Paper For The Puppies

I have a long and troubled history with our local paper, the Columbus Dispatch.  When I moved to town there were two papers; the other one was the Citizen-Journal, and it was a better paper than the Disgrace, er, Dispatch.  Of course, the Dispatch eventually bought them out; the upside was many of the writers stayed on, so we had a few years of a decent Dispatch, until they retired.  The family that owns it also owns local radio and TV stations, which are doing well.  The Dispatch, along with many papers, is not. They have taken over local alternative papers and magazines, generally more liberal and definitely way better at investigative journalism, and either folded them or turned them into weekend "music and food" papers.

Working at the airport I got to read papers from all over the country, and loved that.  The Washington, New York, Chicago, Boston, even Cleveland papers were so much better written, and had far more interesting stories.  When I first moved into my own apartment, the manager offered me a discount on the Dispatch.  "No thanks."  "Why not?  It's a great deal."  "Because it's a crappy paper."  She was stunned into silence.  It's not a good paper- local coverage is spotty, they don't have many good writers, and it is too conservative for my tastes.  (A guy at work once called it a liberal rag, which just shows how batshit-crazy conservative he is.)  It is not far-right, but definitely right of center, based on who they endorse and on their editorials.

Over the years I have subscribed off and on, since it was the only local paper and I do like reading a paper (this was before the Internet, when we held paper in our hands to read.)  Lately Miss Mox and I have subscribed so that we can get the coupons, and for paper to put down for the dogs when we are gone for awhile.  The quality has gone down, the size has gone down, the price has gone up.  They have cut back on actual journalism, buying more from the AP, etc.  It has never been good, especially compared to other papers, and it has just gotten worse. 

I've always loved reading the paper.  Something to hold and unfold; different sections for different interests; saving the comics and maybe the opinion section for last.  The industry as a whole is in serious trouble, with the web taking over our news even more than TV did.  I generally get my news online, and from the radio.  I barely read the paper anymore; if we had a good one I might read it more, but still, everything in it is a day or two old.  I can get in-depth coverage, of any topic I'm interested in, wherever I go and whenever I want.  So, I'm part of the problem.  But I feel no regret about the Dispatch being in decline, and will not miss it.  They deserve what they get.

And yet, for a mediocre paper, they are very full of themselves.  They don't seem to care that people aren't as interested in their content; they cut what people like and then are shocked that sales decrease; and they seem as shocked as my apartment manager when people tell them they are crappy.  Their sales tactics, in person and on the phone, are very pushy.  They will call and say "Is this your name?  Is this your address?"  Yup.  "Okay, we'll start the subscription tomorrow."  Uh, no, I didn't agree to that.

We've had service issues over the years, and had to call, repeatedly, and threaten to cancel.  Most recently we realized the cost of the paper was about the same as the value we were getting from the coupons (and we really weren't reading the rest of it,) so I called to cancel.  When they asked why, I told them.  In detail.  They were stunned.  "But, it's the only paper with Columbus in the name."  'Yep, because you shut down the other ones.'  "I don't know what to say to that."  'Say thank you and goodbye!'  "What if next week's paper is amazing?"  'I'll read it at work.'  "What if there is urgent news?"  'I'll read it online, hear it on the radio, watch it on TV, long before you print it.'  They already had us at their lowest rate (and it's still not worth it...)  They can't play up their in-depth local and national reporting, because they have cut those back so much.  "Okay, well, if you're sure, we'll cancel it.  You do owe us for the last two weeks, when we've been delivering it in case you still wanted it."  'Seriously?  You want me to pay for your decision to try to get me to resubscribe?'  I had to restrain myself at that point.  And no, I did not pay.

They called me a few days later- "We miss you already!"  Yeah, well, I don't miss you.  I picked up a copy at work the other day, skimmed through it, and reassured myself that I'm not missing anything.  I hate to see local papers go away, but bad ones will not be missed.