Against Redevelopment, But Not the Press
By Corey Lyons
Contra Costa Newspapers
Jan. 31, 2004
A newspaper war is unfolding in this election-crazed city, just in time for the final weeks of a nasty fight over redevelopment.
Fed up with what it considers the heavily slanted coverage in the downtown Martinez paper, a group of residents opposed to redevelopment is launching a new publication.
The paper, called the Martinez Messenger, hits the streets at 8 a.m. today.
The new tabloid promises to add another mortar shell to the intense political firefight over redevelopment in Martinez. Measure M, which will appear on the March 2 ballot, asks whether the city should establish a redevelopment agency to revive the drowsy county seat.
In its inaugural "special election" edition, the Messenger hammers home the risks of redevelopment, saying it would transform the city into a "sterile, lowest-common-denominator suburb with high-density apartments."
The lead headline pulls no punches: "Measure M Threatens Martinez."
Bill Wainwright, the lone council member opposed to redevelopment, wrote the lead story, in which he talks about how such an agency would "tear out the soul of our town."
"This is about our frustrations over the local paper," he said, referring to the Martinez News-Gazette, "which has become a pamphlet for redevelopment."
In recent weeks, some residents have circulated fliers denouncing the Gazette and asking businesses to stop advertising in the paper.
Wainwright, who has clashed often with Gazette Editor John Foley, had a moment of "serendipity" earlier this month. "It sort of hit me," he said. "We shouldn't do a mailer, but our own paper!"
The effort, published by the Committee Against a Martinez Redevelopment Agency, or CAMRA, cost about $4,000.
In total, 15,000 copies were printed in San Francisco, 3,000 of which went out Friday to absentee voters in Martinez.
The staff consists of a retired English teacher, a cocktail waitress, a sales executive, a consultant, a health care administrator, a hairstylist and, of course, a councilman.
The paper includes a front-page photo by Slava Veder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who grew up in Martinez, and a question-and-answer session about redevelopment.
Although the tabloid mentions the Gazette only once, the paper spreads an anti-redevelopment message that its staff believes had been ignored deliberately by the Gazette.
Recent headlines in the Gazette, one of the oldest newspapers in California, include "CAMRA Continues Falsehoods" and "CAMRA in Violation of ABC Laws."
Foley, who took over the 146-year-old newspaper before the November 2002 election, could not be reached for comment.
"Our paper has never taken an official stand on redevelopment," Scott M. Bruner, a Gazette reporter, said Friday. "We've been shocked at some of the tactics that both sides have used in this, and we've tried to report things fairly.
"In the editorial section," he added, "Foley has taken a pro-redevelopment stance, but has never let that change coverage we do on the front page."
David L. Payne, president and publisher of the Gazette, did not return a call for comment Friday.
It remains to be seen how long the Messenger can continue, but staff members eventually want to write about other issues that have nothing to do with the R-word.
The first edition was hard work, Wainwright said, and includes "no misspellings or typos," though a reference to "statistics" unnecessarily included an uppercase "s."
He was unsure whether the Messenger would run once a month or less often, but promised that "this is not the last special election edition."
Contra Costa Newspapers
Jan. 31, 2004
A newspaper war is unfolding in this election-crazed city, just in time for the final weeks of a nasty fight over redevelopment.
Fed up with what it considers the heavily slanted coverage in the downtown Martinez paper, a group of residents opposed to redevelopment is launching a new publication.
The paper, called the Martinez Messenger, hits the streets at 8 a.m. today.
The new tabloid promises to add another mortar shell to the intense political firefight over redevelopment in Martinez. Measure M, which will appear on the March 2 ballot, asks whether the city should establish a redevelopment agency to revive the drowsy county seat.
In its inaugural "special election" edition, the Messenger hammers home the risks of redevelopment, saying it would transform the city into a "sterile, lowest-common-denominator suburb with high-density apartments."
The lead headline pulls no punches: "Measure M Threatens Martinez."
Bill Wainwright, the lone council member opposed to redevelopment, wrote the lead story, in which he talks about how such an agency would "tear out the soul of our town."
"This is about our frustrations over the local paper," he said, referring to the Martinez News-Gazette, "which has become a pamphlet for redevelopment."
In recent weeks, some residents have circulated fliers denouncing the Gazette and asking businesses to stop advertising in the paper.
Wainwright, who has clashed often with Gazette Editor John Foley, had a moment of "serendipity" earlier this month. "It sort of hit me," he said. "We shouldn't do a mailer, but our own paper!"
The effort, published by the Committee Against a Martinez Redevelopment Agency, or CAMRA, cost about $4,000.
In total, 15,000 copies were printed in San Francisco, 3,000 of which went out Friday to absentee voters in Martinez.
The staff consists of a retired English teacher, a cocktail waitress, a sales executive, a consultant, a health care administrator, a hairstylist and, of course, a councilman.
The paper includes a front-page photo by Slava Veder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who grew up in Martinez, and a question-and-answer session about redevelopment.
Although the tabloid mentions the Gazette only once, the paper spreads an anti-redevelopment message that its staff believes had been ignored deliberately by the Gazette.
Recent headlines in the Gazette, one of the oldest newspapers in California, include "CAMRA Continues Falsehoods" and "CAMRA in Violation of ABC Laws."
Foley, who took over the 146-year-old newspaper before the November 2002 election, could not be reached for comment.
"Our paper has never taken an official stand on redevelopment," Scott M. Bruner, a Gazette reporter, said Friday. "We've been shocked at some of the tactics that both sides have used in this, and we've tried to report things fairly.
"In the editorial section," he added, "Foley has taken a pro-redevelopment stance, but has never let that change coverage we do on the front page."
David L. Payne, president and publisher of the Gazette, did not return a call for comment Friday.
It remains to be seen how long the Messenger can continue, but staff members eventually want to write about other issues that have nothing to do with the R-word.
The first edition was hard work, Wainwright said, and includes "no misspellings or typos," though a reference to "statistics" unnecessarily included an uppercase "s."
He was unsure whether the Messenger would run once a month or less often, but promised that "this is not the last special election edition."
posted by Corey at 1:47 PM
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