> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Keep it really local - URL: https://www.smdp.com/keep-it-really-local/ - Published: 2008-05-17T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T19:37:32.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless This past week, Q-Line asked: What news would you like to see more of in the Daily Press? Should we continue to cover state, national and international issues or should we stick to the Westside and the Greater Los Angeles area? Here are your responses: “PLEASE JUST STICK TO THE WESTSIDE and the greater Los Angeles area. We can get all the national and international issues through the Los Angeles Times and watching the news on TV. So, we would really appreciate if you would continue to do more of the local area.” “FRANKLY, I THINK THE SANTA MONICA Daily Press coverage is OK just as it is. The important local, state, and national news items. Some of everything. Variety is the spice of life.” “IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT NEWS TO cover, you shouldn’t be in the local news business. I’ll repeat, if you don’t know what local news to cover, you should not be in the local newspaper business.” “PLEASE CONTINUE TO COVER, STATE, Westside and Santa Monica only. Thank you for your great paper.” “I RECEIVE THE STATE, NATIONAL, AND international news on television in the evening and then read about it in the Los Angeles Times the next day. I refer to that as yesterday’s news, today. The Santa Monica Daily Press should stick to the area between Palos Verdes and Point Dume centering in Santa Monica and then expand out to the close by areas. When writing about Los Angeles, it should have something to do with Santa Monica. Still, if something really, truly important pops up regardless of where, I would like to read about it just in case I missed it while being tuned in to other forms of media.” “ON MONDAY, YOUR PAPER CHOSE TO print a report on our drug czar again ranting that pot causes mental illness. The day before, the L.A. Times reported the story but quoted other sources that explained that the czar is nuts and needs to take a puff himself. We don’t need more world reports when we have several other papers, TV, radio, and Internet. What we desperately need is your newspaper watching our hens’ nest and reporting on the kooks on our City Council and give us more local entertainment. “YOUR BASIC VALUE IS FOR LOCAL news. Local opinions and commentary on national issues are of interest, too. Items on Boston schools, San Diego politics, and Salt Lake City sports, etc. are just filler. But, your real problem is distribution. It is almost impossible to find the Daily Press in Downtown Santa Monica. It’s no longer regularly among the dozen or so papers outside Rays at 29th and Pico. It’s nowhere on the south side of Pico and Lincoln and so forth. So, it doesn’t much matter what you print if the paper isn’t available.” “WELL WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS PRETTY much fine. Just concentrate on the local stuff. Maybe have more letters to the editor, maybe have more Q-Line answers, I don’t know how many people call though, but just do a lot of those. More comics and more of the local entertainment stuff.” “I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON international problems because we get enough of the crap, the local crap in this paper. So yes, I think the International would be a good way to go.” “I WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE TO SEE more Westside and greater Los Angeles area issues. I think more human interest stories would be better, maybe focus on certain people in Santa Monica. I would like to see more sports, I would like to see a better calendar than what you have in there now. And I would like to see better funnies. “THE DAILY PRESS SHOULD ABSOLUTELY focus on only Santa Monica and the Greater L.A. area. You can’t possible compete with the large media outlets that cover national and international stuff. There’s lots of things that remain hidden in this area. For example, what’s happening with the homeless situation? There should be a monthly report that gives the details of what the city is doing to place people, to help people, and reduce the numbers on our streets. The second thing is your reporters need to be a little bit more aggressive in questioning authority. For example, there was a story about Second Street being all redone and wonderful for pedestrians. Well, that’s not true. Second Street has been pockmarked with patches of ugly black tar every two feet and it’s a terrible street to walk on, especially for people going to Emeritus College, many of whom are elderly and have trouble with walkers, and canes, and so forth. So Kate Vernez’s statement about how wonderfully it’s been repaired is wrong and nobody bothered to check up on her. Your reporters need to be a little bit more aggressive and not just sit back and look at the press releases and meetings. You should use the New York Times’ standard, one letter to the editor by a reader every six months. And the last thing is (SMDP columnist) Steve Breen is an awful writer, he couldn’t write himself out of a paper bag. All he does is pile adjectives on top of metaphors and his column is totally unreadable. Don’t waste the space. Just concentrate on issues like traffic, homeless, law settlements by the city, and do a good job covering Santa Monica.” “PLEASE KEEP THE LOCAL NEWS. WE get enough national and state in the L.A. Times and TV news. We need more Santa Monica like the old Outlook. There are all kinds of things going on that we miss. I also would love to be able to subscribe to it and have it sent to my home because I am not always able to pick it up in Santa Monica. Please keep up the good work.” “YOU SHOULD HAVE MOST OF THE NEWS covering Santa Monica first, then West Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. National and international news should be minimal at best. Local events of interest to the residents should include the annual Senior Prom during the third week in March on Saturday afternoon held at the Civic Center Auditorium which is free for all seniors 50 and over and includes lunch, door prizes, and dancing.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 17, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051708.pdf?ref=smdp.com)