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This week’s groundbreaking for the new downtown Santa Cruz library and affordable housing was a joyful moment for our city. Community members, civic leaders and neighbors came together to celebrate a project that has been years in the making – one that will bring a state-of-the-art library and much-needed affordable housing to the heart of downtown.
It was therefore disappointing to see Lookout choose to headline its coverage not on the significance of this project or the broad support it enjoys, but instead on the brief disruption of a fringe activist with a megaphone. The individual was quickly removed, yet the headline suggested this was the defining event of the day.
This choice of framing distorts the story. The real news is that Santa Cruz is investing in literacy, housing and community revitalization. Focusing on a sideshow instead of the substance undercuts the hard work of countless residents who have long supported this project.
Our local media plays an important role in informing the public, but it also carries the responsibility to highlight what truly matters. In this case, that’s the future library and homes that will serve generations to come – not the antics of a single protester.
Mark Stephens
Felton