ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

Not too long ago, the editor of our local paper offered his take on the goings-on at the Los Angeles Times, a paper that retired renowned journalist, Sander Vanocur , called the best source of unbiased reporting in print. And now the Times is getting rid of key reporters to chop labor costs in an effort to enhance what is already record profits. At the time of the cuts, their parent company, Tribune Publishing was reporting record profits over the previous year of $93 million. Shoot, one has to wonder what kind of numbers they are aiming for. What will the future hold for the Times? We can only wait and watch. Meanwhile, print media is changing rapidly in an effort to compete with the internet. Younger readers are savvy to the ways of the net and know how to filter the myriad of information it offers. And our local newspaper editor is all too aware of the market shifts and how that affects small-town media. He promises that local politics and advertiser whims will not influence how the news is reported. I applaud his position and am eager to hear more from him.

I grew up in a small town – I mean a bona fide small town, one that was about 50 miles from the nearest stoplight. I usually have to use that example when I try to explain to folks here that Ojai is no small town. When I was in high school, the town was embroiled in quite a political scandal involving the school district. As a result, 3 out of 5 school board members were being recalled. The town would have surely been left to its own devices with rumor and speculation to sort out the facts. But because our local paper had the integrity to report the news, sleuth the facts without relying on public meeting minutes and didn’t cater to the dysfunction of small-town politicking, we knew the truth.

And now in Ojai, with the news of Villanova’s murderer-teacher and reports of Ojai Valley Inn’s unpaid bills only getting press in Ventura, and the Phone Book Wars going totally unreported, we find that we here are left to rumor and speculation to sort out our own version of the truth. I hope we can use OjaiPost as a complement to existing media to find out what’s happening in our community, whether it be hard news, local events or just a note about how great the view was this morning from Shelf Road. And I also hope we can make a pledge to be responsible enough to avoid tabloid tactics, and at the very least use proper grammar, punctuation and spelling! I’m looking forward to seeing how OjaiPost can become a valuable community resource and a quality, respected, independent source of unbiased local news and community information.