Healthy competition is nothing to be feared. In the case of competing newspapers, it is the readers who win as rival papers try to woo them with more in-depth coverage of important issues.
The La Jolla Village News is almost 10 years old. Nevertheless, it is still the “new kid on the block” in comparison to the dowager La Jolla Light.
The Village News entered a market that had been monopolized by the Light. Since that time, the Village News has gained the respect of readers and grown in stature, while the Light also seems to have been energized.
I submit that our friendly rivalry has been beneficial for all parties.
But the Light evidently pines for the good old days when it enjoyed a monopoly on community news.
Hence, I must take issue with a policy promulgated by the Light regarding “exclusivity” on letters to the editor.
Although this policy on the part of the Light is not new, last week’s issue (July 13, page 12) attempted to explain it in great detail, using the reasoning that “All content in The Light is written exclusively for our readers, and this includes letters.” The anonymous writer goes on to say that these letters, “along with La Jolla news you can’t read anywhere else, are what set us apart.”
As readers know, the two La Jolla papers often overlap in news coverage, so the “news you can’t read anywhere else” argument does not hold water.
Another argument, that “most reputable papers have the same policy,” is not true. There is nothing in the opinion page policies of either the San Diego Union-
Tribune or Voice of San Diego, for example, stating that letters must be exclusive. In fact, some letters that have run in the Village News have also been printed by the U-T, and vice-versa.
Even the New York Times indicates that letters “should be” exclusive to the Times, not “must be.”
Issues that are important to La Jollans have top priority as far as space in the Village News, and this extends to letters as well.
While I obviously do not wish to print the same letters as the rival newspaper, when residents feel strongly enough about a certain issue or controversy to write a letter to the editor, I will not stand on the desperate excuse of “exclusivity” as far as deciding which letters get printed. I also will not blackmail letter writers by demanding they choose only one conduit to the community in order to have their voice heard.
Our mission to inform readers and serve the community is paramount and trumps petty concerns of territory and turf.
” Feedback? Feel free to send your thoughts via e-mail to [email protected], fax (858) 270-9325 or to P.O. Box 9550, San Diego, CA 92169.