New Newspaper: San Ramon Tribune

San Ramon, CA 8/9/07
The San Ramon Tribune has officially opened their doors today.

The San Ramon Tribune is an independent, online published newspaper, that tells the other side of the story. Many times, the traditional local newspapers and some of the other online news sources get a story that is spoon-feed to the reporters and writers which is seldom questioned with any type of critical thinking skills. While there is some degree of truth in presenting a spoon-feed story, it is seldom more than the party line.

Many of the reporters, and other local news sources, seemingly having some close ties with the Mayor and City Council members and even Sunset Development company, in which if reports are too biased against a certain issue, the editors in chief bow down to the political pressures, and only report the news from a very pro City Council and pro development perspective.

The San Ramon Tribune is not like these other newspapers. Our philosophy is to try and present news stories from a critical thinking perspective. Sure, this will ruffle more than a few feathers, but if the San Ramon Tribune articles prompt the reader to think of the other side of the story, then the reporters have done their jobs. The Tribune will include a variety of types of news stories online. In fact, the San Ramon Tribune is the Peoples Newspaper. No other local newspaper provides the type of direct feedback as does the Tribune.

The way the Tribune operates is through your editorial feedback in the form of comments on the various stories online. While other local online news outlets provide a similar way of comments on the various stories, they have a limited amount of time that they run the stories on the web. Take for example the San Ramon Times or the Contra Costa Times, in which a story is posted on the Internet, and then after a month or two can never be found again.

As newspapers have been gobbled up by big conglomerations, these organizations provide very little in the way of personal news reporting. Reporters for one newspaper actually cover the news for articles written for a wide collection of newspapers. See all the Media Newsgroup Newspapers owned by this company. The Alameda Times-Star, The Argus (Fremont), Contra Costa Times, San Ramon Times, Oakland Tribune, Pacifica Tribune, San Jose Mercury News, San Mateo County Times, Santa Cruz Sentinel, and even the Tri-Valley Herald (Pleasanton) are just a small segment of newspapers all owned and operated by the Media Newsgroup. Take a look online at some of these newspapers, and you will see many of the same articles, if not all the same, across a wide variety of websites, with the only difference the branding at the top. Are we really so naive to think, that we are going to get the news written in an unbiased fashion? What do you think would happen if a reporter were to start doing some in-depth investigative reporting into certain unethical happenings behind the scenes at some of the various local government proceedings? What is likely to happen would be a reprimand at best or a pink slip at worst. These reporters are fighting just to keep their jobs now, because of continual reporter and news personnel consolidations and layoffs. No reporter wants to make waves today. Even if a reporter is aggressive in their news gathering, they have to report to editors that have more than likely been instructed not to ruffle any feathers themselves.

So, this is your newspaper. You get to add comments no matter which side of the fence you are on. We have a couple of rules that are important to note. We respect your privacy, and we expect you to respect the privacy of others. Don't just throw personal names (private individuals) around, especially if you are not sure of the facts. Even if you are sure of the facts, consider the person's privacy before listing their name in an article commentary. Your comments can be made anonymously, with a pen name, or with a Blogger account. Keep your comments civil.

San Ramon Tribune reserves the right to remove comments from this website for any reason.

So, put on your critical thinking skills and try to stay calm, cool, and collected in your thoughts. Share it here at the San Ramon Tribune.

We encourage you to also submit your stories for posting. We can not promise that all stories will be published, but we will review them and consider a story for online publication. If you wish to remain anonymous as the author, simply let us know of your wishes, and we will not publish your name. Click the submit story link on this website to submit your stories and articles for consideration.

For those wondering about the name: San Ramon Tribune; here are a few thoughts.

A tribune was an officer of ancient Rome elected by the plebeians to protect their rights from arbitrary acts of the patrician magistrates.

A tribune is a protector or champion of the people.

Please read our introduction and welcome posting.

Sincerely,

Executive Editor
San Ramon Tribune