The Language of Strangers: How a hotshot editor with big ideas failed to comprehend the soul of community journalism.

This article reports on the changing culture of West Marin County, California, as reflected in the fortunes of the weekly newspaper, the "Point Reyes Light," which was owned for 30 years by Dave Mitchell until its 2005 purchase by Robert Plotkin. The paper's changes for the worse under the out-of-towner with money and ambition but little feel for community journalism is documented, including his reliance on unpaid interns fresh from journalism school, and the disappearance of local flavor that alienated readers and staff and eventually resulted in the launch of a competing weekly, the "West Marin Citizen."