More Bay Area News Group consolidation announced - is this the end of a local Oakland Tribune?

Susan Mernit Fri, 1 Jul at 11:21pm
Oakland Tribune tower by James Cridland, http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamescridland/5743239467/sizes/z/in/photostream/

Oakland Tribune tower by James Cridland, http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamescridland/5743239467/sizes/z/in/photostream/

Does Oakland still have a viable print paper of record with a local reporting staff - or is the Trib moving into the next stage of collapse?

The Bay Area News Group announced Thursday that its newspapers will now operate under a single, common news management team under the direction of David J. Butler, editor of the San Jose Mercury News and vice president for news for its parent, MediaNews Group - based in San Jose. 

Also Thursday, Butler appointed a new BANG-wide management team:

-- Bert Robinson, managing editor of the Mercury News, named BANG managing editor-print, will oversee all news gathering.

-- Randall Keith, BANG director of digital content, named managing editor-digital will continue to oversee all digital efforts as well as breaking news coverage and photography.

-- Mike Frankel, Mercury News metro editor, named assistant managing editor for enterprise reporting and will oversee enterprise and in-depth stories, regional reporting and projects throughout BANG.

-- Lisa Wrenn, assistant managing editor in the East Bay, named assistant managing editor-features.

So, does this mean more of our Trib news is coming from San Jose? Sounds like it - with a bigger emphasis on regional news for the BANG.

 

About Susan Mernit
Susan Mernit is the founder of Oakland Local. She is also a circuit rider for The Community Information Challenge, a program of The John S and James L Knight Foundation, and a consultant to non-profit and community organizations. Susan lives in North Oakland, near the Santa Fe school, with her partner, her housemate, a rescue dog named Cazzie, and a yard full of ants. She is an aspiring gardener, a long-time blogger & entrepreneur, and a recovering journalist who's found home in Oakland.
Len Raphael commented Array ago

This move was anti climactic.

The Trib died some time ago but no obituary appeared.

With a very number of exceptions, eg. katie murphy's school coverage;  the restaurant nightowl column, and the Bailey murder reporting, Drumlin's op ed pieces, the Trib local coverage has deteriorated to the point where the reporters merely regurgitated City press releases,  and police reports.

It's managers didn't even bother to cover the breaking story of the Grand Jury's report of CEDA corruption and abuse, pluse other serious issues. Heck, if just a fraction of the Grand Jury's charges result in successful litigation, the City would have to refund millions in fines.

Reading the Trib in recent years, was a bizzare experience of reading about horrendus murders, staggering financial problems,  but hearing how the City had everything under control.

len raphael, temescal