Questionable

Newspaper woes

I read the print version of the newspaper every day. After I return home from traveling, I read the old copies. I've been reading since I was a kid. I like the newspaper. So, the crappy state of our local papers has been annoying me. Why don't I just throw in the towel and read online? Well, I do. Any breaking news, I read online. I subscribe to blogs and news feeds which I peruse throughout the day, so I certainly get my allotment of internet-based content. However, there are things I like about the print version of the newspaper. I like that it is portable. I'm not going to take my laptop with me just to read the paper (and that is provided I can get a free WiFi signal). I also like the peripheral parts of the newspaper like the food or garden sections. I even like the advice columns (although Dear Abby has become dreadful since the daughter took over). But I'm finding myself having to make a choice about how I consume news.

The Strib, my paper of choice, has become just about unreadable. And the fall has been so drastic and so quick, I'm still in a state of denial. The most recent changes to focus on local-local news and the changes to the editorial page seem very foolhardy to me. They went from having an award winning national reporting team, based in Washington D.C., to eliminating all but the biggest national and international stories. They also split their coverage area into zones. I now get the east metro section. I'm in St. Paul, not the east metro. I don't give two figs about the school board elections in Woodbury. To make matters worse, we're not just getting St. Paul and east metro news, today we had some lame story about Eden Prairie property taxes. WHERE ARE THE MINNEAPOLIS STORIES? I actually like to read Minneapolis news. I LIVE ON THE BORDER. I GO TO THE GYM THERE. MY HUSBAND WORKS THERE. I'M THERE EVERY WEEKEND. With the exception of the really big stories, there is now not a newspaper that I can get delivered which covers Minneapolis.

The Strib also fired their editorial page editor and are no longer writing editorials focused on national or international news. The rumor is that they are not even going to endorse a presidential candidate. Can you imagine a top newspaper not endorsing a national candidate? Worse, to me, is that the editorial coverage is going center, if not to the right. According to Steve Perry, via Brian Lambert (if you decide to read the original post, the back and forth comments between the Powerliners and Lambert are fun),

As one Strib veteran tells the Mole, "The right-wing blog voices that were bashing the paper a couple of years ago, Hugh Hewitt and the rest, have gotten pretty much everything they wanted. The GOP wanted the Minnesota Poll gone, and now it's gone. They wanted to get rid of people like [editorial board members] Jim Boyd and Susan Albright and their editorial policy, and they've succeeded at that. Now there won't be editorials about the war and global warming; they'll write about local issues like zoning conflicts in Coon Rapids instead. They wanted the paper to hire a conservative columnist, and they got that. From here on out, it looks like the Strib becomes the conservative, suburbs-oriented paper, and the Pioneer Press will become the paper of the city underdogs and the blue voters. They may wind up getting pushed more to the left."

So why don't I just subscribe to the PP? Honestly, a newspaper is like an old friend. Dumping a friend is hard work. Plus, I resent the hell out of the PP not moderating their story discussions. Anonymous bashing is not my idea of a reasoned discussion between civilized people. I also don't like that everything turns into political bullshit. But this weekend I was at the grocery store and the PP was there with a six month deal. Super cheap, plus $20 worth of grocery gift certificates which I could use right then and there. I took the deal. I still can't get Minneapolis news, but supposedly there is better national/international coverage. I'm going to keep both papers for a little while to determine which one has the better news for me, but the exercise doesn't feel promising. I hope six months from now I still get a local paper. But, maybe I'll just start relying on The Daily Mole or MinnPost and then subscribe to the daily NY Times (right now we just get Sat. and Sun.) and forget all about food or garden or advice columns.

But, what do I know? I'm not in the demographic any longer.

The Pioneer Press readers could learn something from my Mom

My mom always taught us that if we couldn't say anything nice about someone/something, we should say nothing at all. Clearly Pioneer Press readers haven't learned that rule. Since the PP redesigned its website, readers can comment anonymously on every story. It has gotten so I have to avoid some of the stories because the vitriolic hatred spewed in the comments is detrimental to my health. I'm one to avoid Internet moderation for the most part, but after seeing what is happening there, I'm think I'm reversing my stand. I don't care if people have a spirited debate, but the anonymous name calling and personal attacks make me think twice about reading that paper. To me, it is a bit of a shame because I have been considering canceling the Strib and picking up the PP. The Strib has become basically ads and AP stories. Plus, they dumped their St. Paul writer so even though they claim they want to cover more local stories, that is clearly bullshit. The PP, while undergoing its own problems, at least is still owned by a newspaper company. I happened to get two free copies on my doorstep this week and both were more substantive than the same two Stribs. My brother's friend is an editor at the PP and I did mention to her that they could require email addresses from all posters (even if they were not displayed) to help keep the hatred down. She recommended not reading the comments (it does take an extra click to see them, so they can be avoided) but for some stories I want to know what my neighbors are thinking.