Los Angeles Times enterprise reporter James Rainey opens up about his coverage of the Santa Barbara News-Press bankruptcy, and what the loss of a newspaper means to a community.

“I am very saddened that the News-Press is no more, because if you have an outlet, there’s always the potential that it could do good,” Rainey said. “Arguably, a lot of folks don’t think the News-Press was doing a lot of good in recent years, still there was the potential there.”

Rainey, who along with the staff at the Los Angeles Times has won three Pulitzer Prizes, talked about his Page 1 story on Monday about the News-Press, in the latest edition of Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina.

Rainey spent four days in Santa Barbara covering the story after Noozhawk broke the news July 23 that Ampersand Publishing LLC, the paper’s owner, filed for bankruptcy protection.

Rainey has covered the war in Iraq, the foster care system, the environment and presidential elections.

He was part of L.A. Times teams that won Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of wildfires, the 1994 Northridge earthquake and the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, according to his bio.

Rainey also pulls back the curtain a bit on the Los Angeles Times, and its recent decision to stop publishing sports box scores in its print edition.

“People are pissed,” Rainey said. “People miss their box scores.”

The decision was largely a cost-cutting measure.

“One of the ways to save money, management determined, was to close down our publishing operation,” Rainey. “We’re now being printed by a contracted printer in Riverside.”

The new printer requires earlier deadlines in order to deliver the paper all over the state.

Rainey also discuss his career, including his coverage in Iraq, his love for journalism, and the difficulty of the profession.

“It’s hard work,” Rainey said. “It’s not just people lying around eating bon-bons. We’re grinding it. You work long hours. I am not complaining, but it’s tiring work. We work long hours to get things right.”

The journalist said he hopes to continue reporting for at least another 10 years.

“Without journalists telling you what is going on at the county, at the city council, in business, in sports, our world is smaller,” Rainey said. “