In early June I received a check for $191 the proceeds from selling my whopping 5.6 shares in Tribune Co. No longer having that financial connection freed me up to attend a meeting of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils on July 12 at which the publisher and a managing editor of the Tribune-owned Los Angeles Times appeared to discuss how the paper can better cover the San Fernando Valley. Based on the comments from the members of various neighborhood councils, the Times certainly couldn’t do worse. Within the discussion, which included pleas to bring back the TV listing book, the stock charts, and a rehash of the Valley secessionist movement, publisher (president and CEO) David Hiller, managing editor Leo Wolinsky and Kim McCleary La France, vice president of public affairs, heard that, well, the Times has all but abandoned the Valley. It’s an exaggeration to accuse the Times of engaging in “parachute journalism” the practice of dropping a reporter into an area to write a story or two before taking off for another locale but that seemed to be the unspoken word. “Disconnect” was the spoken word of how the neighborhood council members felt about the Times coverage of the Valley; that the paper just wasn’t there enough and certainly wasn’t getting down to the ultra-local level of covering their meetings. One council representative told the trio that by eliminating the separate Valley edition the Times “gave away the store” to the Daily News and the weeklies because those publications offer something the Times does not local stories. Nods of agreement This observation was met by nods of agreement and a chorus of “It’s true” from the audience. The Alliance billed the appearance by the Times executives as a roundtable discussion although the tables in the conference room at Sherman Oaks were arranged in a rectangle with all the participants looking on at Hiller, the pale Midwesterner dispatched out west from the Tribune Tower in Chicago last fall; Wolinsky, the tanned California native (who I bet drove the black two-seat sports car with the personalized NEWS BIZ license plates I saw in the meeting site’s parking garage); and La France, who hardly spoke a word. Wolinsky admitted that it has been a struggle for the Times to give more local coverage as there are 90 cities in Los Angeles County alone and not enough manpower to put a reporter in each one. So what the paper seeks to do instead is find stories that highlight a commonality for all of the city and to tie it all together. In the meantime, Wolinsky told the group, the paper convened what he called the Spring Street Committee to look at how the Times website can be used to get a new level of community coverage; and the Reinvent Committee, which is looking at new ways to provide local news and “bring more fire power” into the Valley. But what the Times won’t be doing is returning to the days when there was a separate Valley edition. Wolinsky said the course taken instead will be to find the “happy medium” between a dedicated Valley edition and not reporting on the Valley at all. In the end economics will dictate the coverage the Times gives to the Valley, the city, the county, the state, the nation and the world. The financial struggles of the Times are well documented. I saw them first hand when working for its paper in Burbank and a round of “expense reduction initiatives” resulted in the departure of the editor who hired me two months earlier. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I took legal action against the Tribune Co. for unpaid overtime and the matter has been resolved.) Change will come when the sale of Tribune Co. to Chicago real estate mogul Sam Zell and Tribune employees concludes by the end of the year. There remains the possibility, much discussed and speculated before the April announcement of the Zell deal, the Times could be sold off separately. It surprised me that not once during the hour-long discussion did a single person raise the pending sale. The more I thought about it the less surprised I was because, well, the reps from these councils weren’t thinking about the big picture and were more concerned with getting the word out about their activities. Having worked in community journalism at four newspapers, I understand the frustrations of the council reps of getting Valley-centric stories in print. As a full-time reporter for 15 years, I understand the limitations in money, resources and news space faced by Hiller, Wolinsky and the rest of the editorial team. Website role Because of those limitations, the neighborhood council folks shouldn’t rely on the print edition of the Times when it comes to reporting on individual councils or the Valley Alliance. That is what the paper’s website will be for. The Times already allows readers to post photos at the website and coming soon will be a platform to let readers post information about events and issues that the newsroom can then “peer” into to read what people are talking about, Wolinsky said. I certainly don’t doubt the sincerity of Hiller and Wolinsky in wanting the Times to do a better job covering the Valley. Publishers are important, busy people and Hiller certainly could have found something else to do on a Thursday rather than be in Sherman Oaks and listening to former readers explain why they canceled the Times. But this example illustrates what both sides face: Just before introducing Hiller, et. al., Valley Alliance President Jill Banks Barad announced that the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office issued an opinion several days earlier that neighborhood councils have the right to appeal certain land use decisions. Among those applauding that decision were Hiller and Wolinsky. But a check at the Times archives and the Factiva data base shows that no story about that decision appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Front page ads The day after his appearance before the neighborhood councils, Hiller sent a company memo saying that to offset declining revenue the company is looking at running ads on the front page. Staff Reporter Mark Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected] .