After 46 years at the News-Press, Barney Brantingham resigned during a staff exodus last week; he explains why in the Santa Barbara Independent: "You can't do good journalism if you're worried about offending someone 'important.' This, coupled with pressure from the business side, has a chilling, intimidating effect," he writes. He calls the reign of owner Wendy McCaw "Amateur Hour." The Independent also announces that it has hired Brantingham as a regular columnist, calling him "perhaps Santa Barbara’s most beloved writer."
