Posted by Harald A. Bailey, a resident of another community, on Oct 26, 2007 at 10:40 am

Dear Dolores,

The history of local news in Contra Costa County has been ladened with bias and political interests. Contra Costa Times, under the ownership of the past 20 years, has been the PR voice of local aggregated politics and has avoided any story that might expose political abuses.

The advent of new ownership brings a level of censorship and bias that is specifically aimed at manufacturing opinion. But that effort has its resolve in the greater usage of direct, on-line sources to interactive participation in news development for viewing and readership. Among Alamo's neighborhoods, our e-chains are repeating source news from around the world so our majority is not blinded by local bias or corporate news entertainment.

E-chains are becoming the news media locally as individuals audit local meetings and events and post webcasts of meeting contents and backgrounds on the participants. Any day's events will be posted by e-chain prior to the next morning and fully discussed by the end of day.

The restart of the biased publication from the days of William Randolph Hearst is having the same reaction from the readers, BUT this time readers have a TOOL as the internet to gain access to source news from Reuter's, API, and the international press. We have the internet to SHARE our news gathering via e-chains and grow our own broad circulation. Out of Alamo has come e-chains that communicate with 87,000 e-mail addresses throughout Contra Costa County.

Importantly, you have created the Town Square Forum as a PUBLIC e-chain that allows community interests, opinions, concerns, commentary and humor to be published in immediate reaction to daily events. Your on-line Danville Weekly, and those of other Embarcadero Publications, focus on the people and events within the communities.

Of course, aggregated politics, so deeply embedded in all of Contra Costa County, objects to your willing ability to provide news interactively. But the "gatekeeping" of the past has been destroyed by community participation and the willingness to POST the realities of aggregated politics on your website, in your forum, and throughout Contra Costa by e-chains.

Thank you,

Harald A. Bailey

Member, CDSI Research Fellowship

North America and Asia

halbailey@yahoo.com (CDSI Information)