Comments on all things journalism and answers to questions from readers about news coverage and operations at the Tracy Press.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Faithful readers

Warms my heart to see all these people reading the Tracy Press this morning. Marvin Rothchild, who used to teach at Tracy High School, reads every weekday morning to residents of Tracy Convalescent Hospital. I think it's time to get a computer in there so Marvin can read the TP Web site on the days we don't publish. Photo by Glenn Moore

Friday, August 24, 2007

Public access denied

Three months to the day after a hearing in Superior Court, Judge Lauren P. Thomasson has issued her ruling on the Tracy Press Inc. v. City of Tracy, City Council and Suzanne Tucker.

The judge denied our request for e-mail records sought in the California Public Records Act.

We're disappointed in the ruling, but we plan to appeal. For background on the case, see my "public access" postings. A news story is in the works.

I've scanned the ruling and posted the pages, below. To read them, you'll have to click on the images to enlarge them, and then hit your back-arrow button to come back to the blog. It's funky, I know, but the best a nontechie editor can do!

Judge's statement




Thursday, August 23, 2007

Have Your Say

We recently added a requirement to register with your name and e-mail address before you leave a comment on stories. What do you think of that policy? Feel free to leave your opinions, anonymous or not, on this blog.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

All comments, questions welcome

Published today in the Tracy Press

Dear Tracy Press readers,

If you’ve been in Tracy for a few years or more, you’re used to changes in your hometown. Tracy has seen some mighty big changes, and so has this 109-year-old newspaper. What hasn’t changed - since the 1940s, at least - is the family that owns and runs the Tracy Press, our location downtown, our commitment to local news and you, our loyal readers.

Today we announce changes in our publication. Starting Sept. 5, we will deliver three papers a week, on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays - with seven days of news online at www.tracypress.com.

We don’t take this change lightly. We know some of you would prefer to have the paper delivered to your home every day. But it’s a new world in the newspaper business, and we’re embracing it as quickly as we can, with the resources we have. Economic necessity is driving this decision as much as the changing realities and challenges of the business we’re in. If we could deliver the printed newspaper every day, we would. But it no longer makes economic sense for us to do so.

You can be assured that we will always try to make the Tracy Press the best it can be, with three generations of our family working every day. As always, your comments, good and bad, are welcome, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,

Bob & Cheri Matthews