Wendy McCaw -- A Lawyer's Best Friend

As reported in the LA Times, Craig Smith, the SB Independent, and other outlets (though likely not the News Press itself), the News Press has gotten a whipping by the NLRB Administrative Law judge. The only response from the NP is that they will take advantage of every appeal process and that the orders from the judge are only a recommendation and not enforceable without support of the US Court of Appeals. Now I'm no lawyer, but I'd be quite surprised that the US Court of Appeals would overturn these rulings -- but hey, Wendy may decide to take this to the US Supreme Court.

Lawyers, of course, get paid big bucks for all of this, and they're only too happy to join in this quest -- a quest of one misguided woman who wishes to control the nature of news in this town. So, instead of hiring editors and reporters, she'll continue spending her dough on lawyers.

Now Wendy herself shows in her annual front page piece that she's totally clueless when it comes to what's happening in this community and how the paper is perceived. I personally know no one living in Santa Barbara or Goleta who continues to read the paper and thinks it's a great local provider of news. To say as she does that the NP was the go-to source for information on the Zaca Fire is simply silly. When I'd walk by the local newspaper stand and glance at the front page, more often than not they were simply printing AP reports. Now tell me, which other local paper depends on the wire services for its own local news?

So, read this PDF of today's Front page of the News Press courtesy of Craig Smith and take it with a grain of salt!

We enter this new year with optimism and the commitment to serve you with accurate local news and information in a variety of media to meet your needs.