Representatives of four news media outlets who discussed how their publications impact local communities included (from left) Paul Eakins, Bill Pearl, Neena Strichart and Harry Saltzgaver.
BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer
What the news media report and how they report it can significantly impact the public’s perception of issues and events. Last Sunday afternoon, representatives of four Long Beach news media participated in a panel discussion of how their publications affect local communities.
The meeting, organized by the North Long Beach Community Action Group (CAG) and attended by about 25 people, took place at the Long Beach Police Department’s North Division Substation.
“We are a traditional paper in Long Beach,” said Press-Telegram (PT) reporter Paul Eakins. He noted that in addition to its print version, the PT is also online and many of its reporters have started their own blogs focusing on a variety of topics and issues.
Bill Pearl, publisher of LBReport.com (available only online), explained that his publication is a newspaper without the paper. He stressed that the news media are an important part of the governmental process and if the public does not have accurate information about what governmental officials are doing, democracy will fail. He added that Internet news media like his make it much easier for independent voices to be heard. “This is a very healthy and therapeutic thing for the media,” he said.
Neena Strichart, publisher of the Signal Tribune, noted that she bought the newspaper nine years ago because she understood the importance of having coverage for local events and issues that the larger media ignore. She explained that her publication is distributed free to 25,000 households and less than half of those are in Signal Hill. Residents and business owners in Bixby Knolls, California Heights, the Cerritos District, the Wrigley District, and parts of north and east Long Beach read the paper.
“I wish I could go into more areas and cover more things,” Strichart said. “But we have to be able to pay for what we cover, and advertising is the only thing that pays for what a newspaper does.”
Harry Saltzgaver, executive editor and associate publisher of the Gazette Newspapers, explained that community newspapers are filling an important niche. “We can get down to the neighborhoods,” he said, adding that he believes in old-school journalism that tells both sides of the story.
CAG member Christopher Hicks asked the media reps questions after their brief introductions. He began by asking how they perceive their role in the North Long Beach Community.
“Part of our role is to keep tabs on everything that is happening on a daily basis,” Eakins said. “We also try to keep in touch with community events.”
Pearl explained that his publication covers some North Long Beach events but focuses more on how decisions made by the City Council and the Harbor Commission directly impact what happens in North Long Beach.
Strichart noted that she is looking for ways to distribute more papers and provide more coverage in North Long Beach. “We do the best we can to cover the 9th District because it does matter to our entire readership,” she said.
Saltzgaver explained that the Grunion Gazette, the Downtown Gazette and the Uptown Gazette have a combined circulation of 74,000. He added that the Gazette company has one reporter dedicated to North Long Beach news and the articles he writes appear in all three publications. “We provide the city with news of North Long Beach,” he said.
Hicks also asked the panelists how local communities could get more coverage for issues and events that are important to them. All four agreed that it is up to community groups and leaders to stay in touch with media agents, find out a publication’s deadline and provide information about events well in advance of that deadline. Even so, they all agreed that they could not promise to publish information from every press release they receive, explaining that the volume of press releases they get makes it impossible. “The only way you can guarantee that your press release will be published is to pay to have it published as an ad,” Saltzgaver said.
Hicks’s questions were followed by questions and comments from the audience. Several people complained that the media largely ignore Jordan High School sports and events like North Long Beach health fairs.
Strichart again stressed that the ability to cover events is determined by advertising revenues. She urged people who want more local coverage to support their community newspaper, explaining such publications are an important part of having an informed citizenry.
