Dear Readers, I’m incredibly proud to share some good news: The North Coast Journal and several of NCJ Inc.’s publications, including The Ferndale Enterprise, are once again being printed right here in Humboldt County. After several challenging months of outsourcing printing out of area, our papers are once again rolling off the presses at Western […]
Publisher
Posted inNews
Late Papers
Dear Readers, We experienced unexpected technical issues during last night’s print run for both The Ferndale Enterprise and the North Coast Journal. As a result, this week’s papers will not be available in newsstands and boxes until Friday. We know how much our readers look forward to picking up their paper each week, and we […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Editorial Changes and a Fond Farewell
Change is never easy, but sometimes it’s exactly what a newsroom needs to grow, evolve and step into its next chapter. That time is now for the North Coast Journal. We’re both proud and a little heartbroken to announce that our esteemed news editor Thadeus Greenson is leaving his post to join the nonprofit First […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The Price of Print
Dear readers, The decline of print journalism is no secret. Over the past two decades, the industry has been battered by the rapid shift to digital media, the collapse of traditional advertising revenue, the monopolization of information distribution by tech giants and greedy ownership that prioritize large profit margins over community service. More than 2,500 […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The Journal in Time
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 […]
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 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 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 […]