By: E&P Staff Dr. Laura Schlessinger, a New York Times best-selling author and syndicated radio personality, recently joined the Santa Barbara (Calif.) News-Press as a columnist.
Dr. Laura, as she is best known, will be featured twice weekly in the News-Press on Sundays and Thursdays; her first two columns appeared this week.
Arthur von Wiesenberger, the News-Press' co-publisher, said he's optimistic about the addition of the Santa Barbara native to his newsroom. "I think Dr. Laura brings a wonderfully objective view of our community," he told E&P. "She says it like it is, and I think that's refreshing.
"In Santa Barbara, where intelligent people like to see insightful analysis of various matters, she's one of the best people to do that ...
"A great newspaper reflects the community," he said, "and that's our goal, to bring those talents to the forefront."
He added, "It's nice to have a woman writing that column." Schlessinger replaces longtime columnist Barney Brantingham, who was a columnist for 46 years.
With all the recent controversy that has swirled around the News-Press, Von Wiesenberger says he's confident that the wave of changes will produce an even better product: "We're finding some great new talents coming into the news press. Perhaps that's because of the recent direction that the paper's going in. There's a wonderful reservoir of national and international talent in Santa Barbara, and a lot of those people are coming forth wanting to be a part of the paper.
"I think that in the past, the former editor was not as open-armed to that possibility," von Wiesenberger added. The comment was a pointed reference to Jerry Roberts, one of the staff members who quit the News-Press in protest over its management, among other issues.
It was during the midst of that group walkout that Schlessinger approached the News-Press with the interest of writing a column for the paper.
"She saw we were probably open to new options," von Wiesenberger surmised.
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