A Time magazine article posted online Jan. 22 was brief — just over 1,000 words — yet packed with mostly grim facts on the state of local journalism across America: “1,800 communities that had a local news outlet in 2004 didn’t have one at the end of 2019.” This trend continued after the pandemic hit […]
Judy Hodgson
Judy Hodgson is a co-founder of the North Coast Journal.
Posted inLetters + Opinion
About Those Ads
In letters to the editor the past few weeks and in personal messages to me, readers have blasted our decision to accept tobacco advertising — those Lucky Strike ads you’ve been seeing. We have been accused of either completely losing our moral integrity or being financially desperate and on the brink of bankruptcy. I assure […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
My Hope
On Tuesday, four years ago this week, I finished a column for that week’s paper and settled in to watch the election results. By 10:15 p.m. I was doing a rewrite with a wine glass at my elbow. This might surprise many readers but my original column was not a happy dance about Hillary’s victory. […]
Posted inNews
COVID Tip Line Busy
Nearly six months into the COVID-19 pandemic the Humboldt County tip line, dubbed the “snitch” line by some, is proving to be a useful tool in coaxing compliance from residents and businesses regarding the ever-changing state and local health department orders. “We had a real spike in calls a few weeks ago when the state […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
A Publisher’s Rant
How will history judge this one, particularly chaotic week in time? Whose fault is it our country is failing in so many ways? Top of the list is the president, with his long list of fails: the failure to recognize the magnitude of this coronavirus pandemic at every step, a repeated failure to embrace science […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Tell Us Your Story
When the history of the coronavirus pandemic is written, each day of these early months will seem like a compressed week when examined by scholars. That’s how fast the virus was moving. And in a few short weeks in March, that’s how fast the non-essential economy shut down here in Humboldt, as if someone pushed […]
Posted inNews
Dear Readers:
At 7:30 a.m. last Tuesday I was waiting my turn behind a strip of tape on the sidewalk outside the North Coast Co-op in Arcata. I hope you are following the rules, like me — in my case, shopping senior-only hours. I spotted store clerk Larry Crabb clicking a plastic hand counter at the door, […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Ready, California?
It came in my mailbox the day of the Iowa caucuses: the ballot for March 3. It seemed flimsy and insignificant. I’ll only be making four choices and four marks total since Fifth District supervisor is not up this year. Yet this ballot seems heavier, maybe because it’s one of the more important ones I’ve […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Change in the Masthead
Chuck Leishman, who helped guide this company for most of the last six years, is leaving the Journal, entering a well-deserved semi-retirement after more than 40 years in the business. Chuck will continue to be available as a private contractor for special projects for the Journal and other members of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Making it Official
I remember well when I was editor of the Arcata Union in 1986. The Hadley family, which had owned the weekly for more than 50 years, sold the newspaper to a pair of investors from the Bay Area. I interviewed the new publisher, a guy from Nevada, and he said all the right things: “No […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Enough, Mr. President
On Nov. 9, 2016, like many Americans — a majority, in fact — I woke up with a throbbing headache and the realization that Donald Trump had hijacked the Republican party and been elected president. After briefly considering a move to Canada, I was forced to accept the results of our flawed electoral-college system. I […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
What a Year
On Nov. 26 President Trump tweeted that he had turned down the “offer” to be Time magazine’s Person of the Year for the second year in a row. Long-term readers of this publication may recall that Time was one of its prototypes. What this community needed in 1990, we thought, was a regional newspaper that […]