ALL GOOD THINGS
Published in the Feb. 14, 2026 issue.
The latest news on the state of journalism is as abysmal was ever.
Between 2014 and 2025, an index of media freedom by Reporters Without Borders regressed from a score of 67 out of 100 (where America is today) to under 55 out of 100 (as bad as Serbia). *In 2025 btw, there were 91 physical attacks on journalists in Serbia.
From this week’s Economist: “Curbs on press freedom are unleashing corruption around the world.”
The feedback loop is described as follows: Politicians who want to rob the public have an incentive to gag the press. The tighter they gag it, the easier it grows to steal. And the more guilty secrets politicians accumulate, the greater their incentive to stifle future critical reporting.
The strategy is then further explained.
“One of the most alarming trends is that governments which claim to be democratic are increasingly using tools pioneered by more authoritarian regimes. Typically, they do not try to silence truth-tellers entirely. Rather, they seek to create a media ecosystem in which voters hear amplified praise of the ruling party and only faint whispers of dissent.
They use taxpayers’ cash to promote fawning coverage: deploying yes-men to run the public broadcaster, directing state advertising budgets towards pliant newspapers and nudging friendly tycoons who rely on public-works contracts to take over independent media firms and neuter them.”
At the same time they make it harder for critical outlets to thrive – or even survive. Those that insist on doing investigative reporting may find that the government not only refuses to advertise with them but leans on private firms to shun them too … in 160 out of 180 countries surveyed, news outlets can achieve financial stability “with difficulty” or “not at all.”
I found the timeframe ironic just because Mammoth passed its TBID in 2013 and suddenly enjoyed an unending string of $10 million annual marketing budgets.
When I started The Sheet in 2003, Mammoth’s annual marketing budget was about $2 million and The Mammoth Times was running 100+ page weekly editions and had three times the staffing budget as the Visitor’s Bureau.
In 2025, I would guess MLT (Mammoth Lakes Tourism) spent about ten times what the two local papers spent on labor.
And these days, Mono County spends more than $100,000 annually on a PR firm to sing its praises.
The future of journalism as expressed by a favorite Disney character:
“Hey, we were just talking about you! All good things, all good things.” -Olaf, Frozen
At Bishop City Council on Monday, Police Chief Nate Derr announced that his department had hired Dennis Saulque as a lateral transfer.
Saulque is a controversial hire because he was one of two officers involved in the deadly shooting of Mammoth resident Jesus Uribe last March.
The investigation of that shooting by the California Attorney General’s office remains ongoing.
Saulque had been reinstated at the MLPD in the meantime.
Derr told The Sheet, “He’s a good officer, proven, has experience … if he screws up, I’m willing to accept the responsibility and take on the political risk.”
“I know there’ll be some questions. But I can look myself in the mirror on this,” he added.
According to Derr, Saulque was born and raised in Bishop, has 16 years law enforcement experience and is a member of the Benton Paiute Tribe.
Also at Council, to circle around and tie this in a nice little bow, Interim MLT CEO Sarah Winters and MLT Board Chair Pat Foster came before Council to ask the city for a contribution to commercial air service.
Council was divided on the issue, with Freundt and Schwartz seemingly disposed to support some nominal contribution while Kong, Garcia and Muchovej were more circumspect.
As Muchovej said, and I’ll paraphrase, Mammoth Mountain has a $300 million budget and Inyo County $150 million. Let them fund this. We’ve got an $8 million budget. I’m all for the service but reality is, our budget is tiny.
And yet, the City can maintain a beautiful park while Millpond County Park is a shambling mess. Go figure.
