California newspapers are doing great work

I was off yesterday, sort of. Instead of contemplating the issues of the day at The Desert Sun, I was helping judge California Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers Contest in Ontario.

It’s something I’ve done at least a dozen times, mostly in the same Hilton conference room, but not for about five years. It had forgotten what a great day it always is. Reading newspaper stories all day long may not sound like Nirvana to you, but I love newspapers. They’ve sustained me and my family for more than 35 years.

Our CNPA host told us to do our best to ignore the names of the newspapers, to just assess the work on its own merit. I can’t do that. I want to see bylines I recognize. Many former colleagues popped up, and some were fellow judges. I also love to see innovations I’ve never considered, such as the Marin Independent Journal’s front page refer list local obituaries. Another paper runs one per day under the label “Lives Lived.” Another ran the nut graf of that day’s editorial on the front page, urging readers to check out the Opinion page.

My partner and I judged coverage of local government for medium-circulation dailies like The Desert Sun and smaller weeklies. Southern California judges mostly read the Northern California entries and vice versa. There’s no way The Desert Sun would be in my stack.

The experience shows me that despite the decline of newspapers, which like so many other enterprises has been squeezed by the recession, there is still a lot of great work being done out there – thoroughly researched and brilliantly written.

Many of the packages mirrored the efforts of The Desert Sun in the past 18 months. Some took a hard look on how the government is spending our money, which has been a strong theme for us. Several had stories based the state controller’s data base listing salaries and benefits at all California public agencies, created in the wake of the Bell scandal.

The Visalia Times-Delta had impressive collection of stories, including one from May detailing the health care benefits given to special districts and school board members – a story The Desert Sun did just last week. There we several entries about efforts to rein in pension expenses and how cities and counties are trying to cope with the precipitous drop in property values.

The La Jolla Light had a fun campaign to eradicate potholes, inviting readers to send in photos of the most egregious suspension-shattering spots. I applaud that kind of advocacy journalism.

My favorite of the day was the (Newport Beach) Daily Pilot story about lifeguards getting paid $80,000 with generous pension packages. Can you imagine a better job than working on the beach, saving lives and pulling down 80 grand?

The day was a reminder of how critical the Fourth Estate is to maintaining American values, in print and online. The Desert Sun takes its watchdog role seriously and will continue to do so.