ABSTRACT
In truth many of the greatest acts of journalistic courage come from the smallest places. It is a mining town, an Indian reservation and an urban neighborhood. They are mounted by everyday folk, rooted in everyday events. In the early 1990s, work really matters — it means survival — for Bob and Nancy Maynard, owner-publishers of The Oakland Tribune. They are embarked on one of the ultimate newspaper fixer-upper jobs, rebuilding their daily into an instrument for community good. For some, journalistic courage may mean putting truth ahead of comfort or even safety. For publishers, it usually means putting truth ahead of money — in the case, six months' worth of ad money, which is what the Trib loses before the gun dealer agrees to resume advertising with the paper with just the sports guns.
