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The old Daily Planet reporters were justly respected for the unbiased and straight-forward stories they did about what was going on in Berkeley, particularly about what local government was up to. That’s what Berkeley readers simply can’t get from the regional or national press. That’s what we most want to keep and strengthen, which is why we’ve re-hired reporter David Scharfenberg, and have made offers to other previous staffers. The local hard news will continue to be the backbone of the Planet. 

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Toward the goal of making the good even better, we’ve put David on salary while the rest of us work on the technical means of producing the paper. He’s been spending a good deal of extra time unraveling the city budget and the effect of the economic crisis on the schools and the county. We’re searching for an experienced managing editor who understands the importance of local reporting to Berkeley’s sophisticated readers.