Molly Evans (pictured), the new publisher of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, talked to the local Chamber of Commerce about her newspaper the other day, and her paper printed her remarks. Among other things she noted:

• The Sentinel is owned by Ottaway Newspapers, a subsidiary of Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones. “They never tell us what to write or who to endorse,” said Evans. “They want us to send them cash.”

• “Having a free Web site has hurt single-copy sales, and students from the university don’t buy the paper, they go online to for information.”

• Then why not charge for the Web site? “Charging would hurt our ad sales. Our classified ads are on the Web and some, but not all, of our display ads.”

• Who is the typical Sentinel reader? “Our most loyal readers are baby boomers and their parents. Is my 13-year-old going to read a newspaper the way we have? Probably not. A lot of people from out of the area read the paper to stay in touch.”