Maybe Worden's close interaction with the Newhalls explains his tireless work on behalf of Santa Clarita. The man who started out as a columnist at the Signal in 1993 and has edited the newspaper in one way or another since 1998 has had an almost compulsive desire to write, organize, and edit information about the Santa Clarita Valley. Take for instance his pioneering efforts at putting the Santa Clarita Valley's history, events, and businesses online. Or his work in helping to create a movement and a periodical that put the focus on changing downtown Newhall into something Santa Clarita could take pride in. Then there's his Newsmaker of the Week interviews, where he's talked with everyone from Congressmen to Army Generals to volunteers in the SCV. Finally, there's his most recent work on Santa Clarita Television, where Worden has expanded his skills into producing, editing, and broadcasting news about Santa Clarita. "Things are a mess at the Signal" - anonymous source But all that work appeared to come to a screeching halt last week as rumors swept around the SCV that Worden had resigned from the Signal. His resignation -officially confirmed here for the first time- followed several tumultuous months at the newspaper, which has struggled to have even a quarter of the circulation numbers the newspaper had in the late 1980s. In a surprise February announcement, Worden's friend and the paper's General Manager Tim Whyte abruptly resigned, saying he was going to start a new SCV media company. Then on May 15, the news that the newspaper's publisher and part-owner Richard Budman resigned led to speculation that the paper was in trouble and that executives from the Georgia based owner were in town to clean house. What led to all three of the Signal's senior editorial managers to resign in the space of just four months? Rumors started circulating in email and around town rapidly. One particularly juicy rumor, for instance, said that Congressman Buck McKeon, upset about negative editorial coverage of him last winter, threatened the newspaper's management by saying he'd use his influence to pull auto dealer ads from the paper if three editorialists weren't silenced. Virtually overnight, the negative editorials stopped, and this was used as proof by those who believed this (but never wanted to attach their name to the rumor) that the Signal had yielded to McKeon's pressure. The rumorists said that Morris Multimedia, The Signal's supposedly left-leaning Georgia based owner, got wind of the switch in editorial, and decided to sack the senior staff at the newspaper as a result. Worden called that rumor "amusing," saying the entire premise was wrong. "One of the nice things about the Morris group is that, at least to my knowledge, it never involves itself in editorial positions. I can't think of an instance, as long as I've been there, when the Morris group ever told us to take a particular stance or not to take a particular stance." Worden acknowledged that McKeon wasn't happy about the editorials, which focused on McKeon's finances and criticized his work on fighting the Cemex mine, but denied that the eight term Republican Congressman had put pressure on the newspaper to silence its writers. Other rumors bore an all-too-familiar resemblance to the news we read about major newspapers in the United States. One said that Morris executives were in town to slash 30% of the Signal's staff and that the Publisher Budman had rejected the cuts and resigned in protest. A former employee at the Signal who corresponds with SCVTalk.com occasionally expressed shock at the news, saying that it would be difficult to produce a daily newspaper with that many cuts to the staff. As it turns out, that rumor was surprisingly close to the truth. Already thin, the Signal is about to be cut again if Morris has its way. Worden told me that Savannah Georgia based owner of the Signal, in the interests of squeezing even more profit from one of its flagship newspapers, would cut the number of news, sports, and features pages by about a third, cut several positions from the Signal's small editorial staff, and even end free advertising for Santa Clarita's non-profit agencies. Worden refused to speak to the motivations of Richard Budman and Tim Whyte for leaving the newspaper, but the cuts proposed by Morris forced him to leave the Signal after nearly a decade with the paper. Within a few days, Lila Littlejohn Campuzano took the job of Editor at the newspaper. Littlejohn has worked for the Daily News, the Associated Press, and has taught journalism at College of the Canyons. More changes at the newspaper are expected. Set free of the newspaper he says "has been a huge part of this community since 1919," Worden is moving on to something bigger. "You know as well as I do that the days of the daily general-circulation newspaper are numbered," Worden told me. Santa Clarita, Television, and the Internet "What's the new vehicle for journalism and communication?" Worden asked rhetorically in one email. "The biggest ones are television and the Internet, and right now, because we're part of L.A. Metro, the Santa Clarita Valley has a great, big void in terms of community television." Worden is speaking about SCVTV, of course, and Channel 20. Those of you with Time Warner access can already view quality PEG (public, educational and government) programming on Channel 20/SCVTV. The channel broadcasts city council meetings, shows about Santa Clarita's history, newsmaker interviews, and short newscasts. If Worden has his way, you'll see a lot more on Channel 20 and on the internet at SCVTV.com. It's about time too, considering that Santa Clarita, a booming community of 250,000 people, has virtually no televised media coverage from the big Los Angeles Metro stations. If the population of Santa Clarita were placed in a vacant area of a midwestern state, for instance, its residents would likely have local news and programming from three affiliates of the major networks. But that hasn't happened in the shadow of the Los Angeles megalopolis. "There is a group of people in this town, and frankly a rather large and skilled group of people, who enjoy providing local television programming. I am one of them. We all work together," Worden said, refusing to go into specifics about what the plans are for SCVTV and Channel 20. Could Santa Clarita finally get its own nightly newscast? Worden refused to answer but said that "Working together, this community can achieve some great local television coverage. It will happen. I am excited." Though few specifics are available, a key component of SCVTV will be its website, SCVTV.com. Worden currently posts videos to Google Video and organizes them by subject at the site. He plans to migrate videos away from the free Google service and host them here in Santa Clarita where he can have more control over the format. With the difficulty in obtaining a real broadcast license from the FCC in a crowded market like Los Angeles and the fact that broadband access to the internet is spreading and getting cheaper, SCVTV's plans to use the internet as an infrastructure for its programming may pay off. Online video is booming thanks to the pioneering efforts of websites like YouTube, UStream.tv and others. "Before long, the Internet and television will converge. The time will come when people no longer buy two different boxes. We might be a couple of years ahead of the curve, but I'd rather be ahead of the curve than behind the 8-ball," Worden said sounding more like a Silicon Valley visionary than a print journalist. Even though the newspaperman is moving onto boom mics, cameras, and megabytes, he won't be far away from news print. In 1994 Worden established the Old Town Newhall Gazette "as a vehcile to popularize the notion of revitalizing Old Newhall." Worden says he may start to put Gazette editions out more frequently and regularly now that redevelopment in the grid-patterend downtown Newhall area is in full-swing. "Communication and a free flow of ideas and information are important to growing a community," Worden told me. "We're a growing community that deserves its own television programming, which is something the majors will never provide because they see Santa Clarita as part of L.A. Metro." Newhall's words that "Newspapering is the best and brightest world of all," may seem out of date in the digital 21st century, but Worden says the spirit of message is alive and well in Santa Clarita. Worden asked that I post the statement below verbatim as a message to his readers, the public, and his colleagues at the Signal:
I serve no master other than this community. The Signal was a fine home for me for many years because it had a rich tradition and was staffed with thoughtful people who cared about the Santa Clarita Valley. When the Georgia-based Morris group made its recent decision to cut several positions from our small editorial staff, cut the number of editorial (news-sports-features) pages by at least one third, and cut out all previously free ad space for our valley's nonprofit organizations -- IN SPITE OF RISING PROFITS -- I realized I would be betraying the community I love if I continued to work for an out-of-state company that takes approximately $2 million annually out of our local economy and no longer wishes to give anything back. Although I regret leaving some underappreciated coworkers behind, The Signal is not the home I knew, and I must move on. Our valley needs a locally owned and operated media outlet whose No. 1 priority is serving our community. As Scott Newhall said after leaving The Signal under identical circumstances almost 20 years ago, "A fine community must support its newspaper. AND A FINE NEWSPAPER MUST SUPPORT ITS COMMUNITY."jeff@scvtalk.com Leon Worden on the Signal, Santa Clarita media, and the future
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