The Buzz 07.07.22

FREE SPEECH

The story of declining print media is not a new one, but a new analysis of the latest numbers from the Alliance for Audited Media shows just how radically print is plummeting. The media-focused Press Gazette reports that print sales fell by 12 percent in 2022. Circulation at the largest domestic print newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, fell by 11 percent to an average of 697,493; in the number-two spot, the New York Times fell by 9 percent; and in third, USA Today, fell by 13 percent. Nieman Journalism Lab looked at the data since 2000, and the trend is unchanged. The Journal’s circulation is down by 60 percent over that time period; the Times by 70 percent; and USA Today by 91 percent. The challenge isn’t necessarily that people aren’t getting the news but that the business model has still not shifted with readership. Print advertising revenue remains significantly bigger than digital. “The primary industry goal for the past two decades has been a transition to digital – so that, when the time came, papers could shut down the presses but live on,” Joshua Benton wrote for Nieman. “It was a reasonable goal. The problem is that it’s 2022 and they’re still counting on print to pay the bills.”

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We don’t want late fees to be a barrier.” –Salinas Library and Community Services Director Kristan Lundquist speaking about the end of late fines at the city’s public libraries, a policy that took effect July 1 (see story, posted at mcweekly.com/news).

GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK

Good:

In 2019 one estimate of the number of homeless children in Monterey County was over 8,000, around 3,000 of those in Salinas. Some in the future will have homes thanks to a $2.6 million Family Homelessness Challenge Grant from the California Interagency Council on Homelessness. The Council announced June 24 it’s awarding Salinas over $2.6 million to purchase single-family homes and add accessory dwelling units to serve a total of four families. Salinas, in partnership with nonprofit Bay Area Community Services, was one of 10 selected out of 32 applicants for the grant. The innovative model “is critical to producing the housing we need quickly, especially in communities where more and more households are being pushed out,” BACS CEO Jamie Almanza said in a press release. BACS will purchase the homes and build the ADUs. A collection of nonprofits and local agencies will provide services.

GREAT:

Helping those incarcerated in jails and prisons achieve academic success and lead productive lives beyond incarceration is the goal of the California Community College system’s Rising Scholars Network, of which Hartnell College in Salinas is a part. This is a great week for those incarcerated at the Correctional Training Facility and the Salinas Valley State Prison, both located in Soledad, as well as the Monterey County Jail and Monterey County Detention Center in Salinas, as Hartnell begins using a three-year $480,000 grant from the CCC to increase the number of students taking classes, currently at around 800. Hartnell began offering classes to incarcerated students in 2016 after passage of SB 1391. Only one has graduated and that was with the help of the Rising Scholars program in 2020. Funds will be used to increase counseling services to help students determine what’s needed to complete a degree.