Save the CoCo Times!? Anyone?

I worked at the Contra Costa Times for several years until 2002. What passion there was on the part of reporters was routinely beaten down by managers who ran the place more like an insurance office (then Executive Editor, now Publisher John Armstrong could talk for hours about revenue and circulation, but rarely if ever broached the topic of news), and by a never-ending round of buy-outs that drained once vibrant bureaus, sapped morale and had everyone wondering where they'd be working next week, month, year.

Not surprisingly, the community noticed the disarray every time they picked up the paper. So they picked it up less and less.

So I'm not surprised that, in the wake of McClatchy's announcement that they'll unload a dozen Knight Ridder papers, including the Times, there are campaigns to Save the Mercury News, Save the Pioneer Press, and Save the Monterey County Herald, but, alas, no evidence of a collective will to Save the Contra Costa Times.