Newpaper critique

As a fan of Culver City News, I have been delighted with the new clean look this fall–so easy to read, reflecting our hip and vibrant city.  With a wide variety of local news, you had created a true local gem.  So today it was a shock to open the Oct. 4 edition of your paper.

The interior articles are now generically written cookie-cutter remnants of what used to be a fun read.  Several articles are from NAPS–a free service which allows papers to “plug-in” their own content.  And articles without bylines…what are they?  From Journatic?  (Writers in India and Philippines produce these articles by Internet research for $11 each.)  Outsourcing may be cheap, but it produces a paper without character.  Something no one cares to read.

The first few pages with interesting and well-written articles provide stark contrast with the tawdry interior of the paper.  If money is the only consideration, go ahead with this new content.  However, there is no shortage of Culver City news these days with Internet bloggers.  So if you want loyal readers and advertisers, my advice is to return to locally written articles which reflect the unique character of our community.  Thank you for your consideration.

Edmund Burke