My view of our news

I confess I am bewildered by the turn that the Village News has taken recently.

I have subscribed for many years because the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune rarely cover local Fallbrook news, so the Village News has filled a void by running features such as the events calendar and including many photos of our neighbors. I’d even gotten used to the puff pieces, press release reprints and “Another charity’s fundraiser is a big success” stories.

Now it’s true that the Village News missed many important stories – just this week, there was not one word about the pipeline shutdown that affected just about everyone in town. Investigative pieces have been virtually nonexistent, what happened to the July 4 celebration, who’s watching the budgets at some of the local special districts, why have several top officials been forced out of their jobs and more. And the Hispanic community, which makes up half the town, has been just about invisible in the paper.

Nonetheless, at least you can say the Village News reported on local news in some fashion. This week, we’ve been treated to articles on a Mississippi charter school decision, an interminable report featuring anti-vaxxers that waited until the very end to quote anyone from the vast-majority other side and an article about U.S. officials speaking out against the arrests of Hong Kong activists.

Here are some ideas: Lose the national stories, lose the slanted pieces from the Epoch Times and send reporters to meetings of the local boards. Maybe expand the entertainment section not by reviewing shows that have already left the area but by listing without charge upcoming events at the local casinos and hotels as you do for the wineries. Maybe list all the town meetings coming up with dates, times and places, so citizens could find all the information for Fallbrook Public Utilities District, planning group, health care district, school boards and such in one convenient place. And have Jeff Pack write more stories.

Serve the local community. Please.

Barry Meadow