And so the consolidation begins. As predicted, the 10/20 Contra Costa Times reports today that:
Editor of Times replaced
By Malaika Fraley
Contra Costa Times Editor Chris Lopez was replaced Friday after more than six years at the publication, the newspaper announced. Lopez’s responsibilities will be assumed by Contra Costa Times Executive Editor Kevin Keane.Keane, 48, has been an editor at MediaNews for nine years, most recently as the executive editor of ANG Newspapers. He retains oversight of MediaNews’ East Bay editorial operations.
“As we consolidate the operations of Contra Costa and ANG newspapers in the Bay Area, there are some positions that have become redundant, and, unfortunately for Chris, his is one of those positions,” said John Armstrong, who oversees MediaNews Group’s East Bay operations.
“Chris has been a superb editor,” Armstrong said. “When he succeeded me as editor nearly two years ago, we talked about pushing on investigative reporting and community coverage and involvement, and he and the news staff delivered in spades.”
Armstrong cited economic pressure felt by the newspaper industry as a reason for Lopez’s departure. Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc., owner of the ANG Newspapers chain that includes the Oakland Tribune, purchased Contra Costa Newspapers and its sister paper, the San Jose Mercury News, in a sale finalized Aug. 2. The Mercury News announced newsroom layoffs Friday, to take effect in 60 days.
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This trend does not bode well for local coverage of our commuity. What do you think?
Thanks to reader Jay L.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Local coverage of our community? Maybe. Maybe not. Coverage will probably tend to follow where the advertising dollars come from, which will generally follow readership.
The question is, are the advertising dollars and the readership coming from the same place? Does Concord or CoCo county have the kind of dollars to draw the most attention in the Bay Area? It is the fastest growing county in the Bay — has been for years. But it still isn’t the economic powerhouse of say, Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, and Alameda counties. CoCo is more blue-collar. More interesting issues, but issues that have “already been resolved” in the more metropolitan (highly politically/economically evolved) areas like Alameda and San Francisco counties.
Still, much can be said for whether or not you’re a Raiders/A’s fan or a Giants/49ers fan. The team’s image matches the culture of the area perfectly. The Bay can fairly be said to have a sort of “partisan” split along these lines: blue-white collar. With these images dominating, it’s hard for CoCo county to compete without innovating (or getting their own sports team or university to drive the microculture and the microeconomy), which means a whole new set of never before seen problems to drive the politics. But that is all still predicated on the bucks. As the saying goes, “no bucks, no Buck Rogers.”
An interesting question will be whether or not media consolidation will have the effect of limiting growth potential of more suburban communities like CoCo county, which is on the fringes of the economic/cultural centers like Oakland and San Fran because there is no local coverage and because of that, no advertising potential, which means no business, and because no business, no readers who really care about what the hell is going on locally.
Chicken or the egg argument. You choose: media consolidation good or bad?
Get rid of Lisa V. – she’s a friggin’
Socialist wannabe’
Chris Lopez was a very capable newspaper executive. He is very open and was always accessible to the public. This is a step own for the Times and the readers and the residents of the County.
Who will go next? Hatfield? Armstrong? Vorderbrueggen? Your guess is as good as mine.