Post Your Gas Price Photos

Don Driscoll October 7, 2012 at 12:30 pm

Genuine local reporting died with Emilie's departure. See a similar gas story at other AOL Patch California sites:
Campbell Castro Valley Concord Coronado Danville Encinitas Glendora Laguna Niguel Larkspur/Corte Madera Lemon Grove Livermore Long Beach Los Altos Los Gatos Malibu Mill Valley Mountain View Murrieta Napa Valley Northridge Palos Verdes Petaluma Pleasanton Redondo Beach San Leandro Saratoga Scotts Valley Temecula Temecula Venice Watsonville

Jim Caroompas (Editor) October 7, 2012 at 12:53 pm

Don, genuine local reporting remains very much alive and well at Patch. There are some stories, like the sudden rise in gas prices, that happen to effect the entire state. But hyper-local news continues to be the mission of all of our Patch sites - it's in our DNA.

Robert Menzimer October 7, 2012 at 01:15 pm

I pulled into a Chevron station in Richmond on Friday and found myself staring at the price figure on the pump -- $4.85 for a gallon of regular. I couldn't believe it -- had to check it against the vertical price board at the corner of the property and was too shocked to remember to take a photo of it.

Chris Nicholson October 7, 2012 at 01:21 pm

I find it ironic, that I (from Lamorinda) am reading a comment from a guy in Albany complaining about his local Patch not being local enough, and then the editor from Martinez chimes in to defend the genetic predisposition of Patch to be local.
None of this proves the point that Patches are no longer local--- but it certainly leans in that direction. I think we are seeing a conscious effort to streamline Patch operations by relying more on multi-Patch or regional stories. This is about getting to economic viability, not following a mission to be hyper-local. If the overwhelming majority of news and commentary at Patch aren't truly LOCAL, then the sine quo non for Patch has gone poof. No offense to other patches in the region, but I would rather spend more time on national and international news than reading about things are "hypo" local yet supposedly intersect in a "region" including Martinez, Albany and Lamorinda. I reject the thesis that there is a viable middle ground between say "Albany Patch" and SF Gate.

Don Driscoll October 7, 2012 at 01:33 pm

Hyper-local is in Patch's false advertising not its DNA.
An ad appeared on the Patch webpage on which I read this comment of yours. It said, "Albany Mom publishes free facelift secret." When I clicked it took me to a claim regarding an Albany mom. I then used a proxy web server to hide my location. That caused the claim on the linked site to change to, "Mary, an ordinary mom of three from Hollywood, FL." You appear to work for the Walnut Creek Patch. Is that "ordinary mom" fake hyper-local advertising on your Patch?

Chris J Kapsalis October 7, 2012 at 01:46 pm

Well I can only speak of our local Martinez editor, he knows the people and city and walks around getting news. And other ways. We get most local news events pretty quick. Like a little fire that happened across the valley from us or a Lice Salon that was going to open on Main St.. Patch was on it. Just two exampes that didn't even make the county news I think. That's pretty hyper local imo.

BethAnne October 7, 2012 at 02:19 pm

@Chris & Patch Staff: I work in Danville and visit its Patch site from time to time. I noticed Danville Patch ran the Boy Scout story which is arguably interesting to Danville readers given its close proximity to Lamorinda. However, the story was "re-posted" on their site in way that its comment stream only includes comments from people accessing the story through the Danville Patch website. This seems a better methodology. Patch could use some regional stories (saving money) but retain much of the hyper-local flair by posting it in a way that people in Lamorinda only see comments from people accessing the story from the Lamorinda website. Readers such as Chris would have to decide if they access Patch only for local news stories or if they'll accept some regional news stories provided they can discuss the story just amongst their neighbors.

BethAnne October 7, 2012 at 02:25 pm

Oh dear. I see there are two Chrises (Chriss? Or whatever the plural for Chris is) in this comment stream. I was directing my comment to the comment originator "Chris Nicholson". Would the occasional regional news story be acceptable if you were discussing it in the comment section with only your neighbors?

Chris Nicholson October 7, 2012 at 02:37 pm

@BethAnne: You make a good point, although even for those who never read or post in comment streams, I think the main article needs a local "hook." Just take the ten minutes to adapt the "wire" version of the story to the hyper-local context (and/or skip posting the story if no such hook exists). For the comment streams, I think that woul dbe better most of the time. When the audience gets too big, people are nasty to each other with nasty words. I prefer people to be nasty to each other with pretty words-- but that's just me. BTW, I think the plural should be pronounced crises.

alameda vigilante October 7, 2012 at 05:25 pm

Well, what do you all expect from a service headquartered in New York City? Pick up the Pace.

BethAnne October 7, 2012 at 06:12 pm

My mother in law mentioned that her Southern California Patch site was recently merged with the neighboring city's site. Another cost saving move?

Jim Faison October 8, 2012 at 07:21 pm

Daughter just got back from Portugal. Says they are su ffering there! Suffering and high prices are not LOCAL. The business style is being overrun by the 'feel good' socialists, and as they progress, we are seeing its errors.