By Burt Field
I read the Mercury News endorsement of Santa Clara City Council candidates a few weeks ago.
After I stopped shaking my head, I came to the conclusion that the newspaper doesn’t have a clue about Santa Clara.
That’s why I stopped reading it years ago. A lot of my neighbors stopped subscribing to it, too.
The Mercury News is the newspaper that has endorsed Anthony Becker in the past. And they’ve never written an editorial about his indictment or asked him to resign. That’s just embarrassing.
It’s an example of the newspaper not understanding Santa Clara and having low standards.
The Mercury News has yet to write a story about how much the 49ers have spent in Santa Clara in this year’s elections. Or the fact that they’ve spent a lot of money on negative ads attacking Mayor Lisa Gillmor who isn’t even running for election.
Given their past history of weak editorials and bad reporting, it’s pretty clear that the Mercury News favors Jed York and his candidates.
A lot of Santa Clarans, including me, think the newspaper chooses to ignore negative stories about the team and their chosen candidates.
But here’s the good news. We can ignore the Mercury News and get our news from more reliable sources. If you subscribe, you should save your money and look elsewhere for Santa Clara information.
The San Francisco Chronicle is not afraid to report about the 49ers’ political spending and sweetheart legal settlements.
Santa Clara News Online gives us daily information about what’s happening at City Hall and isn’t afraid to call out the 49er Five.
Coming up in just a few days, we have an excellent chance to get our City back.
I’m confident voters will see how good the candidates are:
Satish Chandra in District One.
Teresa O’Neill in District Four.
David Kertes in District Five.
Kelly Cox in District Six.
And when we do get our City back, we must never ever forget just how bad all of this has been for the last couple of years and how bad the Mercury News has been.
Here are some helpful links for Santa Clarans:
- Unsubscribe to the Mercury News: 408-508-5554 or online via the My Account site.
- Subscribe to the San Francisco Chronicle: 800-310-2455 or online via their subscription deals site.
- Help financially support the most widely read and trusted website in the Mission City: Santa Clara News Online.
I need to disagree with Burt here – Tired Santa Claran is correct – there’s been coverage of the 49ers interference. Maybe not a ton of articles, but articles and editorials non-the-less.
I read the Merc daily and they cover SC about as much as other cities that are not SJ.
It’s not just the Murky News, Burt. You gotta’ add the SJFlashlight and SillyConZanyWordSalad. Jed owns all of them. It was even documented
in the criminal grand jury report. Definitely great popcorn eating material!
Michael
So correct, looks like we both forgot the SC Meekly as well.
I can remember when we as residents actually looked forward to getting that leaflet once a week.
Good Old Days!
Don’t forget to vote please!!
Burt
I am a Mercury News subscriber. I too am disappointed in their coverage and editorials. I still have respect for some of the journalist who I have read for years. Daniel Borenstein is now the editorial page editor. When he worked exclusively for their East Bay papers, he wrote insightful columns about a range of issues including ones quite critical of sports franchises. It’s interesting to see how his stance has changed now. Although I understand journalism is in a world of hurt these days. And many journalists need to keep their jobs. Some have traded their desire to write stories challenging powerful institutions for job security. I didn’t think Borenstein would be one of them. But who am I to cast a stone? As for the news side of the Mercury News. They have been decimated by forced retirements and job cuts. Their reporting about local government in all cities is woeful. They don’t report on state or national issues at all. It’s outsourced to syndicated coverage. Such is the state of a once-proud and widely respected newspaper. They lack talent and integrity. I keep my subscription out of habit, I guess. But Mr. Field is having me reconsider.
First, there is no way Burt Field wrote this piece on his own. Look at Burt’s glaring contradiction…
• “I stopped reading it [Mercury News] years ago.”
Followed by…
• “they’ve never written an editorial about his [Becker] indictment or asked him to resign.”
• “has yet to write a story about how much the 49ers have spent in Santa Clara in this year’s elections.”
• “the newspaper chooses to ignore negative stories about the team and their chosen candidates.”
• “the last couple of years and how bad the Mercury News has been.”
For a guy who hasn’t read the Mercury News in many years, Burt sure does know a lot about what they’re not printing these days.
Unsubscribe from Burt Field. His contradictory train of thought is worse than his composition skills.
CSC?? Too scared to show yourself but full of criticism. Why don’t you go ahead and put your head back in the sand?
CSC… who are you? Why are you hiding your identity?
Tip…I really don’t care.
As for my education, or lack of education… relax.
Lots of way in the World to be educated. Lots of way in the World to earn a living.
For me, I’ve been blessed with some incredible Business Mentors.
Ever been on a Private Jet? A very high percentage of their owners also do not have a College Degree.
Coincidence?
In the early 80’s when you say it would have been smarter for me to stay in school, you would have been very wrong.
When I left at 18 I was already making easily 2 to 3 times what my teacher was pulling down.
That was my first clue.
On the side I started to buy rental properties.
Look up interest rates in the early 80’s. Not a lot of people were in the Market at that time.
As a kid, dis you ever play Monopoly? I played it almost every day and loved it.
Turns out the best properties are not Boardwalk and Park Place. In my opinion the best property on the board is the Orange group, just before Free Parking.
So to respond to your insulting comments I’ll leave you with this.
None of my Business Partners or Tenants have ever asked if I have a College Degree.
By the way, I’m sure you have have heard of Google Alerts?
November 5th is coming.
Burt Field
Burt,
Two things.
#1. Stop asking for ‘identity.’ It is the ‘words’ and ‘ideas’ that matter. Don’t play into Suds’ game as he flails to understand ‘who’ is attacking him. It is the noble ideas that succeed.
#2. CSC ventures into this forum because they know YOU and others on this platform are likely to vote out the 49er 5. CSC is just a minor pissant.
The 49er 5 are in trouble and they know it!!!!!!
Suds, Park, Guerra, and York are all the same—pissants.
I stopped reading the Mercury years ago, too. But I still see what they write in Facebook and other places online, including this site. I suspect Burt does the same.
I have also discovered that there’s an easy way to read the one or two stories a year that I find interesting in the Mercury without having to pay for their ridiculously expensive subscription cost. Just search for the story you want on MSN.com. They republish stories from the Mercury.
CSC,
You do realize one can read editorials and news articles from the SJ Mercury through other sources without subscribing to the Mercury? Nice try at trolling Burt though.
don’t forget to add bhatia, gonzalez, becker, and other 49er players in other races – kelly and brasil. they all reek desperation.
CSC,
It is an easy thing to have knowledge on what the Mercury News has not been covering or how they have been covering certain areas of interest without being a regular reader.
I have a good sense of how the Mercury has covered Santa Clara issue and I have not been a regular reader for many years. All I have to do is do a quick browse or search.
@CSC Balerdash: Yes, I am very aware what a feed aggregator is. You may have misread the previous comment where I pointed out Burt’s contradiction. Burt wrote that he has not “read” the Mercury News, which is very different from having a paid subscription to the publication. Even if one uses a feed/content/news aggregator, that person still has to read headlines and possibly click through and go to the source to determine what content is or is not published.
@Buchser Alum: Like you, I am not a regular reader of the Mercury News yet have an understanding it has covered Becker’s predicament, 49ers campaign contributions, and City of Santa Clara politics. As commenter “Tired Santa Claran” demonstrated below, it’s pretty easy to verify if the Mercury News has covered certain topics prior to penning an Op-Ed accusing them of not doing so.
@Burt Field: “lack of education, Private Jet, do not have a College Degree, interest rates in the early 80’s, Monopoly…loved it Turns out the best properties are not Boardwalk and Park Place…the best property on the board is the Orange group, just before Free Parking. By the way, I’m sure you have have heard of Google Alerts?”. Such a desultory reply, that’s the Burt we all have come to know!
This is patently false as the Mercury News has reported plenty about Jed York’s scandals, the 49ers’ Lobbying AND Becker’s trial.
Here’s what a quick google search of Mercury News and, in order, ’49ers Santa Clara Election’, ‘Jed York Scandal’, and ‘Anthony Becker’ gives you article-wise. Do the dang research before posting.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/09/12/san-francisco-49ers-pour-nearly-1-million-into-pacs-for-santa-clara-city-council-races/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/07/29/campaign-finance-records-reveal-how-the-san-francisco-49ers-paid-big-money-to-become-a-political-player-after-moving-to-santa-clara/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/09/24/santa-clara-meet-the-10-candidates-running-for-four-spots-on-the-city-council/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/08/10/san-francisco-49ers-ceo-jed-york-faces-insider-trading-allegations-in-chegg-cheating-lawsuit/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/02/23/49ers-ceo-jed-york-accused-of-violating-santa-claras-lobbyist-ordinance-over-2026-world-cup-ads/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/12/indicted-santa-clara-councilmember-anthony-beckers-trial-over-49ers-report-leak-gets-pushed-back/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/09/02/49ers-report-leak-lawyers-for-indicted-santa-clara-councilmember-anthony-becker-are-building-a-case-that-others-leaked-the-confidential-report/