“The Olympian” drops Lacey coverage

They’re not saying so, but it’s obvious that our daily newspaper has decided to drop coverage of Lacey government affairs.

Senior editor of “The Olympian” Jerre Redecker said in her personal column last week, that the paper was assigning reporters to cover Olympia city government and Thurston County government.    The paper also has a full time educational reporter.

No mention of coverage of Lacey or Tumwater government activities was noted.

Lacey city officials mentioned to me recently that they hadn’t seen a reporter at any of their scheduled council meetings in weeks.

What coverage of Lacey or Tumwater that makes the paper is often the result of a news release sent by the city.   No significant coverage of Lacey or Tumwater city government actions has graced the pages of the paper in weeks.

As with many newspapers across the country, “The Olympian” has seen its revenue fall and its subscriber base decline.   Apparently it still maintains some penetration in Olympia, but less so in Tumwater and Lacey.

It’s inability to cover a market as large as Thurston County is a shame.   Without another local news source, residents of Lacey and Tumwater are often unaware of actions which have a significant impact on their knowledge base.

And, without the knowledge, they are often unable to make wise decisions when it comes to approving a city action – – or inaction.