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Santa Cruz Patch Blunders On: Misreports 'Santa Cruz Wildfire'
In a factual error even worse than those prevailing when Brad Kava was its editor, the online news website Santa Cruz Patch published an article on February 11 at 1:27 p.m. with the headline "Santa Cruz Wildfire Destroys 40 Homes". No such fire occurred in Santa Cruz, and at the time of publishing this report, the false information still has not been removed from the Santa Cruz Patch website.
The Patch credits the information to the Santa Cruz Fire Department and that it was "shared via Facebook". When viewing the fire department's Facebook page, it is apparent that the Santa Cruz Patch was referring to a link the fire department shared on February 10, which was to an L.A. Times article about a fire near Bishop, CA in the Sierra Nevada that destroyed 40 homes.
"A wildfire in Santa Cruz destroyed 40 homes in the middle of winter. The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection almost has it contained," is the subtitle of the Santa Cruz Patch article. A vivid photo of the fire near Bishop is included, as is a photo of the Santa Cruz Fire Department's downtown station, which is from their Facebook page.
The Santa Cruz Patch even linked to the LA Times article and labeled it the "source".
Since its founding, the Santa Cruz Patch has been persistently criticized for the poor quality of its local reporting, and that has been related to the corporate model the main company was founded on.
The Santa Cruz Patch is part of a network of regional online news websites that span the United States called Patch Media Corporation, which is owned by Hale Global. Hale Global took over Patch Media from AOL in May of 2014 when that corporation could not make the business profitable. It was at that time local Santa Cruz editor Brad Kava was laid off, and the editing duties of the site were turned over to editors from the greater Bay Area to cut costs.
Hale describes itself on its website: "Hale Global has a 13-year track record as a buyer and partner of choice for leading global enterprises' special situations. We help talented teams transform software and information organizations into industry leaders. We are extremely selective in the opportunities we pursue, accelerating growth one enterprise at a time."
Santa Cruz Patch article:
Santa Cruz Wildfire Destroys 40 Homes
http://patch.com/california/santacruz/santa-cruz-wildfire-destroys-40-homes
LA Times article:
Central California wildfire that destroyed 40 homes is nearly contained
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-round-fire-california-wildfire-20150209-story.html
Santa Cruz Fire Department Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/SantaCruzFire
"A wildfire in Santa Cruz destroyed 40 homes in the middle of winter. The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection almost has it contained," is the subtitle of the Santa Cruz Patch article. A vivid photo of the fire near Bishop is included, as is a photo of the Santa Cruz Fire Department's downtown station, which is from their Facebook page.
The Santa Cruz Patch even linked to the LA Times article and labeled it the "source".
Since its founding, the Santa Cruz Patch has been persistently criticized for the poor quality of its local reporting, and that has been related to the corporate model the main company was founded on.
The Santa Cruz Patch is part of a network of regional online news websites that span the United States called Patch Media Corporation, which is owned by Hale Global. Hale Global took over Patch Media from AOL in May of 2014 when that corporation could not make the business profitable. It was at that time local Santa Cruz editor Brad Kava was laid off, and the editing duties of the site were turned over to editors from the greater Bay Area to cut costs.
Hale describes itself on its website: "Hale Global has a 13-year track record as a buyer and partner of choice for leading global enterprises' special situations. We help talented teams transform software and information organizations into industry leaders. We are extremely selective in the opportunities we pursue, accelerating growth one enterprise at a time."
Santa Cruz Patch article:
Santa Cruz Wildfire Destroys 40 Homes
http://patch.com/california/santacruz/santa-cruz-wildfire-destroys-40-homes
LA Times article:
Central California wildfire that destroyed 40 homes is nearly contained
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-round-fire-california-wildfire-20150209-story.html
Santa Cruz Fire Department Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/SantaCruzFire
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