Federal Court Order Might Save Newspaper Industry

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Federal Court Order Might Save Newspaper Industry

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Raised an avid consumer of newspaper journalism, I went on to earn a j-school degree from Oklahoma State University and hold a variety of professional positions, most of which afforded me opportunities to work with and among professional journalists on a daily basis. So it goes without saying -- and with my tongue firmly planted in cheek -- that I want to do my part to assist influential members of Congress in their effort to keep the nation's newspaper industry from going under. One of those is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Speaker Pelosi recently urged the Justice Department to consider giving Bay Area papers more leeway to merge or consolidate business operations to stay afloat, according to a report at SFGate.com, the online home of the struggling Hearst Corporation-owned San Francisco Chronicle.

While I think the speaker's heart is in the right place on this issue, I'm doubtful that a legal rearrangement of the Bay Area newspaper industry's "deck chairs" will produce the desired results. That's why I'm proposing a different solution:

The job of running California's major newspapers -- including those in the Bay Area -- should be turned over to the inmates in the states prisons. As a launching pad for this project, inmates at San Quentin State Prison can take over operations at the nearby Chronicle.

Though at first blush appearing preposterous, my solution is likely to work out as well or better than the newspaper model that has been in decline for most of the past two decades. Below are several of the reasons why it should work:

• After a 16-year hiatus, the San Quentin News newspaper was revived on June 1, 2008 (Vol. 1), and has printed six editions since then (See Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4, Vol. 5, Vol. 6 and Vol. 7);

• It already circulates inside and outside the prison walls;

• It boasts a circulation of 7,500; and

• It costs very little to produce.
  

To meet the increased circulation and daily deadlines associated with running the Chronicle, the San Quentin News staff will need to grow. Thanks to a recent federal court order, a solution exists to fill all staffing needs.

Though not yet enforced, that court order is expected to require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to release as many as 60,000 inmates as a means to relieve overcrowding.

Many of the male and female inmates to be released will come from San Quentin and be available for immediately employment. Under my plan, they would be offered jobs as beat reporters, distribution specialists and collection agents for the new Chronicle, and people would subscribe -- I guarantee it!

If the San Quentin News-San Francisco Chronicle project works, it can be duplicated in cities across the state and across the nation.

Imagine the possibilities!

-- Bob McCarty Writes