Tookie Williams

Arnold has denied clemency to Tookie Williams. I covered the execution of Robert Alton Harris for the Mercury News. (I was outside San Quentin, not witnessing the execution) It was painful to stand outside the gates with thousands of protestors and know that someone would be put to death. What is the justification of the state? Shouldn’t government stand taller and act with more moral fiber than people who kill?

In other “news,” The San Francisco Chronicle is getting a lot of press – and not in a good way.

Both the Los Angeles Times and American Journalism Review have written about the paper’s huge circulation drops and declining share of classified ads. The paper has become a litmus test for what’s going to happen to big-city newspapers. People living in its circulation area are very computer savvy and are reading much more on-line than ever before. Many turn to the Chronicle’s website, SFgate for news. But that information is free.

More newspaper fodder:

The New Yorker's Ken Auletta writes about the Judith Miller/Jason Blair/ New York Times scandal in the Dec. 19th issue. He answers questions about his discoveries on the magazine's website.