This isn’t something I like to dwell on, but it’s important. Back in 1995, when The Lakewood Journal endorsed cityhood, I misled voters. I didn’t do it on purpose, but the outcome was the same.
At the time, I assured readers that if the new city proposed changes, good or bad, the public wouldn’t be caught off guard. The Lakewood Journal, I wrote, would be there to keep people informed. I promised.
Even then, I knew the paper was struggling financially. Maybe it wouldn’t be The Journal specifically, I figured. But I believed Lakewood would grow, the finances would turn around, and there would always be a local newspaper of one kind or another to keep the community informed.
Right? There was always going to be a newspaper.
Ah. history. You can be a sneaky thing, history.
I was, as you know, wrong. To be fair, I was not alone.
In just two decades, roughly 3,000 newspapers have shut down in the United States. Except for the source you are reading now, The Suburban Times, Lakewood is what people call a ‘news desert.’
What’s that mean in practical terms? It means:
- The Lakewood Water District could be planning to add lead to the water
- The CP School District could be planning to cut the school day to two hours
- The City of Lakewood could be planning to change the city’s name to Apartmentwood
And there’s no guarantee you would know.
Now, Lakewood does have this wonderful news site. There’s a very good chance that some random citizen might write in and say, “Hey, did anyone hear Lakewood Water is planning to drill to the center of the earth?” (I don’t rule that out in their lot over there by the Lakewood library site)
So, The Suburban Times is here, and if you see Ben Sclair, you better be thanking him for hosting this site because it’s a lot of work.
Again, this is not just a Lakewood thing. You might have heard the word “disruption” and wow, that applies to the news business. Employment in U.S. newsrooms of all kinds fell by over 60% between 2005 and 2023. Four of the last five jobs I held in journalism don’t exist anymore.
The business model changed, so existing newspaper owners are finding that the best way to maintain profits is to maintain a facade but run the operation as cheaply as possible. Laying people off raises profits, and as long as you have something that looks like ink on paper or computer screen, you can try to charge big money to advertisers.
With no journalists to report on school boards, city councils, water districts, fire districts, etc, nobody knows what the heck is going on in their local communities. I particularly remember wishing we had a local paper when there were some Clover Park School District elections, and we were all trying to piece together what was going on by reading letters here in The Suburban Times.
There are valiant efforts to battle this trend. You are reading one. The Suburban Times is a news bulletin board and the best place to try to piece together what is going on in our area.
So many of us who were in local journalism mourn the days when you could get more information you needed to be a productive citizen. That’s why every week, I follow the column that former news columnist Brier Dudley includes in the Sunday Seattle Times. Brier has been set loose to report on the local news crisis and what can be done about it.
In his most recent column, Brier highlights the vital investigative work that local news outlets are still doing across the country. He shares examples like a car loan company unnecessarily disabling vehicles, solar energy salespeople misleading customers, nursing home residents suffering neglect, and a state employee gaming the system to cash in on vacation pay by briefly quitting and rehiring.
But there’s so much happening today in South Puget Sound that you don’t know about—things you would have known if local newsrooms were thriving. People are getting away with making bad choices and wrongdoing or both, and no one is there to tell you.
Many people don’t mind being uninformed
Thirty years ago, one of our biggest challenges was convincing people to pay anything for The Lakewood Journal when they were used to getting it for free. The idea that news should cost nothing has only grown stronger over time. Post a news link online today, and if there’s a paywall, people will complain.
But here’s what puzzles me about this selective sense of entitlement:
- No one walks into Safeway expecting free steak.
- No one goes to Burs, Applebee’s, or The Ram and demands a free dinner.
- No one strolls into Lakewood Ford asking for a free car.
And yet, when it comes to news, there’s a whole culture that insists it should be free. Share a news article on social media, and people don’t just grumble. They get angry. “Where’s my free lunch?” they ask.
This does not help the news economy at all.
The media’s own challenges
Every organization I’ve ever encountered has been its own worst enemy. So it’s been for all my journalism employers, and so it is today. Local journalism was profitable for so long that reinvestment was never a priority. Newsrooms became notorious for spending less on continuing education than almost any other industry.
But sometimes, a lack of infrastructure does real damage. There are still local news outlets in the area, like The News Tribune and The Seattle Times. So I subscribed to The News Tribune – only to find that I could never actually read it because I couldn’t log in. As much as I love journalism, and as much as I respect the people who work there, I can’t justify paying for something I can’t access.
So I tried subscribing to The Seattle Times instead. Same problem. I’ve never been able to read it on any computer. Fortunately, the subscription works on The Seattle Times app on my phone, so that’s how I get my regional news.
And yet. Walter, you know better.
Local news is important. What’s left of local news should be supported.
So right before writing this, I subscribed to The News Tribune. I’m going to assume that I’ll be able to read it now. I’m going to visualize success logging in. So far so good.
Please consider supporting local news
One subscription won’t save local journalism nationwide, but I like to think more people will realize that not supporting community journalism comes at a cost. If you subscribe to The Seattle Times, I hope you take the time to read Brier Dudley’s weekly updates—they offer important insights: https://www.seattletimes.com/author/brier-dudley/
Now, I’m very aware not everyone may be able to read that link, and that’s just part of life. You can live your life without those columns. But if you do have access to them, they’re informative.
And if that frustrates you? Well, you could always try making yourself feel better by marching into Target and demanding the free groceries you deserve just for being you.
If you can support any media outlet, I hope you do. That might mean subscribing to what’s left of local journalism—or, if you have a business or cause, buying an ad right here in The Suburban Times.
I’m going to assume anyone who made it to the end of this column is the kind of person who might support local news (assuming you have the resources). Thank you for anything you do.
By the way, since we’re trained to normally get news here in The Suburban Times, let me clarify that some of the above was intended as humor. There are no known plans to add lead to the water. There are no known plans to cut the school day. There are no known plans to drill into the Earth to access the ocean off Madagascar.
As for the rest: I’ll keep you informed about the “Apartmentwood” thing.
Thank you Walter. I use to deliver The Suburban Times back in 1968 on a paper route along with The Airlifter. There was a time when I collected for the monthly subscription but then the paper changing and was free to subscribers….it was optional if they wanted to pay and most opted for free. Needless to say my income dropped to about $5.00/ month. The paper stayed strong but I eventually moved on to 8th grade and other things kids do.
Thank you Walter for an informative overview of the state of local journalism. When I moved to Tacoma from Seattle I kept getting delivery of the actual paper copy of The Seattle Times. I have followed the Suburban Times almost from the first day I moved here. I also pay for online subscriptions to the New York Times and Washington Post (though recent ownership actions there make it a painful choice, I don’t want to risk the work of the many journalists I appreciate there) as well as pledging monthly to KUOW as well as to public TV in Tacoma at KBTC. It seems like the cost is a lot (and rising, like most things these days) but as you note, investigative journalism is well worth the investment. It is indeed painful to see the decline in our choices for news that are local and reliable. I too have been following Brier Dudley’s column.
The sub Times is incredibly valuable to our community. Very sad that more people do not read it.
Walter, thanks for a nice article. I too, am disappointed by the demise of local journalism and we all suffer for it. I used to be a religious subscriber of the old TNT, which I carried for about 35 years. But as you point out, the organization was its own worst enemy. My reason for dropping the TNT was simple. Upon retirement 15 years ago, we went on vacations for extended periods during which I would ask for a hold on our newspaper. The Tribune didn’t deliver the paper while I was gone, and extended my subscription for a period of time equal to the hold. Thus I was effectively not charged for papers I missed – which was quite fair. But then they decided that they would no longer extend the subscription, so I was paying for the newspaper even though I was not around to read it. I could 1) donate my papers to schools (not a bad idea) or 2) have them held for when I return (a horrible idea – what I am gonna do with 60 newspapers after a 2-month vacation?). But the principle of the whole thing bothered me, so I dropped my subscription. After reading your article, maybe I’ll give them another chance…
Thank you to Ben Sclair and Walter.
Than you to Ben Sclair. Priceless work.
I enjoyed the commentary that mixed news, humor and a long-view perspective. Walter’s notes offer an oldtimer’s view of Lakewood events that are not always apparent to relative newcomers (living here less than 30 years). Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Ben.
We depend on you and take you for granted.
I appreciate you and your work every day.
Thank you, kind sir.
Kimberly Roberts
Every reader of the Suburban Times has some kind of connection to what’s going on in the readership area. Yet how many of them sit down and write an article to inform the public about that event or occurrence? In a “free” virtual newspaper it is the public that is the reporter of record without which the Suburban Times ceases to be relevant or exist. That’s how you actively support the Suburban Times. For every time your read a Suburban Times article and shake or nod your head you have an opportunity to report your take on that article. Get involved!
Another valuable input from Mr. Neary. Just a couple observations: 1. On news rooms “challenges”, putting the rise of the internet aside, I believe part of the demise of hard copy news lay with the blurring between “objective, honest investigative” reporting and opinion. I like to read and consider all “opinion” – when clearly ID’d as such. But biased reporting – regardless of which bias – you lose me and interest in your outlet. I believe people intuitively could ID this, and thus moved on to other sources (many of which probably have fallen into the same trap)
2. My other observation i
Is that the “I want it free” is not a recent thing. As a paperboy for the Seattle Times back in the late ‘50s I had many instances where “subscribers” (adults) avoided me like I had plague at collection time – some outright stiffed me. But when the delivery was cut off – I won’t repeat what I heard at times. My fellow carriers reported the same frustration. I’m sure this sad tendency had an effect on publishers too. Sometimes we get what we deserve.
I’m very grateful for The Suburban Times. Without it, it would be difficult to share news about the great volunteer activities in our community and to keep up with current local events which are important for us but not published in the larger newspapers. Thank you, those who contribute to the news, and Ben for this valuable service!
Seldom do I omit reading The Suburban Times first thing every morning, which I consider to be a valuable source of local news, observations and opinions. And, Walter, your articles are highly valuable in promoting awareness and, when relevant, a call to action. I hope we will see more of your contributions in the future. As for newspapers in general, I seek objective investigative reporting, not articles and headlines reeking with bias.
Online is better, why wasted trees and ink to write your stories?
Thanks for the kind words and best of luck to The Suburban Times!
Thank you Ben for a great read every day. BUT….true journalism is dead…look at the Tacoma News Tribune. I’ve been a reader of the TNT for over 60 years and I see the changes. From speculation to total lies, they print garbage I wouldn’t line a bird cage with!!
Walter & Ben,
Thank you for all that you do. Uncharacteristically, for me, I have decided to be succinct. This is my total message. Keep up the good work.
Joseph Boyle – Lakewood resident 51 years.