For the last three weeks I have been frustrated by the Sunday Oregonian newspaper. I have been a subscriber for the last 35 years. No this is not about their liberal bias! It's about the stale news and sports contained in the edition that is delivered here in Southern Oregon. Our Sunday Oregonian is published Saturday MORNING! Thus we get NO college football coverage on the Sports Page. In the past we always would get coverage of the early afternoon games. I can understand if they can't cover a late afternoon game or a Saturday night game but no coverage whatsoever. I called the local distributor and he said it was a decision made in Portland. He told me several subscriber were so upset they had canceled their subscription. I called the guy in Portland who set the policy and left a message on his voice mail. This is an example of a bureaucrat trying to save a few cents and creating a lot of ill will. No wonder newspapers are dying. In a day when USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times are available overnight almost everywhere in the United States you would think the Portland Oregonian could truck down a later edition to Medford and the rest of Southern Oregon. But of course there is nothing south of Eugene! ( sarcasm)The newspaper says we can get the stories on their web site. Then why would I want to subscribe?
UPDATE: In a six-month period ending March 31, The Oregonian's weekday circulation dropped from 333,515 to 323,017 and Sunday circulation dropped from 394,992 to 384,729.
That was a larger decrease than the newspaper experienced in the six months ending Sept. 30, 2005, when weekday circulation dropped from 337,707 and Sunday circulation dropped from 405,295. I wonder why!
