The Reason We Canceled Our Newspaper Subscription

[QueenOfCalifornia]

Was it because we decided to use the internet exclusively? Nope - we actually like reading a morning paper and having our coffee and sharing the paper with our kids.... We like discussing politics and local news and world affairs here... but...

In 2004 the San Diego Union fired James Goldsbourough. He was the only liberal voice in that Republican mouthpiece of a fishwrap.

The day he was asked to resign I and many, many other San Diegan's also resigned - I resigned my 20 year subscription to our only newspaper here because of their slanted, biased BS...

The newspapers are killing themselves --- I suspect that had our local paper been more honest in their reporting they would not be swirling the drain right now about to go out of business.

A week ago, the UT fired 192 workers... http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g2-zwQyN1effBp-5Swio1QPGB_twD981NMDG0

[beachmom]

1. The problem is thinking one news outlet will do, anymore.

I certainly think a trusted outlet to do investigative journalism (perhaps nonprofit) would be wonderful. But a lot of papers are mostly an AP re-print plus silly articles. They might have only a few articles that are truly local and amount to real news. You won't catch me subscribing to the Atlanta Journal Constitution -- I read a few articles on line, but frankly, too much of their stuff is national news one can get elsewhere.

Mini Huff Puffs plus some non profit investigative journalism (local) outlets will be the future. As Jeff Jarvis says, a website should do what it does best and link to the rest.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

5. Of course

you are correct....

If we had a viable option here we would have it delivered but we have shit...

I can barely force myself to watch our local news due to the idiocy --- the cute chatter and b.s. -- I don't mind if they are human and interact like people but it is so far beyond that - They are mindless idiots I tell ya.

We have no local news I guess because when you turn on the idiots they are discussing the weather and traffic... and guess what? The weather discussions in San Diego are pretty fucking easy to guess at and the traffic? Well, they should just come on and say "All you local people keep off the streets because the people from Arizona and Nevada are on their way to the zoo, the beaches and Sea World." --- :eyes:

I would love to have a good newspaper. It would make my day.

[Bill219]

2. My wife and I cancelled ours...

during the election when we opened up the Charlotte Observer one Saturday morning and found that Islamic Hate DVD.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

7. ?!

Yikes...

That must have been a clever move to keep the rednecks all skeeeered and xenophobic ---- I hope you told the rat bastards exactly why you cancelled the subscription.

[Bill219]

21. Yep..

I called them and they told us that they had no control over the distribution of the DVD's because they were being paid for.

I asked them if that applied to everyone who paid to distribute things with their newspapers and they said yes.

I told them that I had a bunch of DVD's that I would like to distribute and asked for a rate. The woman worked up an estimate and asked what type of DVD's they were.

I said Porn.

She said I could not use the paper for that purpose and I reminded her of her answer to my question.

She said that my DVD's would be different.

I laughed and said "I thought you would say that"

She asked if there was anything else that she could help me with and I told her to cancel my subscription because I considered the DVD that I received in my paper to be nothing more than neocon anti-Islam porn and that I found it highly offensive to find it in my daily newspaper.


here is a link from huffpo about the dvd's


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erik-ose/pro-mccain-group-dumping_b_125969.html

[closeupready]

3. Kind of a sad state of affairs when

the most hard-hitting liberal journalism is not the NY Times, not the LA Times, but a glamour-filled celebrity monthly publication, Vanity Fair.

This is not a bash on Vanity Fair - what they do, they do better than anyone else - it's just that, in a sane world, newspapers would be better at covering financial scandals and exposing corruption than such glossy periodicals. Obviously, I know, we live in a crazy, fucked-up universe where newspapers are, to a large extent, right-wing mouthpieces.

[Stephanie]

8. Yep. I subscribe to VF but the NYT is now an occasional Sunday thing

[closeupready]

10. I love everything about VF.

The articles are the cake, the photos and fluff are frosting. :hi:

[QueenOfCalifornia]

11. I used to

get the NY Times here but it is just as bad as the redneck papers here. I miss the NY Times crossword though. :(

[PassingFair]

4. I dropped mine AGES ago, when Gannett bent the unions over a chair here.

Never went back.

The union ultimately "won"
their lawsuit, but by then,
there was no one left to
collect (YEARS in litigation
and you couldn't collect any
thing if you had worked another
job....)

:cry:

Then the telemarketers had the
NERVE to call and say:

"Strike's over, come back!"

[Stephanie]

6. I fired my newspaper due to Judith Miller and David Brooks

When they fire Brooks maybe I'll resubscribe...

[QueenOfCalifornia]

9. I would have hung on

and put up with the right wing bias if Goldsborough had not been fired. He is an incredible journalist and funny as hell in person. He is still here in San Diego - he speaks at functions - but I really miss his editorials.

[Coyote_Bandit]

12. I noticed that

I could take my newspaper and read along with the local tv news anchor.....

[QueenOfCalifornia]

13. LOL!

I mean I really did laugh out loud. :rofl:

[Coyote_Bandit]

18. True Story

and it happened more than once.

[Justitia]

14. Me too - I love, love, love reading a newspaper. Then so many turned to crap w/consolidation.

There is no greater pleasure than absolutely devouring a great newspaper, but I got tired of so much of the crap.

I still read many of them (you have to literally survey several), but it is mostly for good writing, not good coverage or investigative journalism anymore.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

15. If we had

a paper like the SF Chronicle I would be walking on air.

We have bonehead news I tell ya. It's like Carrot Top is in charge of our news here.

[indepat]

16. Resigned my 20-year subscription to the RW-leaning rag that had no problem with

junior's war(s) of aggression, torture, et al, and publishes almost all RW talking points daily via LTTE. :P

[QueenOfCalifornia]

19. I was told

by the LTTE person that they didn't even consider printing any anti Bush letters - which meant they tossed everything I sent them in the circular file. They actually told me not to bother sending anything because they didn't even open my letters... Seriously. They knew my return address and name and just tossed my letters. They did have lots of rah-rah-war shit though and they love to push that war here in military land...

Even though San Diego finally turned blue in November, they still are cheerleading the war ... :eyes:

What part of the country do you live?

[ColbertWatcher]

17. I remember when the LA Times fired Robert Scheer.

They lost subscribers too.

[madmom]

20. I canceled mine because in a LTTE battle I had two repugs gang up on me and

they would let them reply to me, but would not let me reply to them.I made sure many people knew of this practice also.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

22. Yikes...

That's fair and balanced.

[azmouse]

23. It wouldn't take much for me to cancel my paper.

I'm pretty close to doing it. We hardly get any opinion pieces at all any more so I'm reading more and more things on line anyway. The money going for the subscription to that rag could be used for many worthy charities instead.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

24. The Arizona Republic

makes a good bonfire starter. :)

[azmouse]

25. That's a better idea than wrapping fish in it!

:spray: