Patient shows slightly better color, but still critical
We got our second free copy of the O yesterday. It was still mighty small, but a little more encouraging than the sad package we perused on Wednesday. The Thursday edition had a bit more advertising -- including a full page plus from Macy's -- and slightly more local content. There was a Steve Duin column, and three locally generated stories on the business pages. Two local freelancers' work appeared in the Living section. There were small inserts from Dell Computers, Standard TV, Advantis Credit Union, Bi-Mart, Fred Meyer (surprisingly, just a one-sheeter), and Garden Fever, which is just up the street from us.
But there were only four local sports articles -- three Blazers and one Oregon State hoops. It's July and they're covering basketball while ignoring everything else. And Page A6 was three-quarters house ads. It's not exactly death with dignity over there.
| Posted at 5:21 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (10)
What exactly is the "everything else" happening in sports in July? You want MLB box scores, because outside of that, until the Olympics, there ain't much going on, not to mention there's no local angle.
Posted by Chuck | July 13, 2012 6:59 AM
I come here for my metro local news.
Posted by Jo | July 13, 2012 7:00 AM
Let me provide a summary of what to expect from the O in the coming days:
Friday: another "big" day - A&E, 4page Frys ad, a few more ad inserts
Saturday: skinny paper, but a local Community insert; here on the West Side we get a section loaded with local features, "slices of life", recent real-estate transactions, community calendar
Sunday: a big paper, with plenty of ad inserts, the color comics, NO TV Click, Parade Magazine.
Note: Opinion is hiding in the Metro section
Monday: not a broad sheet...a very skinny paper
Tuesday-Thursday: you've covered that already
Other notes:
- Sunday paper preceding holidays may be bigger or smaller depending on the day.
- Thanksgiving and Christmas paper huge, loaded with ads
- on the 4th of July this year, there was a special cover over the front section (Oregonian has a special name for it that I don't recall). The cover was a giant ad for all the illegal fireworks available in Vancouver. In tiny print was a warning, reminding readers that the fireworks may not be legal in your locale
About the NY Times: I previously mentioned in another thread that the paper seems quite healthy. Of further note, the Sunday National edition is quite large, but not as healthy as years past. Still, it is smaller than the local NY Metro edition. The Metro edition is so large that many of the sections of the Sunday paper are delivered on Friday or Saturday to home subscribers. Also, the Metro edition has color add inserts for local businesses that are not included in the National edition.
Enjoy the Frys ad today. Expect another on Saturday and Sunday. There use to be a Monday Frys ad, but that disappeared months ago.
Posted by Mike (one of the many) | July 13, 2012 7:33 AM
One of the subscriptions I have requires me to get the paper copy if I want to access their on-line news for free. To pay for just the on-line subscription would be the same cost, so I decided to take the hard copy too.
So there the papers sit, stacking up in the corner till I send them out to the recycle or use them for wrapping. The unread papers are not necessarily a condemnation of content, but rather a reminder of how they will do anything to keep the hard copy circulation alive despite it’s inevitable demise.
Posted by gibby | July 13, 2012 7:45 AM
For Friday, I expected to see more stories re: the various shootings/stabbings/murders in the past day or so. They must be putting the Metro section to bed about 2:00 pm, because there's little reporting in the dead tree version.
Posted by umpire | July 13, 2012 11:40 AM
One check on how much it costs to run an obit these days reveals a lot about the state of the O.
What used to cost $300-400 now hits you up for at least $1,500--that is, if you want to insert anything more than a few lines! Try it yourself--write a fake obit in the online form and the O will tell you how much your loved one means to them...
Posted by mossypdx | July 13, 2012 11:59 AM
My Mothers obit in the paper on Sunday cost me more than my first car.
Posted by Tom | July 13, 2012 12:28 PM
Jack, what in the #%$!@ is the Oregonian thinking, sending you a free copy to your house?? I don't think this is the free publicity they would welcome, lol...thx the reviews...;o)
Posted by sparky | July 13, 2012 6:20 PM
maybe facebook functions as the new public obituarial
Posted by Tenskwatawa | July 13, 2012 11:15 PM
I got a freebie on Wednesday as well. I cut the crosswords out and tossed the rest.
Posted by HagbardCeline | July 15, 2012 12:27 PM