‘Citizen McCaw’ Returns for Special Screening in Santa Barbara

When Citizen McCaw premiered at the Arlington Theatre in 2008, the audience was treated not only to the tale of the undoing of the Santa Barbara News-Press but a communal viewing replete with the hissing and booing and laughter of everyone around them. With the recent death of the daily newspaper, the folks behind the blog Newsmakers with JR — Jerry Roberts and Hap Freund — invite the public to a fresh screening, this one free at the Marjorie Luke Theatre, on Wednesday, September 27, at 7 p.m., followed by answers to questions sent by the audience in advance.

Jerry Roberts, of course, was editor in chief of the News-Press when he walked out of the building in 2006, accompanied by four other editors and longtime columnist Barney Brantingham. That walkout lit the bonfire that became the News-Press Mess. The Mess takes 78 minutes to unwind during Citizen McCaw, with questions of journalism ethics, honest reporting, and the role of a newspaper’s owner at the fore. Roberts’s co-producer since their TV Santa Barbara days is Freund, who has worked behind the scenes for decades in communities and communications.

Citizen McCaw came to be a lesson in how not to run a newsroom, seen in classrooms around the country, said one of the producers, Rod Lathim. “I believe this is as much a moral story as it is a deep look at journalism and ethics,” Lathim said of the renewal the documentary is enjoying. Only a month ago, the paper’s billionaire owner, Wendy McCaw, was forced to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

If they were to ask questions now, said both Lathim and Sam Tyler, who directed the documentary, they would want to know about what was owed to reporters and other debtors and if McCaw’s transfers of properties would be scrutinized. “Or did bankruptcy make what McCaw owes disappear?” asked Tyler, who went on to mourn the loss of a “trusted source of news with a stellar team of journalists.” He cited “pot shenanigans throughout the county,” Munger Hall, and State Street as examples of where press scrutiny was needed to spotlight politicians, the powerful, and bad policy.

“If nothing else is learned from Citizen McCaw, hopefully it will be a good reminder for us all to be kind to our fellow humans,” said Lathim. “When we take advantage of, and abuse those around us, karma eventually comes back to bite us in the butt.”

Joining Roberts at the screening will be “key players in the News-Press Meltdown,” Roberts promised, to help field the questions from the audience. To send questions and thoughts, email newsmakerswithjr@gmail.com. To RSVP to reserve a seat at the free showing on September 27, go here.