Less than two weeks ago, I attended what I consider one of the most important meetings I have been to in a long time.
It was a conference with the focus being on locally owned newspapers.
The gathering took place in Visalia and was hosted by the California Independent New Alliance, a group of newspapers scattered throughout California.
I am a founding member of the organization, which was born just over a year ago during a meeting in Ojai. It came out of frustration, plain and simple.
The “traditional” statewide news organization, California News Publishers Association, or CNPA, has forgotten about us “little guys” in the state. They now cater to the big news organizations and do little, if anything, for the smaller papers who are providing critical work informing the public all across California.
What a great morning it was that Saturday to walk into a room to meet people who are in the same boat as us. They struggle to find time off, have battles with people who don’t like this or that and continue to fight the good fight all across California.
From Fullerton to Reedley to Ojai to Point Reyes to Sacramento and many other places, I was able not just to participate in a conference, but to actually talk to people who live their lives quite similarly to my own.
Gathering information, interviewing people, designing pages and so much more. We are liked minded people with a singular goal — to keep local journalism not just alive, but thriving.
To back up a little bit, the way CINA was born was through what I have termed bitchy emails. It began with an email from someone in Idyllwild who was fed up with the statewide organization. I contacted that person and said I was fed up too. However, she said she had too many commitments to begin any type of resistance.
Then along came Laura Rearwin Ward, publisher of the Ojai Valley News, who was also emailing people across the state. I received her email and responded immediately.
I’m in; whatever that meant.
She was actually on the CNPA board before she wasn’t and then began putting together a list, to the best of her ability, of locally owned newspapers across the state. She came up with a big list and at some point, we began to talk.
I suggested she talk to the folks who own the printing press where our paper is printed and she had talked to some other people she knows in the business.
Before we knew it, in January 2025, we all gathered in Ojai to see if we could get something going. In a meeting room at a church in Ojai, CINA was born and we have been having meetings and talking out issues since.
Less than two weeks ago, our first true membership meeting was held in Visalia, where some 30 or so people gathered to hear what we have come up with in the past year.
The ideas were flowing freely in that room. We told them one of our biggest goals was to be able to communicate with state lawmakers. That’s where so many important matters, including those related to newspapers, are decided.
During this meeting, we did form a legislative committee and that will be the goal going forward. We also talked about unifying and getting the word out to citizens that we are here and working for them to provide quality, accurate local news.
Of course part of that discussion was about how social media has impacted our business. In that room, we all knew the “news” doesn’t come from Facebook. But we also know many people take it as the gospel, which is one of our battles.
We also know that Google is a big player in the news game and in many cases, they use the news we generate locally to make profits. It’s an issue we must deal with going forward.
One of the main reasons we formed this group was because of the hedge funds and corporate giants that have swallowed up so many local news organizations and turned them into something that is not recognizable in the world in which we all live.
In so many cases, these big corporations have came in and fired longtime employees who have institutional knowledge as well as astute journalism skills and abilities. In many cases, they don’t even replace them and put the burdens on newbies who should be learning from people with experience but instead are thrust into the eye of the storm. In general, the results are not good.
Why, some might say, do you care so much?
Let me count the ways.
First, the free press is a bedrock of this nation. The free press can expose wrongdoing at the highest levels and if you think that doesn’t go on, you must be getting your news from Twitter, or X, or whatever it’s called.
That is foundational in journalism. It’s also foundational that we are covering our local governments and letting the taxpayers be informed of how the money is being spent and if there are any shenanigans going on. There will never come a day when Google sends a reporter to your local board of supervisors meeting.
Of course, many in the government love seeing the changes happening. It is a proven fact that when news sources go away in specific areas, government corruption goes up just as fast, if not faster.
We are watchdogs. We are storytellers. We are advocates. We give the voiceless a voice. We also cover sports and education and highlight local people who do interesting things.
This is why we all gathered in Visalia; to reinforce among ourselves how important the role we play is and how it is up to us to continue to fight the good fight and keep our profession alive and well.
As one person said: “Nobody is coming to save us.”
It was so interesting talking to people from all over the state. But don’t be mistaken, from Santa Clara to Humboldt County, the issues are similar and the problems are, as well. Nearly everyone is fighting some sort of government battle, all are writing about bad roads and housing shortages and so much more.
It was incredible how much we had in common even coming from such diverse areas.
And in each and every case, we were all passionate about making sure we can continue well into the future and position those who will take over these organizations so they can continue this tradition.
The bedrock of American society is the free flow of information. But it is also the accurate free flow of information, a battle the internet and especially social media and the conglomerate companies behind it have made more intense.
Accuracy in reporting the news is above all else. Of course we make mistakes because we are human. But the vast majority of the time we get it right and inform readers of how their money is being spent as well as how those in office are considering spending the money. It can never be forgotten it is the taxpayers who foot the bill for all forms of government, from federal to local.
The taxpayers are us, including those who serve in office. But the overwhelming majority of taxpayers don’t serve in office and simply pay their taxes and hope those in charge do the right thing.
That is the basis for what we do and it should be the basis in every community in the country. Unfortunately, that is not the reality anymore and thus CINA was born.
Hopefully, we’ll get from the crawling to the walking stage soon and then on to greater heights. I am deeply committed to our goals and hope we can make a difference for the people of California.
It’s a cause worth fight for.
Greg Little is editor of the Mariposa Gazette and can be reached at greg@mariposagazette.com
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