By Robert Haugh
Tonight’s Council meeting has a relatively light agenda and will include:
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Public Hearing on amending regulations on massage establishments. This has been ongoing for several years.
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Public Hearing on Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) for the Use of Federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Funds
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Silicon Valley Power Quarterly Strategic Plan Update
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Action on Adopting the Santa Clara Bicycle Plan Update 2018
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Outgoing Senior Advisory Commissioner Barbara “Bobbi” Estrada and Board of Library Trustee David Kyo will be recognized for their service.
Miles is harmless. Let the old creep jabber on. No one listens. All his efforts against the Mayor has amounted to zero.
I don’t agree with giving his personal paper any city funds.
Mr. Suds Jain demonstrates a lack of understanding of what’s happening with local journalism in general and the Santa Clara Weekly in particular.
Do we need more investigative reporting and quality journalism in this country. Absolutely.
But what we don’t need is advocacy that’s masquerading as journalism. On the national level, we see that with Fox News and InfoWars. On the local level, we see that with the Weekly.
As the oped author astutely points out, the Weekly never criticizes the 49ers. And the team appears to be their major advertiser. Their coverage of the Santa Clara Chamber has been equally biased. And the Weekly publisher, Mr. Miles Barber, was a director.
Mr. Barber is clearly a businesssman first and foremost. He’s not a journalist and doesn’t appear to have the integrity to be one.
I agree with Mr. Jain on one thing. San Jose Spotlight is a welcome addition to local journalism. The Mercury News has fallen from it’s perch as a credible newspaper, primarily because they are now owned by venture capitalist who focus on the bottom line and won’t pay quality and experienced reporters. They also genuflect to major advertisers. That’s not new. They have in past decades. But they are more vulnerable to financial pressure now that they have to focus on dwindling ad dollars.
My bottom line: the Weekly should stop being a megaphone for its advertisers and the political connections of its publisher. if the “publication” went under, we wouldn’t be any worse off. Ironically, we’d probably be better.