While I can join in the glee over the demise of the "strangle hold" the UT has on the region's power structure, I worry that it might sink so low before some real journalistic company purchases it that it will not have any franchise left and therefore will not be attractive to any professional media organization. The bottom feeders in the media (Black, Murdock, etal) would certainly be more entertaining than the current management but I wonder if we need to be entertained by the area's only major daily? Someone needs to be the "record" of newsworthy events...good or bad, political or human interest. Basically, it's just sad.

Posted by southbayguy | reply to this comment
September 29, 2008 8:27 pm

The UT has no chance of surviving as long as it employs out of control creeps like Chris Reed and Bob Whittle. Why is Copley chasing out all the competent journalists but retaining those flamethrowing wingnuts? The company will go bankrupt and they'll still be spouting their irrational venom.

Posted by Watcher | reply to this comment
September 29, 2008 9:54 am

Am I missing something or does it make absolutely no sense to offer buyouts to your reporters and writers and then go about recruiting their replacements? Or are they going to starve some other part of the paper to fill the Goodhue's tiny tiny shoes? Readers representative? Please, she wasted most of her ink whining about what a pain it is to be a readers representative. What the U-T needs is someone like the NYT public editor, who actually interrogates the editors and reporters about how and why they report their stories and never hesitates to point out inconsistencies or poor decisionmaking. Do they have to cash to recruit Clark Hoyt from the NYT? I would love to see a reconfiguration of the whole organization into a modern media company.

Posted by Catherine | reply to this comment
September 30, 2008 12:01 pm

Scott: I didn't realize you had as much scorn for Winner as I do. I remember a few years back when Bernie Jones was still the OpEd editor he told me that I was black-balled from the editorial pages because I had insulted all the UT hierarchy at one time or another (at one time I was a regular contributor on AIDS issues and local politics). I now wear that putdown as a badge of honor since soon the hierarchy will all that is left of the UT.

Posted by ian Trowbridge | reply to this comment
September 30, 2008 2:30 pm

There was a time that I used to get angry at the senior management of the U-T (especially the continual sanctioning of the bizarre, elitist, Editorial Board). But, just like with the Padres baseball club, I just don't care about them any more. I submit that "not caring" about these enterprises is more dangerous to their existence, than is trying to work through their public indifference. The U-T has not cared about the majority of it's readership and it's subscribers. RIP.

Posted by Both Sides Now | reply to this comment
September 30, 2008 6:11 pm

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