David Cavazos

[Image courtesy of Brian Feinzimer]

Last week, Santa Ana City Manager and CCMF Member David Cavazos participated in the “Santa Ana Media Summit.” The one-day conference, held in Downtown Santa Ana’s Artists Village, was a joint effort of the City of Santa Ana and its local business owners “intended to meaningfully connect community, build media literacy and affect our ability to access, produce and interact more with our local media.”

Cavazos took part in a panel entitled “What’s the Good News? Telling Positive Stories” alongside: John Canalis, Executive Editor, Los Angeles Times Community News; Monica Curca, Founder and Director, PAX Manifesto; and Alejandro Marciel, Editorial Director, Hoy Los Angeles/Los Angeles Times Media. The panel tackled the issue of finding and promoting the “good” that takes place in the City versus the easier route of just reporting the “bad” news. The panelists noted that this shift in news coverage could have far-reaching consequences, especially for youth who are growing up in the City. As moderator Robyn MacNair (Visual and Performing Arts Specialist, Santa Ana Unified School District) put it, “If we can change the narrative [of the City for youth], we can change their view of the world.”

“I wasn’t born in Santa Ana or raised here, but I got here as fast as I could,” laughed Cavazos. “Don’t let yourself be surrounded by negativity–when it comes to Santa Ana, there are lots of positive stories to tell. We’ve spent tens of millions of dollars on infrastructure in this city. Our unemployment rate used to be 13% and now it’s 4.6%. We have the #1-performing zip code in the state for rent appreciation–people want to move and live here.”

Thank you, David, for representing the city manager community well and for taking part in an important conversation regarding media coverage within cities.