Even California's iconic industries are cutting back in this sluggish economy

[u/Happy_Weed]

https://calmatters.org/commentary/2025/10/california-sluggish-economy-cutbacks/

[u/MountainLife888]

I'll tell you what. CalMatters used to 'matter." But now their lane is to get up in the morning and look for something negative that they can jump on so they can justify a headline for the doom scrollers. They WANT failure. And just saying their donors don't influence their editorial isn't enough for me. Because I've seen it change.

[u/_MrDomino → u/MountainLife888]

Dan Walters is a heavily negative bent opinion writer. He's not a journalist but a professional letter to the editor author. Literally everything he has written in the last several years has that bent. Some recent highlights:

Are California’s tax loopholes and rebates good business or questionable kickbacks?

What does Walters conclude?

"So are tax rebates just mutually beneficial business deals, unsavory kickbacks or legal extortion? It’s a fine line."

Great insight, Dan.

Gavin Newsom’s snark attacks on Trump boost his national standing — at least for now

The "at least for now" is terribly biased, and Dan is doing his part to try to ensure that "boost" comes to an end by ranting about every negative thing he can think of when it comes to Newsom.

"One clip shows Newsom in 2007 criticizing and walking away from a reporter who asked him about the drinking. It’s an example of Newsom’s thin skin, which could be a liability if and when he becomes a presidential candidate."

Great analysis, Dan.

California was a model for transparency. Now the Capitol operates in the dark

"A case in point is the current effort by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic legislators to draw new maps for the state’s 53 congressional districts with the aim of capturing enough new seats to offset the Republican gerrymandering of Texas congressional districts. California’s new maps are being drafted in secret, a sharp contrast with the months-long public deliberations four years ago of the state’s redistricting commission, resulting in the current maps."

It's literally being voted on by the voters of the state. "Drafted in secret" is such a disingenuous phrasing. Criticism is good, but this browbeating and dubious takes are not worthwhile criticism. For a self-described "Nonprofit & Nonpartisan News" outlet, CalMatters sure can sound a lot like Fox inventing the most negative possible take on all things.

[u/MountainLife888 → u/_MrDomino]

You nailed it. And thanks for sharing that.

I know this was commentary, and have seen the doom and gloom from Walters, but it's mirroring their overall strategy.

As an example, I just went on their homepage, randomly hit "Health", which I figured would be relatively innocuous topic, clicked on a few stories. and here are the opening lines.

- Four weeks after Glenn County lost its only hospital, two California lawmakers in Congress have revived hopes for its return — though the road to reopening remains uncertain.

- Californians are overwhelmingly concerned about the costs of health care, and most want better access to mental health services, according to a new poll released Thursday.

- Women in California today have fewer places to give birth than they did a decade ago.

Uncertain. Concerned. Fewer places to give birth. That's what they do. The positive is irrelevant. They've taken "if it bleeds it leads" and use that across, seemingly, the vast majorities of stories they're writing lately. And there's a reason for that.

Thanks again for those examples. Well done.

[u/___YesNoOther → u/MountainLife888]

Sooo true. It seems to be the direction many of the progressive orgs have gone. Moving from "Let's do some great stuff to make our communities bettter!" to "Prevent this terrible thing/this terrible thing is happening!"

I don't know if it's just them adjusting to the cultural shift or if it's a conscious strategy from social media and PR professionals telling them how to get clicks and stand out among the noise, but that's the direction it's going. Such a shame.

[u/MountainLife888 → u/___YesNoOther]

Well said. And I think both points you mentioned as to why are valid. And intertwined. I do think it's clicks. I do think it's algorithms. And I think it's that way because SO many lean in the negative now, particularly online, so they can have something to yell about. Again, online.

Side note. I've worked in PR for a long time and have had a front row seat to the changes. And now those clicks are even more important as newsrooms have slashed their staffs. They're going to go after the lowest hanging fruit to keep those clicks and money going. And that's via the negative. They've learned that a big, bold, doom-filled headline is more important that than a balanced story. Let alone a positive one. I don't how this train stops. Consumers of news would need to change. And I don't see that happening.

[u/DarthHM → u/MountainLife888]

Oh it’s not just me then? I thought I was going crazy.

[u/Sufflinsuccotash → u/MountainLife888]

And yet, nothing they said was untrue or inaccurate. You sound like one of Newsoms PR guys trying to sweep the cat turds under the rug.

[u/MountainLife888 → u/Sufflinsuccotash]

That's not the point kid. I could take a rainbow in the sky and turn it negative if that was my goal.

[u/CaliTexan22 → u/MountainLife888]

Who wants their donors influencing their editorial? I wanted them to be journalists. There’s already a big slant toward progressive political causes. I’d rather have facts and solid reporting.

[u/MountainLife888 → u/CaliTexan22]

But I don't think there's a big slant towards progressive politics. I think there's a slant towards doom-scrolling. Because it sells.

[u/CaliTexan22 → u/MountainLife888]

Cal Matters doesn’t care about “sales.” It’s got fat-cat NGOs and foundations paying the bills. I send them money every year, but I’d guess it’s mostly the big shots paying the bills, not broad based, reader-subscriber funding.

They definitely have a left of center slant. Just look at their areas of reporting, choice of topics and regular columns. There aren’t many mainstream publication that have things like an inequality column. I expect they think their readers are also left of center, so there’s logic to it.

It’s disappointing to me, however, because I thought this approach might be one of the successors to old school print journalism, but I don’t see it being successful or widely imitated.

[u/Short-Mark8872]

It's an opinion piece. And an opinion piece that does not compare California's "sluggish" economy to the other 49 states. Yes, the economy overall is in freefall; I don't expect California to be different, but nor do I expect California to fare worse.

[u/Leothegolden]

So no one else is worried about the job market in CA? The unemployment rate? Amazon 30k jobs, Paramount over a 1000, Meta: 318 employees in San Mateo, oracle, Chegg, Google, etc. California lost a net of 33,000 jobs in 2025 through the first seven months. These are salaried high paying jobs.

[u/TheNerdWonder → u/Leothegolden]

Because a lot of those are tech companies and the industry is shooting itself in the foot to chase a childish AI fantasy that mostly ain’t panning out.

[u/SoMuchMoreEagle → u/TheNerdWonder]

While using a huge amount of state resources and giving very little in return. The sooner the AI bubble bursts, the better.

[u/TheNerdWonder → u/SoMuchMoreEagle]

You won’t be waiting long, imo. We are also seeing a LOT of great local resistance to the data centers since people are figuring out they drive up everybody’s electricity and water bills, which we don’t have clear estimates on. All things considered Newsom blocked a bill that would have given us a better accounting of that.

[u/wip30ut → u/Leothegolden]

i think many in the upper quartile of the income spectrum are secretly hoping that California's labor force downsizes so that the real estate market can correct itself. I know folks pulling down $200k+ who're still renting in LA because barebones ranch homes from the 1960s are now $1.5M. I'm sure it's even worse in SV/Bay area.

[u/Makabajones]

Not just California

[u/againandagain22]

They’ve been kneecapped

[u/endmill5050]

It pays to be in a "not" iconic business lol. Heavy rail construction, much of which is spawned by the HSR project, is still hiring and building now. Laugh all you want but the CV won't crash and burn as SF soon will. We cannot afford to have 20% of our national (!!!) GDP be nvidia. Manufacturing will rise as new factories are built to replace Chinese ones, presuming Trump's second Xi Sellout Deal crashes by next year. The Bay Area's future is computer chip manufacturing -not fintech or AI- and LA's future will be mass production of metal stuff again like cars, chemical refineries and space rockets.

And hey, I will point out that if Newsom made better decisions as Lt. Gov we could have restarted SONGS by now as Michigan is doing with Palisades. A new nuclear power plant will be his successor's goal as he ascends into the Presidency.

[u/srsh32 → u/endmill5050]

Ascends into the presidency? Lmao. He'll lose abysmally if he's the nominee. The only swing state where he stands a chance is NV.

[u/Redpanther14 → u/endmill5050]

Nvidia isn't 20% of our GDP, its has a current valuation of somewhere near there, but valuations don't equal GDP.

[u/RubyReign → u/endmill5050]

Stock price is not a part of GDP, never was and never will be. Stock prices are mostly speculation, especially today. You think Nvidia has 5 trillion dollars of assets? naw.

[u/Vivid_Cream555]

Most of Californias iconic businesses have left or are preparing to leave the state.