Latest Evidence of the Demise of Daily News

I'm really sad to see that the East Valley Tribune is scaling back from a busy daily to a free, four-day-a-week paper.

Full disclosure: I spent several years as a Tribune reporter. I learned a lot there, and think extremely highly of most of my former co-workers. I hope those that are still there will make it through this.

For the Valley, this is the begin of an even-worse era for news coverage. The Tribune has many flaws, but at least it used to be a thorn in the side for The Arizona Republic. A city the size of Phoenix should have more than one decent-sized daily newspaper. The Republic doesn't have the inclination to dig in everywhere - and being a Gannett paper, it's not exactly a beacon of high-quality journalism.

That leaves us with the Republic and our local TV stations. The less said about their news coverage, the better. But descriptions such as "lightweight" and "fluffy" are quite fair.

What to blame? The Trib's overly chicken dinner, folksy and local focus? The rise of the Internet? The cost of newsprint? The fact that they don't pay newsroom staff members very well? Yes. It's not just the Trib. More and more, interns are writing the Republic while consultants and focus groups drive its content. There are some really good people at both papers, yet they never have the time or space to show their talents. That's unfortunate, and it makes readers less likely to plunk 50 cents into the machine or pay for a subscription.

The fact is, good newspaper reporters, good editors, good photographers and good graphic artist deserve to be paid well. They deserve the freedom to take risks in performing their crafts. If they can't do that, audiences are likely to tune them out and just get their news online, for free.

I can't say I have the solution. But I really hope to see people with true vision take a shot at how to improve the news business. It's a critical industry, and a key element in preserving freedom through scrutinizing business and government. And it's good for an interesting feature here and there, too.