The Long Slow Death of the Sacramento Bee (and local newspapers generally)

Photo by SJ Childs

This past Saturday marked the first time in decades that the Sacramento Bee did not publish a print edition.  We were warned of it for months but still it felt sad not to open the door, look for the paper and have to call up to ask where it was.  We knew where it was (it wasn’t).

The McClatchy Company, which owns the Bee (and other Bees) is in bankruptcy and restructuring.  The McClatchy family company, which started in Sacramento, is no longer family-owned.   The name McClatchy is everywhere here.  Our daughter is a proud graduate of McClatchy High for example.

I grew up with my father ranting at the San Diego Union or Tribune (one was a morning paper and one was an evening paper, back when that was a thing).  Both were relatively conservative and infuriated him, but we "took" them anyway. 

Later I moved to Portland, Oregon and enjoyed The Oregonian.  After that it was Buffalo, New York and The Buffalo News followed by years of the luxury of having a national paper as my local news (which has its own set of problems since they often give local news short shrift), The Washington Post.

The past 22 years I have read The Sacramento Bee most days, and definitely always subscribed to it.  As local papers died or dwindled around the country I found comfort in still having a relatively vibrant one.  Lately that has been less true.  I know they are doing the best they can.  I love our editorial cartoonist Jack Ohman who is also now the editorial editor.  He is smart, funny and frequently hits the mark.  The Bee is historically Democratic leaning, but often uncomfortable with real progressive politics, tending to cling to the center.

As former presidential candidate Andrew Yang frequently pointed out, vibrant independent news media is absolutely key to a Democracy.  I am very active on Twitter (@snicholsblog, please follow me) engaging with the news, but it’s not the same.  We must have trusted relatively objective reporters who actually check the facts.  This is why I continue to read The Washington Post and The New York Times even though I often disagree with their editorial choices.  At least I know that they have real reporters who triple check sources. 

--> I am sad that our beloved local institution is dying while I am grateful that it is still alive.  I urge everyone in this country to subscribe to and advertise in their local newspaper and do everything they can to keep them alive.