Geodog

RIP, Berkeley Daily Planet

I was on my way to the office today, and I noticed that the news racks for our local daily newspaper, the Berkeley Daily Planet, were empty again, as they have been all week. Then I saw a story in the local media conglomerate weekly advertising circular, The Berkeley Voice, saying that the Daily Planet is no more. I checked online, and while the website is still up, clearly operations have ceased. It isn't only dot coms that are the victims of the current bust, which in the Bay Area looks a lot like a depression.

We have some good alternative newsweeklies in the Bay Area, which focus on cultural events and progressive political events, but the Berkeley Daily Planet was a great little independent town paper. It had a couple of reporters who covered all the interesting people who come to speak at UC Berkeley, as well as the school board, the zoning board, and the city council (always entertaining in Berkeley). The rest of the paper was filled with AP news and ads for local events and businesses, and of course, the ever popular Police Report. Part of my daily routine was to pick up a copy on the way to work, and read it while I walk to the office, munching on a goodie from the Cheese Board, our local collective bakery. It was the only source I had for local news -- what the school board is up to, problems at the local high school, what developers are trying to get variances, etc. While Berkeley gets a high profile for UC Berkeley and for its sometimes zany politics, for most of us it is like any other small town, struggling with the same kinds of problems -- trying to preserve a downtown that often appears to be on the verge of dying, trying to improve the schools, which are a mess, and trying to be a safe community to raise children in. Without the Daily Planet, I will know less about the problems, and about all the efforts to solve them.

There has been a lot of press coverage about the increasing concentration of the media in the hands of a few conglomerates, but little about the demise of small town newspapers across the country. A small town newspaper is a vital part of what makes a town a community, bringing people together (sometimes in groups in opposition to each other, human nature being what it is). It also lets people know what the politicians are doing, and allows politicians to get known without spending tons of money. The loss of these newspapers is a loss of community, and a loss in the chain of accountability between citizens and their public servants. RIP, Berkeley Daily Planet. I miss you already.