SVN Struggles To Cover City News

Saddleback Valley News on Dec. 17 published its final Wednesday edition after trying for several months to produce Wednesday and Friday papers.

Fourteen years ago, SVN was an independent community newspaper located on Fabricante in Mission Viejo. The OC Register finalized its purchase of SVN in 1994, merging the two papers’ editorial, advertising and production departments. Within a year, the Mission Viejo operation, including more than 20 editors and reporters, moved to 22481 Aspan in Lake Forest.

City activists who met with OCR employees on Dec. 15 walked through the newsroom in Lake Forest, which was practically empty. SVN editor Freda Freeman explained to activists that she puts together nine community newspapers in South County. Reporter Lindsey Baguio does double-duty by writing for OCR and SVN. Is anyone surprised that SVN depends heavily on city hall’s press releases as filler? Most articles appearing in SVN are previously published in OCR, and letters to the editor are reprints about national or international issues.

Freeman also revealed that OCR managers have given editors a mandate to include email posts, which are usually sent anonymously to OCR’s Website. While blogs often publish anonymous posts, readers expect newspapers to have higher thresholds for reader comments. OCR scrutinizes letters to the editor and demands the name, street address and phone number of anyone wanting a letter published in OCR or SVN. Readers who post email comments can have multiple identities or pseudonyms.

An activist at the Dec. 15 meeting asked Baguio if city officials had pressured her to write only positive pieces about the city. She said no. However, city administrators Dennis Wilberg and Keith Rattay in May called Baguio into their office after she’d written about Easelgate. From that point on, only the city’s side of issues has been published. No negative letters about the council majority were published after mid-August when council candidates filed their paperwork. At least two residents said their letters were censored when they criticized the only incumbent running for office, Frank Ury.

The city staff and council majority often get a pass due to SVN’s lack of investigative reporting and blackout of local news. City officials hide bad news, deny it or create an elaborate cover-up, as they did with Easelgate. Blogs have blown the cover off the city’s spin machine, but many residents remain unaware of the city blogs.

Blog readers can help spread the word by forwarding information to their email distributions. Websites are http://missionviejoca.org http://missionviejodispatch.com and http://orangejuiceblog.com