By Bill Baker, J.D.
Editor and Publisher, The San Bruno Beacon
I thought I would try something new this week because most news is just plain old bad and, well, it's Summer. Can't think of a better reason, so the Summer reason will have to do.
Sometimes I receive, what could best be described as "interesting" e-mail messages from "interesting" people. I usually have a good laugh and move on to the next e-mail message. Here's an example of the type of "interesting" stuff I receive and some of my observations:
In a series of somewhat incoherent, stream of consciousness e-mail rants, an excited person, who obviously reads the BEACON, said they were convinced that the Beacon was not a newspaper and spent a lot of time arguing that the Beacon was a "blog". They went on to argue that I used J.D. after my name and I was not an attorney and that they had searched through Martindale (an attorney guide) and couldn't find me. They said they were wasting electrons and talked about "recycling the circular rolls". They also didn't like the way I used apostrophes. Finally, they did not like the way I treated the oil and gas issue in one of my articles and made it quite clear that that they knew what they were talking about because they had a "degree in economics and an MBA from one of the top 3 schools in the Country" (I suppose they meant the U.S.). They said they had spent 15+ years studying it (whatever "it" is).
Let's discuss the BEACON issue. If this BEACON reader would have taken the time to read the header for THE SAN BRUNO BEACON they would have found that it says, "THE SAN BRUNO BEACON. news and commentary since 1995". That being said, THE SAN BRUNO BEACON is a well established, widely read internet publication. The word "newspaper" does not appear in the BEACON header and the word "blog" does not appear in the BEACON header. THE SAN BRUNO BEACON was online before the word "blog" came into mainstream use. So, whether you call the BEACON a blog, online newspaper, paper, etc. it really doesn't matter because the BEACON has already been called just about every name in the book during the past 13 years. No matter what you want to call the BEACON, it does not change what this publication does or how it delivers its message. I like to think of the BEACON as an "online publication".
Arguments about semantics (i.e., deciding what to call an online publication) will do little to change the reality that in less than 10 years most hard copy daily newspapers will no longer exist and publications such as the BEACON will thrive in a publishing environment that will create a more diversified, democratic, less controlled methodology for delivering all points of view. Technology and economics no longer support the hard copy newspaper business model. The days of the narrow, controlled, status quo supporting hard copy newspaper; whose views were, and in many cases, still are, controlled and largely paid for by advertisers, are quickly coming to an end. Online, there is really no such thing as a traditional newspaper. In essence, all news publications presented on the internet are rough equivalents of each other. As a matter of fact, many blogs are superior to the migrating, transitional hard copy newspapers they compete against for readership.
During an interview today, Dan Colarusso, the former city editor for The New York Post, stated that the only way the newspaper industry can save itself is by, "beginning an aggressive transition to the Web". I rest my case.
With respect to my using the letters, J.D. after my name; the letters J.D. mean that I hold a "juris doctor" degree. A law degree that I received from the University of San Francisco School of Law. No, I do not practice law. Never said I did. Therefore, you won't find my name in the Martindale-Hubbell Directory of Lawyers. Some people don't like the fact that I use the letters J.D. after my name, some people don't care, and some people think it's ok. I worked for and earned my law degree so I'm going to put the letters after my name. I am not the only person with a law degree who puts the letters J.D. after their name. For those of you who are fixated on these two letters after my name, as I know a few of you are, here's some advice, "relax, take a staycation and enjoy the scenery".
As far as all the other issues brought up by this reader are concerned; thanks for the comments about apostrophes, got it covered; I'm right about the oil and gas situation; I'm glad this person has a good education (everybody should); recycling is good; and not wasting is good. Have I missed anything? No. Ok, let's move on. 