Is Phoenix really such a sleepy little Mayberry for news?

Today the Republic changed the online pages that contain the day’s newspaper to the uniform template that Azcentral.com recently adopted. The site looks very quiet now, even compared to some other big Gannett papers. It certainly lacks the production values, much less the substance, that make the Online Wall Street Journal, Washington Post or New York Times such eyeball grabbers (if only online ads paid the same rates as print). Nor is it any competition for such online successes as Huffington Post.

It’s almost as if they are trying not to attract attention. Saying: Nothing to see here. There is a certain numbing repetition to the news cycle in Phoenix: the latest outrages of Sheriff Joe and the Legislature (written with a straight face); traffic and freeway news; illegal immigration; Maryvale crime and the lurid stuff that happens out in the ‘burbs "where this kind of thing just doesn’t happen"; kids left in hot cars; weather stories; did I say freeway and traffic news?; those embarrassing reports on serious local issues that surface from time to time; the well-meaning white papers that will never be implemented; the drearily predictable right-wing voices, lacking in grace or even humor, and an unending vomitus of features, rewritten press releases and boosterism, especially about Glendale!, Chandler!, Gilbert!, and, especially, Scottsdale!! Until lately, there was much "growth" news — the latest sprawl crap to be built. Now it’s foreclosures.

Some members of the staff are still capable of fine work. It’s rare they are allowed to do it. But the truth is, not much happens in Phoenix for a city of such size. By that I mean the level of commerce, decision-making, world connections and newsmaking one would expect from "the nation’s fifth largest city." Reality flows like underground magma: the place is unsustainable. Otherwise, same stuff, day after day. That’s not to say there’s no news agenda to be had.

I can think of plenty of stories a competing online newspaper could own, provided it hired, say, a dozen experienced, talented and highly productive reporters. Among my faves would be:

–Looking behind the business dealings of the Legislature, especially where it’s connected to practices destructive to the common good, from enabling leapfrog sprawl to charter schools.

–The power of the Mormon Church. It’s huge, and hardly ever covered.

–The Corporation Commission, a highly powerful, arcane yet consequential entity that is largely ignored.

–Phoenix City Hall. Barely covered by the Arizona Republic, this is a target-rich environment involving public dollars and critical decisions (such as the continual spreading of rocks and other anti-cooling measures in the center city).

–Who really has power? It’s not Janet Napolitano, Phil Gordon or even Michael Crow. And how do they use it? E.g., the quiet land swaps of public lands that made the politically connected wealthy.

–In depth coverage of crime, where veteran reporters get close to the cops, crooks and neighborhoods.

–Water, especially from an investigative perspective. What’s the true state of Az’s supplies, laws, enforcement, cozy relationships and total unsustainabilty.
–White-collar crime. Call it the "real estate beat."

All of this would be done with urgency and exclusivity, sophistication and a sense of history, great writing and sustained investigative crusading against the bad guys.

I’m sure Rogue readers have their own favorites. Maybe the more relevant question is whether anybody in the frying pan would care?