Parting Shot — 7/14/06

The newsroom staff of the Santa Barbara News-Press stand with duct tape over their mouths outside the newspaper’s Santa Barbara, Calif., office Friday in protest over a wave of editorial resignations at the paper. (AP Photo/Michael A. Mariant)

DFO: Dunno anything about the situation in the Santa Barbara newsroom. But it’s apparent that everything’s not lovely in viewtiful Santa Barbara, no matter what late-night TV shows claim. Who knows what’s wrong here. Half the newsrooms I’ve worked in during my 36-year career considered advertising more important than news reporting. That same half paid poorly, too. ‘Twill be interesting to find out what this is all about.

Question: Are you confident that the newspaper you receive at home considers news gathering more important than advertising and circulation?