By KAREN VELIE
The San Luis Obispo Tribune will not be making candidate endorsements this year because of recent layoffs, according to opinion editor Stephanie Finucane.
On Sept. 10, McClatchy made deep cuts to newsrooms throughout the United States, including laying off five journalists who were working for the San Luis Obispo Tribune. The layoffs included three reporters, one photographer and opinion editor Stephanie Finucane.
On Friday afternoon, Finucane emailed local candidates to inform them the paper would not be making endorsements.
“As you may have heard, there have been several layoffs at McClatchy newspapers,” Finucane wrote. “The entire California opinion team, including me, was laid off effective Sept. 25. For that reason, we will not be going ahead with endorsements, as there will not be time to interview all candidates throughout the county and then write up our decisions.”
As part of a restructuring plan due to falling revenue, McClatchy cut journalists from papers throughout the country. In California, McClatchy cut 10 reporters at the Sacramento Bee and seven journalists at the Fresno Bee.
Note to self: Don’t follow endorsements by any media…. especially self-serving ideologues like the TT.
Seems the Tribune still has enough staff to endorse local grifters like the Belsher/Bernats based on the absurd hit piece this am projecting yet a new round of their crap and bad conduct at Velie and the Truth once again.
Lets hope McClatchy and Chatham Asset Management direct the tribune to cease what seems to be a policy of the Tribune to provide public relations services to those involved in the long standing local corruption.
Most importantly, let’s put some hope that the District Attorney’s office will thoroughly investigate John Belsher, Jody and their friend Aaron Och’s decades of questionable conduct and promptly take action sooner rather than later.
John Belsher and Ryan Petite were identified in the DOJ Federal Filings as conspiring with Adam Hill and funding him. That should not be forgotten.
Equally, David Platek along with Aaron Ochs apparently did deplorable things to Kevin Rice – damage that cannot be easily remedied.
David Platek is in Jail.
Seems to me like the Tribune should have been the one going to jail for election fraud and charged with libel and defamation!
As Tribune reporters continue to support criminals like Adam Hill, currently attempting to cover for Hill’s co-conspirator John Belsher, readership is going to suffer. Even though a judge found Belsher cheated seniors in the community, the Tribune reports falsely that Belsher is not part of the criminal case. Reporters do no care about what is in the court record, they have an agenda and facts do not matter. Sad!
I don’t think that bunch even know how to FIND a court record, much less read and report on it accurately!
A local newspaper should reflect the community it is situated in. While the Tribune touts itself as the county paper of record, it is more accurately SLO City’s paper and SLO, being a college town, is solidly blue. So the Tribune reflects that and shouldn’t be unfairly criticized for that. But they step way over the line and have long been an arm of the local Dem party. For goodness sake, their tight association with Tom Fulks, the local party chair is a simple example. But worse still was their love affair with the odious criminal Adam Hill and all his crooked associates. Those issues by themselves disqualify the paper as having any journalistic credibility.
Progressives tend to gravitate to echo chambers which is why cities tend to be liberal. The danger is group think and a hive mindset. The Trib hasn’t helped and infact has fomented that dangerous trend. It needs to die a quiet death and hopefully resurrected by someone with the pocket and the goal of quality journalism (It’s happening at the LA Times and CBS).
“Progressives tend to gravitate to echo chambers”…LOL, this place is the very definition of an echo chamber. There is very little critical thinking going on here. Basically, everyone says the same thing. There’s hardly any meaningful discussion in the comment section. Just a bunch of people that think that they are morally and intellectually superior to others that don’t have the same point of view.
Point taken but dismissed. This site is open to all commentators and I see both left and right on it. No one is banned unless they don’t follow the pretty liberal rules. My argument is not how or where you express opinions, it’s where people live. Your argument is moot.
@south. I am not disagreeing with your observation about a newspaper reflecting the community it is situated in. I am just pointing out the irony in your echo chamber comment (and group think and a hive mindset). Right, left, or center, whatever one identifies with, make sure you embrace critical thinking. That is my argument. If that argument is moot in your eyes, well then…
The Tribune’s endorsements are duplicitous, just go the Democrat Party website.
Oh No! I depended on their endorsements so I knew who to vote against!
If the trib endorsed it go the other way.
100%
That falling over left, embarrassment of a newZpaper is a falling result of it’s poorly thought of business plan.
Go WOKE, go BROKE!
((BOOM!
Correction:
100%
That falling over left, embarrassment of a failing newZpaper is a direct result of it’s poorly thought out business plan.
Go WOKE, go BROKE! It is that simple.
((BOOM!))
1st and only interview question: “are you a liberal democrat?” CHA CHING! – we endorse you.
No biggie. I never agreed with their endorsements anyway.