PressEthic

According to this article by Michael Stoll, the San Jose Mercury News announced the shut down of Nuevo Mundo, a Spanish-language weekly, and the sale of Viet Mercury in an attempt to cut costs. Stoll reports that the “announcement marks a major change in direction for the Mercury News, which has received national acclaim for publishing newspapers in three languages.”

The article goes on to explain the details of the closings and the apparent reasons behind them. As it turns out, the papers have a lot of competition and, according to the management at Knight Ridder, have struggled to make profits for a long time. It seems that Knight Ridder will continue to participate in serving the Spanish speaking community in San Jose through another paper, Fronteras de la Noticia. And, the Viet Mercury will survive under new ownership. So, what’s the problem?

My concern is that after Knight Ridder cut newsroom jobs at the San Jose Mercury News, this was the next thing to go. The Mercury News has been forced to toss away a significant portion of its audience during a time that papers around the country are struggling to reach new readers. In addition, these two communities lose the resources and quality coverage provided by the staff of the major newspaper in the area.

Stoll quoted a letter sent to the publisher by staff members, it reads, "No matter how trying these days may be, Nuevo Mundo and its sister paper, Viet Mercury, are among the finest examples of the commitment to diversity and excellent journalism expressed by the Mercury News and Knight Ridder."

From the same article, Luther Jackson, the executive officer of the San Jose Newspaper Guild said:

They made it clear that this is a bottom-line decision, but I think it's important that there's more than one bottom line working here. The Guild and many in our community believe that the paper's primary focus should be to deliver first-class service to all community members, whether their principal language is English, Spanish or Vietnamese.

I agree that a newspaper needs to be committed to the communities it serves – all of the communities it serves. Knight Ridder is trying to cut costs, but its action is shortsighted. It might cut costs now, but the San Jose Mercury News has been forced to alienate readers that are a part of fast-growing communities that will continue to have more and more influence in this country. These communities deserve the same quality news that the rest of the area receives from the Mercury News.

I guess time will tell if Knight Ridder made the right decision for the company, but it is bad news for the future of the Mercury News and the communities it serves.