through early August 2009.”  It went on to say that 213 of these children died from either “unnatural or undertermined causes.”  How disturbing, and probably a story most readers didn’t know.

I take the L.A. Times for their ocassional coverage of state and local water issues.  They have little to no coverage of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County.  The closest is their Sunday “California” section which today has only 3-plus pages of news, the rest being business and professional ads, obituaries, and the weather.  There was not a local story.  The closest one was about mega churches in California, with a photo of a Porter Ranch church that has 8,000 attendees a week. 

A lot of sections seemed aimed at the entertainment industry, and I would definitely take the L.A. Times if that was my field.  The three sections I am thinking of are “Calendar,” “ Image,” and “Arts and Books.”  For instance, the big cover story on the “Arts and Books” section is an excerpt from the Times’ pop music critic Robert Hilburn’s book, “Corn Flakes and John Lennon.”  There is a large photo of Hilburn talking to Lennon.  So, even the featured book has to do with entertainment (although John Lennon is a favorite artist of mine, and I do intend to read the article).

So, for local dailies, I would rank The Star first, and I guess a tie for the Daily News and L.A. Times.  I was going to put the Times last, but decided against it, because when they do have a story of interest, they do a good job.  That is my newspaper review.  What do you think?

Posted by Janna Orkney