Maybe I’m biased, but I think newspapers are vital to communities and essential for functioning democracies. Daily papers, especially, serve to inform the public and act as an important check on government, which is why watching The Tribune shrivel and shrink feels tragic.
If you haven’t heard, the Trib’s parent company, McClatchy, recently laid off three reporters from our local publication plus one photographer and Opinion Editor Stephanie Finucane. In fact, the company laid off at least 90 people at several of its publications nationwide. Some newsrooms reportedly lost 40 percent of their staff.
Journalism might be a vocation, but newspapers are a business, and one that’s been increasingly unprofitable. It’s hard to blame McClatchy for doing what it must to survive. The question is: Will what’s left of a gutted Trib retain its value? McClatchy’s spinning the cuts as beneficial to subscribers:
“McClatchy is reshaping its newsroom structure to more closely align resources with changing subscriber interests and the ways audiences engage with local news,” the company said in a notice provided to Pacific Media Workers Guild, a union representing journalists at three McClatchy papers. “As part of this change, we’re focusing resources on journalism that subscribers value and that can have the highest impact in the communities we serve.”
In other words, we’re taking something away from you to serve you better. Right. Got it. Are we getting AI instead of real journalists? I suspect it’s possible.
The Trib reported on Sept. 15 that 55-year-old SLO resident Kristoffer Hans Pfister was arrested for alleged public intoxication while dressed in KKK-style white robes and a pointy hat. The report’s information seemed to come from the police report on Pfister’s arrest, and the accompanying photo was downloaded from Reddit.
That’s not exactly boots-on-the-ground reporting that daily papers are known for. Will that kind of journalism ever be possible again with a shrinking staff? It’s not like AI is going to walk a beat.
Weekly papers like New Times were never designed to cover breaking news. I feel for those laid off, and I wish The Tribune and its remaining employees well. Hopefully it will survive and thrive. Now more than ever, as democracy is under assault, we need the Fourth Estate and an informed electorate.
Speaking of which, come Nov. 3, it’ll be time to vote, and if you live in Templeton, two positions you’ll be voting for are open seats on the Templeton Unified School Board of Trustees. I know. Zzz. But maybe it’s more important than you think.
Incumbents Janel Armet and Jennifer Grinager are running as well as newcomer Forrest Pearson. A lot of voters don’t fill out their whole ballot because in some cases, they don’t feel informed enough on certain races. School board candidates are often unknown, and some voters think, “I don’t have a kid in school, so why bother?”
The SLO County Democratic Party really wants you to bother because these small, local offices can make a difference in protecting democracy from authoritarianism. They’ve endorsed Pearson. They’re also hosting a fundraiser specifically for their endorsed school board candidates: screening the documentary Moms Club on Sept. 28 in the Fremont Theater. The documentary follows a group of SoCal moms fighting back against protesters and school board members trying to take rights and protections away from LGBTQ-plus students.
“School boards in SLO County are under assault from book burners, religious fanatics, and white nationalists,” the SLO Dems say on their event poster. “This film exposes the corporate dark-money underworld behind it, proving this is anything but a ‘grassroots’ movement.”
Pearson’s a teacher at Grizzly Youth Academy, where he teaches at-risk youth English and history. Seems like a safe and sane bet.
But between Armet and Grinager, what to do? Well, Grinager is the secretary of the SLO County chapter of Moms for Liberty, an organization whose goal is to protect “parents’ rights.” They want schools to notify them if their kids are going gay or trans. Rat kids out about their pronouns! They want to restrict discussions on race and gender and influence school policy, even though policies are in place because some LGBTQ-plus students don’t feel safe coming out to their parents.
“We are empowering moms, proclaiming liberty, and raising a new generation of patriots,” Moms for Liberty’s website states.
Remember! A good patriot is cisgendered! Also, the USA is racism free! Whee!
Grinager told New Times that her proudest accomplishment from her four years on the board is “private changing spaces and bathrooms.” Wouldn’t want any trans kids around when you’re changing out of your gym clothes, right?
Grinager wrote a letter to California representatives Jimmy Panetta, Alex Padilla, and Adam Schiff to complain about laws they passed protecting migrant and LGBTQ-plus children. She lamented “the stupidity of tampons in boys’ bathrooms and allowing boys and girls to comingle in bathrooms and locker rooms,” and that “the policy for migrant education goes against our U.S. Constitution! Do you even care about that?! It says that we must not even ask for proof of residency nor vaccination.”
The madness of educating migrant children! My lord!
“Honestly, I hope President Trump does remove federal funding from California,” she added. “We don’t deserve it. Our kids deserve better, but what you have been voting for is not it. Do better and have some common sense.”
Be careful what you vote for. ∆
The Shredder buys ink by the barrel. Tell it to stop the presses at shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Sept 17-24, 2026.
