Comments so far on this story:

1. Linda Sturak wrote on December 10, 2007 8:39 AM:
"Recently I moved and I came across the issues of the Evening Tribune saved over the years--the issue with my engagement announcement, the Kennedy tragedies, the day the Chargers won the big one. compared them with the current issue and was astonished at how physically small the newspaper had become! I remember asthehighschool editor of Point Loma Pointer honored at the old Grant Hotel by the Copley press with highschool editors to lunch and a tour behind the scenes. I remember on Saturdays the high school youth had space to give their opinions and half a page above the fold and that had value and a positive experience for me. And when the Evening Tribune and Union were consolidated I was the VP atJerabek and often got updates of the process from the Dad in charge ofthatprocess. The paper will always be special to me!"

2. Christopher Hall wrote on December 10, 2007 9:05 AM:
"Seth could you please print the list of 43? Well, the first answer to journeyman journalist is the voiceofsandiego.org. // Dear Voice staff: What IS you 5 year strategic plan for organizational development? Are you and your board members working on one? I would understand if you are so busy keeping the business running that you haven't been able to focus considerable resources on such a development plan, but please share with your readers your non-profit plan for organizational development. I would guess you would consider goals such as expansion of regional news coverage, investigative reporting, arts criticism, local politics and then maybe even a hot topics section covering issues like land use/ abuse, planning, development, transit, labor, lodging industry, appointed committees, groups, gangs & parties under the employ of special interests, religious goings-on, environmental concerns and how all these (and more) interrelate."

3. Point Loman wrote on December 10, 2007 9:20 AM:
"The sad truth is, those who run the Union-Tribune don't know how to get out of their own way. They are so focused on winning awards that ethics, fairness and balance go out the window. All too often we see biased stories coming out of that news room that you just know someone was directed to dig up - rather than look into. The UT has fallen into the trap of trying to be provocotive rather than fair. Contrary to what the execs at the paper think, it's not working. I know folks on the inside who are fed up with the "Investigative Team" and it's arrogance. And there are plenty of others, including readers and advertisers, who feel the same. There are many good reporters and editors at the UT. Unfortunately, the UT execs have put their eggs in the wrong basket. And good reporters will now go intoPR."

4. Dannyboy wrote on December 10, 2007 10:38 AM:
"I would like to start a newspaper in SD. I would name it "Page 17". Because that's the page most newspapers of this country are going to put the news if at all. The UT has been the worst paper I have ever read. They never had a page 17. It's no wonder they are collapsing."

5. Jerry wrote on December 10, 2007 11:53 AM:
"Maybe the reason that the paper is not selling well is that it went away from its roots. The quoted reporter says it was shedding its conservative legacy and its "compromised politics". That apparently served the paper well for decades. Now what we get is reprinted trash from ultra-liberal NY Times reporters like Maureen Dowd and the constant anti-American pablum from the Washington Post. Add the ubiquitous article from Lionel Van Deerlin, the front man for liberal Democrats, and the Opinion page is not worth reading. The paper is full of bad news and never any positive stories of successes in Iraq or Afghanistan or North Korea's nuclear aspirations being arrested. On the Sports page ever local team is chastised and criticized after every game, even when they win. I doubt the Aztecs or Chargers even read it. I am tired of the negativity and lack of balance."

6. Frank In SD wrote on December 10, 2007 12:12 PM:
"If the transition to the web becomes one of BUILDING the news reporting capacity of the UT, or of relieving the bias issues identified, then I welcome it. However, I do not think that the lack of ad revenue drives this grinding down on the staff levels. David Copley's family inheritance taxes and an appetite for indulgence will loom larger in the long run, and anyone willing to look into the Copley estate's development atop the hill in La Jolla can see where non-inheritance expenditures are being dumped by the millions. David may have never loved the paper, and he may not be allowed to outright sell it, but he can sure suck it dry."

7. Cheeky wrote on December 10, 2007 1:41 PM:
"I am sorry that workers are losing their jobs at the U-T. However, for the past several years this newspaper has been printing TONS of erroneous editorials demonizing San Diego city employees, their pensions, drop accounts, purchase of service credits, and benefits WITHOUT a shred of accuracy to their articles. The U-T has supported city employee outsourcing and Mike Aguirre, both of which are detrimental to San Diego. This barrage of false information unfairly poisoned the public's attitude of public civil servants, while giving Mayor Sanders and Aguirre ammunition to threaten the unions with job cuts, lowered health care, and reduced salaries. Maybe it's time the U-T folded and was replaced with a fair, unbiased, ACCURATE newspaper that San Diegans could be proud of."

8. A former newsman wrote on December 10, 2007 2:37 PM:
"This shouldn't come as a shock to anyone. Newspapers have been on the decline for years now, and it will only get worse. People today don't want their news the the same way as 20 years ago. Blame it on TV "news," the Internet, the short attention spans of today's audience. Blame it whatever you want. The reality is those 43 journalists who are leaving the U-T are the lucky ones. They're escaping an industry that pays them poorly, treats them poorly, and relays their hard work in a dated fashion. "Where does it leave the journeyman journalists" like you? It leaves you with an opportunity to move on to public relations, magazines, Internet reporting, or another venue for your skills. It's a chance to escape a dying trade. The worst mistake any of these newsmen and women can make is looking for another job in the world of newsprint."

9. Fran wrote on December 10, 2007 6:31 PM:
"The U-T has been a pathetic paper for years. The front page is full of "human interest stories" while the real news is absent.The news that is there is biased and their statistics are inaccurate. They never tell both sides of a story and their inaccuracies are legion. I stopped subscribing years ago when I visited my sister and realized her town's small paper was far superior to the junk I was getting."

10. A Publisher wrote on December 10, 2007 7:51 PM:
"The SD U-T never belonged to San Diegans; it served the interests of a few. When those few found something else, San Diegans can't be bothered with the rag that never stood up for them, never told a truth if it could cover them with BS, never reached beyond the norm and never respected the people who paid to read it. Newspapers are vital when they hit a nerve with their public; if a newspaper gives the public what it wants and needs, they won't lack for readership. It was always too clear that the Union would champion the status quo no matter what, and you just can't lie to people like that anymore and expect to get away with it. Good riddance."

11. Businessman wrote on December 10, 2007 11:48 PM:
"It's clear that no one paper is going to please all of the above readers. But some are clearly delusional: it's not as though investigative news sells (except to other journalists and prize committees), while "human interest stories" sell to a generation weaned on soft TV news. Publishing is a business and the business is dying because ads printed on dead trees are no longer the only game in town. Google says the whole world will be ad-supported; will local newspaper be subscriber supported, will ads come back, or will they just go away? And without a local paper to serve as the research service for the TV stations (either directly or via AP), where will they get their news? Most seriously, how do we get our news if we don't pay people to deliver it?"

12. Rebuttal wrote on December 11, 2007 5:56 PM:
"Dannyboy: If you think the U-T is the worst paper you've ever read, you haven't read many newspapers. It has compared favorably to similar-sized papers for many years, and is far better than many. Publisher: "The U-T never belonged to San Diego." For many years, the U-T has one of the highest "penetration" rates in the county -- the percentage of households paying for it -- and still ranks high. So all those people paid for something that didn't belong, huh? As for "if a newspaper gives the public what it wants and needs, they won't lack for readership." OK, Pub. Name ONE newspaper in the country (of a decent size), that isn't suffering much the same loss of readers. To suggest this is something unique to San Diego, and not an industry-wide trend, is idiotic. Busnessman: "Delusional." Exactly."

13. rebuttal wrote on December 11, 2007 6:15 PM:
"Dannyboy: If the U-T is the worst newspaper you have ever read, you have not read many newspapers. It has compared well to similar-sized newspapers for years, and is far better than many of them. Publisher: "If a newspaper gives the public what they wants and needs, it won't lack for readership." Ok, Pub, name ONE newspaper in the United States of reasonable size (not the small-town daily in Nowheresville), that isn't suffering from declining readership, just like the U-T. It's idiotic to suggest that this trend is unique to San Diego, and not a result of industry-wide forces. Businessman: "Delusional" I couldn't agree more."

14. Observer wrote on December 11, 2007 6:57 PM:
"Yes, print newspapers are in decline as on-line alternatives like the Voice gain hold, but not all newspapers are declining at the same rate and some not declining at all. Fact is that the UT is declining faster than most (last year it slipped from 19th to 24th in daily circulation, which was the second steepest decline in the top 25 newspapers). It is declining because it is disintegrating, not vice-versa. Those papers that are stabilized, if not growing, are those that have not been canabalized like the UT. The business and sports sections are invisible. The front section you can get on Google and the local section, which is the only reason to read the paper, is not as good as the Voice of San Diego. The decline could have been avoided, as McClatchy papers avoided it, by maintaining staff. Blame the UT management, not the city."

15. rebuttal2 wrote on December 11, 2007 7:27 PM:
""McClatchy papers avoided it:" Not true: NEW YORK, (Reuters) - McClatchy Co.'s chief executive on Wednesday forecast a 3 to 4 percent decline in its newspaper circulation through early 2008 "U-T is declining faster that most": Not true, if you look further than one circ report. Over the past two years, it has been about the same as many papers. Nov. 07: NE&P has learned that several major papers have suffered declines in daily circ of over 7%, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Miami Herald and The Dallas Morning News. Asked for comment, publishers blamed the decreases partly on the cut back in other-paid circulation -- which includes Newspaper in Education, hotel, and third-party copies. And papers have been chopping distribution areas--it's too expensive to deliver to outlying areas."

16. rebuttal3 wrote on December 11, 2007 7:47 PM:
"Observer: "is not as good as the Voice of San Diego." You've got to be kidding. The VOSD does some good stuff, but to make that comparison overall is, as Businessman said, delusional."

17. rebuttal wrote on December 11, 2007 7:58 PM:
"Correction: "penetration rates in the country" not county."

18. Christopher Hall wrote on December 11, 2007 8:11 PM:
"Hey Rebuttal -- are you such a compulsive editor that you reposted your first comment more succinctly after 20 minutes of consideration? I think your former thoughts were better as they were contextualized by your person -- "Huh?" // Maybe the SD UT would be still hanging a notch higher if you'd just go with your first instinct, which is to embrace the humanity and personalization of your business as you would do yourself (second thoughts drift toward the bottom line.) Personalization across the medium (paper or internet,) from you to your reader, is what makes a paper great, and I bet Dannyboy feels alienated by the paper -- maybe Dannyboy isn't a member of the establishment."

19. rebuttal wrote on December 11, 2007 8:24 PM:
"Observer says: "decline could have been avoided, as McClatchy papers..." Not true. Reuters: Nov. 2007. " As Reuters just reported last month, McClatchy Co.'s chief exec "forecasts a 3 to 4 percent decline" in its newspaper circulation through early 2008. Observer says: "by maintaing staff" Not true, one example: McClatchy's Kansas City Star is offering 20 weeks of pay to employees who leave the newspaper after working there for 20 uninterrupted years or more..."

20. rebuttal wrote on December 11, 2007 8:52 PM:
"Oberserver says: "U-T declining faster than most." Not true, if you look beyong one circ. report. It's percentage losses over past two years is higher than some large newspapers, smaller than others. Recent declines have more than one reason, as E&P recenlty reported: Several major papers have suffered declines in daily circ of over 7%, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Miami Herald and The Dallas Morning News. Publishers blamed the decreases partly on the cut back in other-paid circulation * -- which includes Newspaper in Education, hotel, and third-party copies, and chopping circ. in outlying areas it's too expensive to serve in print. Oberserver says: "The front section you can get on Google..." Maybe you should change your name to "Master of the Obvious." That's part of the problem, MOTO."

21. rebuttal wrote on December 11, 2007 8:52 PM:
"Observer says: "is not as good as the Voice of San Diego...." You've got to be kidding. Sure the VOSD does some good stuff. But to even compare the countywide coverage day in and day out of the two....delusional."

22. jacksquat wrote on December 12, 2007 1:04 PM:
"I've lived all over the country before settling in San Diego 12 years ago. The Union-Tribune is by far the worst paper I've ever seen. And yet, I subscribe to it. Its better than nothing. The sports section is only a few pages at most. And its shrinking. What's up with "the region"? I don't care what's going on in Mexico. City and State was fine for me. Compare the UT to the Dallas paper. The Dallas paper's weekday edition is the same size as the UT's Sunday edition."

23. Torrey Pines wrote on December 12, 2007 5:29 PM:
"Five families on our block no longer subscribe to the U-T. The theme of those cancellations is "the U-T does not care about the average San Diegan, it is there for the big money corporate players." You can argue the point. You can dismiss the point. However, any business that alienates it's core consumer is headed for the bone yard. If you were a business in trouble, would you pick Bob Kittle as your primary public spokes person?"

24. pseudopaper wrote on December 13, 2007 8:27 AM:
"The Union Tribune is 90% copied from AP and other news service stories. The articles they do right are poorlyy writtten and replete with errors of fact, grammar, and spelling. They MISS big local news events like the sudden mysterious resignation of the City Wastewater Department director who did not survive city politics for even a year with the sewer rate case, recycling, and treatment plant waiver issues roiling the City council. Anybody paying attention over there?"

25. JAD wrote on December 13, 2007 11:53 AM:
"The UT serves a valuable purpose. It mainly reprints Readers Digest versions of interesting articles from the NY Times and Washington Post for people who either don't have PCs or have short attention spans. After I read the Post and Times online, I enjoy seeing the same article on the front page of my local newspaper a few days later. But then again, I'm a sucker for nostalgia."

26. A Publisher wrote on December 14, 2007 9:30 AM:
"Rebuttal: In a one-newspaper town, it's no surprise that the UT has fair ''penetration'' rates of households---since there's no other large mass circulation daily to subscribe to. Circulation death is not only true of the UT; newspapers everywhere are dying off because people don't trust their content and aren't going to pay good money for BS that talks down to them, misinforms them, bores them and lies to them. Guys like you who have to have to resort to smearing other's views in order to feel like you have a purpose are dinosaurs wading in the Brea tar pits and suffer from delusions that will make you a laughingstock to others as they watch you flounder in the unemployment line. Stick to your two-bit job at the UT, Rebuttal. Maybe you can wash towels for David when the end comes, Perhaps that won't be much different from your job now."

27. MtGoat wrote on December 16, 2007 8:39 AM:
"I truly wish I had a good local paper,... but I had to give up the UT. It has pablum for local and state content, and its conservative politics finally forced me to say enough is enough, I can't support the cro magnons. The UT should realize that it is a mediocre paper and it should avoid being political. It can only be political and retain subscribers if the offended subsribers enjoy the news and can look past political stance. I find that my LA Times subscription gives me good national and California coverage, and many times better local coverage better than UT (and is politically more to my liking). VOSD online news beats UT online news too."

28. Ramona Byron wrote on December 16, 2007 10:03 AM:
"It does not surprise me in the least that UT is losing readers. They long ago ceased to pretend to be a serious newspaper and began to enjoy wallowing in their role as a neo-con mouthpiece. We cancelled our subscription when they refused to give any press to the anti-Bush inauguration demonstration in San Diego in January 2001. Since then, they have declared one Democratic candidate for Congress as "unworthy" and another as "not a serious candidate." They refused to cover the second candidate at all, as if it were their own perogative to determine whether the party's candidate is running for the office or not. They have refused to investigate the obvious voting disparities that have repeatedly happened in San Diego and Riverside Counties, because it would undermine the legitimacy of their chosen ones. Their arrogance is their downfall. They will not be missed."

29. Tom Jackson wrote on December 17, 2007 9:25 AM:
"Having lived in San Diego for over 40 years, I have seen the Union, and now the U-T, morph from Jim Copley's far right to Helen Copley's middle-left to David Copley's "all-over-the-map" editorial approach. It was always plain to see who the paper favored - and protected - on the local scene. still, it is dismaying to see any local/regional news source dying such an agonizing death. While this is a national trend, I worry about what this failure means to our future. If all our news is going to come from the internet and television, much of it of questionable content, quality and veracity and available only to those who can afford a computer or TV, how well-informed will the public truly be? And, what happens when the power goes out?"

30. Joye wrote on January 30, 2008 1:06 PM:
"I hear the same arguments over and over, but no one ever challenges them: Online ventures are NOT making any money at all. Online ads don't sell -- users do not click on them. So where's the logic in putting all your hopes into that venture over the printed paper? And who's going to read your online stuff when all your best reporters/reviewers are gone? (The UT's online entertainment section has nothing but happy-hour and burrito reviews. It reads like a high-school newspaper.) It's amazing that instead of improving the paper to lure more readers back, they decide to cut the quality further."