“For the times they are a-changin.”
The phrase is repeated five times in the Bob Dylan song by the same name. It’s been the prevailing sentiment around our office for several weeks ahead of the merger of two long-time competing newspapers.
Life is about timing and the time is right for The Dispatch and OC Today to come together as one and work together to preserve and enhance local, community journalism. We will be stronger together and the community will be better served by our combined product. We are excited about this merger and our resulting potential.
The first discussion of The Dispatch merging with its primary competitor OC Today came 15 years ago. It was not the right time. Other talks have occurred through the years. Today, I am excited and ready to move ahead with our new, merged publication, OC Today/Dispatch, as the leaders in the market’s print news offerings are combining assets to become one.
Next week will mark a new chapter for local journalism, and the future is bright. At its simplest, journalism is a form of community service. For me, it’s in my blood. I was raised in this business. In turn, I have essentially raised a family while leading this business. In a family business everything is personal to a degree. My wife Pamela has managed the business office for the last 10 years. My mom Patsy has opened the daily mail for the last 30 years. My sons once ran the halls of this office after school for many years. I once did the same thing, too. Our employees are family, and therefore their interests and concerns align with my interests and concerns.
Both OC Fishwraps melding together – it will be twice as bad as the 2 are now!
And it will save lots of trash, both papers are at least 50% advertising
No worse than Facebook LOL
I predict they will be gone from the shore in less than 5 years. As the population ages and is replaced, they will be replaced by readers who only look at digital sources. Physical newspapers are going the way of the dodo.