Fellow Laderians,

I got into trouble with my readers a couple of years ago for saying that Laderians don’t read. But, what I meant to say is they don’t read newspapers.

I’m old school in that I love reading my morning newspaper over an enormous cup of steaming hot coffee. It works out that I finish the paper and the cup of coffee at precisely the same time each morning.

But today’s younger generations – and more and more members of the older generations – are getting their news from the Internet, on their computers, iPhones and Blackberries, and other electronic devices and software such as Twitter and the like. I myself get most of my news from many of these same sources and, as a result, I find myself seeing the exact same stories over again during my morning read that I read online the night before.

The world of communications is changing at warp-speed and many of the big city dailies, such as the LA Times and the New York Times, are in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in hope of turning their businesses around to where they are profitable and competitive again. The problem is, they’re not going to be able to charge their readers for online news. That ship sailed a long time ago as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer found out recently when it ceased publication of its printed newspaper and tried to sell access to its news online via its website. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer news venue now appears to be relying on online advertisers for its revenues.

I was too young at the time, but I laugh now when I hear that it was predicted that the radio and movie industries were kaput once television caught on, but both industries are bigger than ever. They simply had to adapt to changes in their marketplaces. So I won’t predict the demise of daily newspapers as I feel confident they will figure out how to adapt and remain viable and competitive in the ever changing electronic world.

Interestingly enough, the only growth in the printed newspaper industry is in community newspapers like the Ladera Times, the reason for which is really quite simple. The Ladera Times provides its readers with news they can’t get anywhere else. That’s why we only publish 100% Ladera Ranch news, or news from the immediate Ladera Ranch environs that has something of specific news value to our readers.

In an effort to keep its readers abreast of news between monthly editions of the Ladera Times, we also maintain an excellent website –In an effort to keep its readers abreast of news between monthly editions of the Ladera Times, we also maintain an excellent website – http://www.laderatimes.com – which is packed full of current and archived stories and information, breaking news, and links to other useful sites.

It’s a rather utilitarian website that is very easy to navigate and full of information. That said, we’re are slowly upgrading the graphics and other features to give more of the look and feel of other news outlets. In fact, we recently added a weekly opinion poll. Check it out.
 
                                                Jim Schmitt, Editor and Publisher