Sparsely, Sage and Timely
What’s going on here?
For the past week, the editor’s chair has felt more like a seat on a rollercoaster as I tried to cope with the precarious state of The Light’s finances while also dealing with press reports about them. It all began with a cover story in last Wednesday’s SF Weekly, "Can Light Stay Afloat?" (If you didn’t pick up a copy, you can read it online by Googling "SF Weekly Point Reyes Light".)
The article was circulated nationwide among journalists on a news-media website called Romanesko. This, in turn, prompted Los Angeles Times business columnist Michael Hiltzik to spend half of Monday interviewing me; a column analyzing the financial problems of this little newspaper is scheduled for publication in The Times business section on Thursday, Dec. 16.
There is, however, a Light at the end of this dark tunnel. The SF Weekly article prompted several people to volunteer time and money to help "rescue" The Light. So fear not. Your subscriptions will still be good at this time next year, and if you’re not a subscriber already, this is the time to sign up, for The Light’s cash problems are all too real.
The hoopla in the news media, which launched the rescue effort, came about through a surprising series of events. A member of SF Weekly management while recruiting at the Graduate School of Journalism of Columbia University happened to interview former Light reporter Victoria Schlesinger. Schlesinger told him about working at The Light and what we attempt to do each week with the paper. He apparently was impressed, for he subsequently assigned a veteran newspaperman, Ron Russell, to write a feature on The Light.
Russell is normally an investigative reporter, and he researched an article on The Light and me for a month, interviewing innumerable other people as well as spending parts of three weeks at The Light. He was a good guy, so I answered almost all his questions.
As it happened, Russell was sitting in on a morning news meeting when bookkeeper/business manager Scott Yancy broke in and said I needed to immediately write a check (from my personal savings) for $5,000 so The Light’s checks wouldn’t bounce at the bank.
Russell’s ears, like those of any good investigative reporter, immediately perked up, and the direction of his story took a 90-degree turn toward The Light’s and my personal finances. At the time, I didn’t realize the focus of article had changed, so I was somewhat surprised by what SF Weekly published.
However, I couldn’t object. Russell quoted me accurately, and aside from referring to the Station House Café as the Stage Coach Café, his piece was on target in explaining what was happening to The Light’s finances. (For the record, the Station House is not the unnamed restaurant Russell mentions as owing The Light money.)
The SF Weekly article turned out to be an unexpected blessing. Several people volunteered to help us improve the business side of The Light and assemble a number of investors. Normally when a company reveals it is having financial problems, investors shun its stock and stockholders dump their shares. In this case, just the opposite occurred. Our sorry finances have created a sudden interest in acquiring Point Reyes Light stock.
The Light’s intention is to bring in a small group of not-too-silent partners, who each have some expertise in media business and sales. The partners would not interfere with The Light’s news coverage. The paper would remain under my control since I’m expecting most of the partners will acquire relatively few shares ($7,000 or $8,000 worth, for example).
We don’t need that much money to get us out of our immediate financial problems; $30,000 would do it, and if we are fortunate enough to raise $50,000, we would have breathing space to concentrate on improving the business side of this newspaper, which is not my area of expertise. That’s why lining up outside experts is crucial.
Nothing cataclysmic has occurred yet. Despite the current recession, ad sales are off only 1.2 percent from last year while circulation has continued to grow. Among the larger problems are the skyrocketing costs of Workmen’s Compensation and employee health insurance. For me, the problem is that periodically during the past 20 years, I have had to subsidize the paper out of a small inheritance, and now that I’m having to put more and more of my savings into The Light, I’m about to run out. I don’t need to go into details; you can read all about it in SF Weekly.
The group of rescuers is already taking shape although no money has arrived yet. Taking the lead as a "Friend of The Light," is Tom Sebastian of Lagunitas. Sebastian is senior vice president, Creative Services, Broadcast and Programming, for a large San Francisco ad agency called PRN, Premier Retail Networks. He has offered at no charge to create a program to raise awarness of The Light beyond its core of readers. To accomplish this, Tom is beginning to pull in San Francisco’s film and television community. Joining the "Friends of The Light" on Wednesday was Kim Salyer who runs Video Arts, a San Francisco post-production company.
Tom has also offered to prepare The Light to make presentations to large advertisers. For example, there is no department store in West Marin, and our readership contains thousands of largely ignored customers. Equally important, Tom (along with others) is helping assemble the nascent group of progressive, not-too-silent partners.
A week ago, I was feeling gloomy about The Light’s future, but thanks to numerous people who want to see The Light keep shining, a new day seems to be dawning.
Editor’s note: Many readers knew Tom Sebastian’s wife Lisa as owner of the former Beulah Gallery in Olema. She now owns Komba Gallery in Fairfax and, bless her soul, is a regular advertiser in The Light.