Comments so far on this story:

1. San Marcos says, wrote on November 12, 2007 8:04 AM:
"What a shame. The Washington correspondent gone. So many others gone. What's left ? How does someone uncover another Watergate ? Will the UT expand its content and maybe even its internet version ? Please, please, VOSD, keep up your stellar work. In the future, there will be many secrets uncovered. It really is a shame for Copley News to have shrunk to such an extent."

2. Charles Foster Kane wrote on November 12, 2007 10:36 AM:
"The estate tax torpedoes Copley? Hunh? They're smarter than that. But as for the loss of the news service, well, it was never any great shakes, though Stern and Kammer are some fine journalists who for once had an editor that didn't kill a story that ran against the UT's grain. If there is going to be a future for newspapers, it can be found in the philosophy of Edward W. Scripps; not the Copleys. Scripps would have at least promoted good journalists, not burned the bridges they stand on."

3. Fed Up wrote on November 12, 2007 10:43 AM:
"My theory about the Pulitzer Prize-winning Copley News Service story exposing crooked Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham: San Diego Copley chieftains gave the green light to reporter Marcus Stern to reveal Cunningham's chicanery when the Congressman balked at removing the Marines from Miramar so that Lindbergh Field could be developed. Surely Cunnigham's high living on his D.C. yacht and in Rancho Santa Fe had been obvious for years before that story broke. What's a shame is that Copley Press journalism has never equalled the paper's role as the only game in town. It's just a matter of time before the whole edifice crumbles and Bob Kittle will be out of a job."

4. PB Resident wrote on November 12, 2007 12:23 PM:
"Funny -- David Copley had $33 million to spend on building a new 164-foot megayacht (with 7500 square feet of living space) which he's carefully keeping outside US waters (and registering in the tax-haven of the Marshall Islands) to avoid paying taxes, but can't make any investment in his newspaper to preserve its editorial content and integrity. I expect the paper will fold, or go entirely online, in the not-too-distant future. The quantity and quality of content decline on almost a weekly basis, while their self-delusional ombudsman continues as chief cheerleader to applaud their exceptional coverage."

5. Donald Reno wrote on November 12, 2007 1:09 PM:
"Good Riddance like a Felony Prone Brother we hope goes back to Jail for Good. Ever Since the Original Owner of the UT and Union married his Secretary the path for this Paper was chosen, only the History needed to catch up to prove he made a Mortal Mistake. Like I said Good Riddance to a Felony prone bad brother..."

6. sad staffer wrote on November 12, 2007 2:54 PM:
"Those of us staying behind feel such a loss."

7. No Tears for Fish Wrap wrote on November 12, 2007 5:57 PM:
"While I think Fed Up has a silly conspiracy theory, the U-T has failed to live up to its duty as a member of the Fourth Estate. Over a century into its existence, it finally decides it wants to have some investigative teeth. Unfortunately, that decision didn't change the fact that it was saddled with a staff chiefly composed of lazy/unambitious reporters who are only there because they don't want to leave San Diego. Those with a real ambition and skill quickly move on to better papers, and the rest of the motivated young reporters languish under lousy guidance from unbelievably mediocre, untalented editors. The Peter Principle culture and market forces will be its undoing sooner than anyone might imagine."

8. Fed Up wrote on November 12, 2007 6:09 PM:
"I don't know what to say to "sad staffer," except that there are now some excellent reporters working for the U-T and I hope they will be hired and remunerated by the Reader, the voice, the Transcript and the North County Times -- most of them organizations with sufficient resources. When the yacht capsizes, there is no need for everyone to go down with the ship. Other newspapers should be cherry-picking right now and the U-T's best writers should understand where their futures lie. It is a tremendous loss when any daily newspaper folds, but witnessing this process from within must be agony. As for that cheerleading U-T ombudswoman, she reminds me of prisoner/musicians who played while others lined up for the gas chamber."

9. The Cynical View wrote on November 13, 2007 2:55 AM:
"I wonder how many of those who bemoan the state of U-T finances --and the cost-cutting it necessitates-- actually subscribe to the newspaper."

10. The Cynical View wrote on November 13, 2007 2:55 AM:
"I wonder how many of those who bemoan the state of U-T finances --and the cost-cutting it necessitates-- actually subscribe to the newspaper."

11. Not simple-minded wrote on November 13, 2007 10:00 AM:
"Fed Up's comment hits the nail on the head. When the Pulitzer was announced, I was happy for the reporters. Still, even when the stories were running and the scandal was breaking, all I could think was, where was the UT for 20 years while this was happening. Ditto for Duncan Hunter and others. The UT doesn't just turn its head, it activelydiscourages reporting. That's why people don't read it; its credibility is zero. The alternative press here does not have the resources to do what a daily must do. Even voice, which is outstanding, can't. The Reader is too busy writing about how SD is a paradise, and CityBeat is too small and invests its resources mainly in weird anything and rock 'n' roll, although it does occasionally break out with a decent story (and the writing is much brighter than the Reader's)."

12. Joe wrote on November 13, 2007 10:41 AM:
"Why not just say that David Copley ruined the paper. His destruction of the paper sped downhill after driving out union workers and taking stances on editorial issues that reflect only a small but vocal segment of the community."

13. Hazel wrote on November 16, 2007 7:03 PM:
"Quite frankly, the U-T has disintegrated into a Republican-biased stew of smug complacency, waton ignorance, and soporific stupidity. The sooner it goes, the better. I can't wait for a decent daily to take its place."

14. Christopher Hall wrote on November 16, 2007 7:56 PM:
"Ironically, David Copley's largess is sinking the mother ship. His mom made him chief guy while she was still alive, but she kept full control of the reins until the day she died. Then there was David, all alone... // The SD-UT has made such a legacy about lying by omission, shading the truth with either pessimism or optimism when it suited their interests, and editorializing in ways that invented a whole new mannerism of fiction, it's no wonder they now suffer a slow death as they manage to ignore or imagine their fate differently from what is reality. The SD-UT is daily writing its own eulogy by each and every action they take, and the victims are the reporters and their readers. // It's sad that the nation's most conservative daily newspaper is fading away, I always appreciated knowing what the other-side was up to."

15. Frances O'Neill Zimmerman wrote on November 18, 2007 5:21 PM:
"I feel affinity with many ideas expressed by Christopher Hall (though his apparently not living here anymore puts him in a special class of pain-free observer) but it makes me mad when he says "it's sad that the nation's most conservative newspaper is fading away...." It's worse than "sad." It's criminal the way that paper has been run. It has had a huge civic responsibility for this growing city and unforgiveably shirked its duty every time. There oughta be a law against the kind of journalism practiced at the U-T. Even today, as the state of California officially reported (in the LA Times) that SDG&E power lines were responsible for starting our terrible recent fires, the U-T editorialized that the proposed Sunrise Power Link should go forward as planned -- built above ground and scarring a new section of the backcountry."

16. Mary Helen Ish wrote on November 19, 2007 12:13 PM:
"Gee maybe Clear Chanel will buy up the UT."

17. JDMB wrote on November 21, 2007 9:38 AM:
"Yeah, Clearchannel would be a perfect fit!! Or maybe Newscorp... At least the Union FINALLY has its own Pulitzer (the other one was for the pre-merger Tribune; and if memory serves, ost of the U-T's better elements came over from the Trib back then.) And last week, traffic at the border southbound was snarled all day for miles due to a CBP/CHP/SDPD/etc. joint operation - 3 to 4 hour delays going into Mexico (that's everyday northbound, but going the other way?); this noteworthy event was covered on all TV newscasts, constant updates on the radio, and what did the U-T print the next day? NOT A WORD!!! I agree w/Frances (# 15 above): the U-T '...has had a huge civic responsibility... and unforgiveably shirked its duty every time.'"

18. Seth Hettena wrote on November 28, 2007 11:01 AM:
"Update: Anyone who's interested can find the original Penthouse magazine article about Copley News Service and the CIA posted on my blog at link"