I was wondering how the Detroit Newspapers were doing...here's the answer

**jhartmich** · October-14-09, 03:58 AM

I was speaking with a friend last week wondering how the new marketing campaign, that is supposedly being watched by all of America, was going for the News and Freep since they started the on-lin edition and limited daily hard copy.
Jack Lessenberry wrote this week in The Metro Times :

"The verdict is in: You may recall that last March the Detroit Newspapers went to a system where they deliver the newspaper only on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Otherwise, you were supposed to read it online, though you could still go buy one...
Surprise! Things aren't that rosy after all. According to someone who was there, the company claimed to "have lost money in 2009 despite the fact that it made all its goals and targets following the switch" away from home delivery.
"Advertising revenues were down 30 percent and projections are for more red ink," the Partnership admitted. [[If they are telling the truth, do you suppose they shot the idiot who set those goals and targets?) Anyway, as a result, guess what: More layoffs!! Jobs will be eliminated for "all union-represented jurisdictions."
[[Article HERE)

Last night at Cass Cafe a bunch of us [[10-12 Detroiters) were talking at the bar. Being a crowd of 28 to 50-something educated people, it was odd that not one person subscribed to the electronic edition, not one person ever bought a new limited edition, and ONLY one person HAD home delivery [[about 8 years ago).

There were several reasons why they had not subscribed but overwhelmingly people felt the papers have become too political and try harder to make the news than report it. Nolan Findley was unanimously criticized as the biggest turn off for trying to make the News and turning people off from subscribing.

Does anyone out there subscribe? Why not, if you do not subscribe?

**wazootyman** · October-14-09, 06:17 AM

I subscribe - even though I usually just end up reading the free online edition.

Why? Because I don't want to see our newspapers fail. Anyone who doesn't subscribe is partly responsible for their demise - whether it's over a petty political conflict or whatever. Last I checked Nolan Findley didn't write the entire paper...

I can't believe [store] closed - but I haven't shopped there in years!

**ImHere** · October-14-09, 06:58 AM

I used to subscribe and had for years [[10 +). I cancelled my subscription when they stopped home delivery on Saturdays. I only read the paper on Saturday and Sundays. I threw away the paper that I got on Thursday and Friday without even opening it [[No time too read on those days).

Once the Saturday delivery stopped, I couldn't see paying the extra money to only read the Sunday paper. So now on Sunday mornings I get up and walk to the store and buy the Sunday edition. I guess they did me a favor: I save money and get some exersise. Not sure how this will work out once the snow flies, but I'll worry about that then.

Now on Saturday, I ususally just read the Free on-line version, but Sunday I prefer to have the real thing in hand.

When I cancelled my subscription I told them exactly why, and I thought stopping Saturday delivery was a bad decision. I would have kept my subscription if they wouuld have went to a Friday, Saturday, Sunday delivery, but they didn't

**jefferson78** · October-14-09, 07:14 AM

I was a daily subscriber to the Freep for over 15 years. When they announced that delivery dates would be cut I cut my subscription. I usually pick one up on my way to work. At least I know I'll be getting a paper as my delivery boy/man was way too unpredictable. I cannot tell you how many times I had to call to report a nondelivery. If it's not here by 7 AM then it does me no good.
Now the price has doubled yet the content is less. Go figure. I buy the Freep but read Detnews online. I cannot say the price is worth it but I'm a sucker for reading the paper front to back. And I do not know what I'd do if I couldn't read the daily comics.
It sucks but what are you going to do?

**Kathleen** · October-14-09, 07:22 AM

Grew up in a 2-paper household. Freep and News subscriber for 30+years.

I love my newspapers!!! That is, I enjoy reading the real newspaper and sharing stories with my husband. It doesn't matter if I don't get a chance to read the paper that day. I already know the headlines, but it is the feature stories and the area community news that I want to know about.

As an amateur historian, I often clip articles about people, buildings, cultural traditions and events for future reference. Not many days go by that I don't clip something.

I haven't activated the online editions of the newspaper because 1) I really enjoy reading the physical newspaper and 2) I work at a computer all day long, plus spend at least a couple more hours each evening online just communicating and researching. And printing out the online articles just isn't the same thing as having the real newspaper article in hand.

That said, the switch to home delivery only on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday forced me to make a stop each Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to purchase my daily newspaper. At 50 cents, that wasn't too bad. But the recent price hike to $1, making it $8/wk to pick up my two papers, or roughly $400 a year, is a difficult pill to swallow, especially when added to the cost of the home delivery. I will have to sit down and do the math and make a decision about the future of newspapers in my household.

**gazhekwe** · October-14-09, 07:54 AM

We used to get all three papers when I was little. Three kids, three comic sections on Sunday, perfect harmony.

I subscribed to the Free Press until the strike. I finally picked it up again with the electronic edition, and I read that most days. With that you get Thursday, Friday and Sunday home delivery.

I agree, content is sadly diminished and the reporting has come down many notches. It makes me wonder if journalism is becoming a lost art. I like the local news, features, stories about history, culture, and notices of events the best. For national news I mostly rely on NPR and CNN on line.

**oldredfordette** · October-14-09, 08:03 AM

There are considerable layoffs in the future, not just union jobs but throughout the company. It's completely depessing.

**texorama** · October-14-09, 08:05 AM

Used to buy both papers every day, although I didn't subscribe. Haven't bought one in ages. Simply put, they're not worth the money--little hard news, and for essays I can do much better than the columnists [[exhibit A: Mitch Albom). The sole fresh voice is Oneita Jackson. If the Freep gave me a chance to put money in an electronic tip jar for Schaefer and Elrick, however, I would gladly do so.

**Mikeg** · October-14-09, 09:13 AM

I was a FP paperboy from 1966-69 and prior to that, I read my parent's home-delivered DN from when I was about 8 or 9 years old [[I learned very quickly to put it back in the original order before my dad got home from work). I've been a daily & Sunday DN subscriber since I got married 35 years ago. Over the years, I've washed pounds of newsprint ink off my hands, but the Detroit Newspaper Agency has made it very easy for me to go through my withdrawal phase.

Their non-delivery from Monday through Wednesday allowed me to get out of the regular habit of reading the paper and the ones I now receive often go unread . My DN subscription expired in August. I deliberately chose not to renew it since all I was getting was two daily DN editions plus the Sunday FP, which I never asked for and had no choice but to receive. I never bothered to subscribe to the electronic on-line edition of the DN, since I've had a paid subscription to the Macomb Daily e-paper for several years now.

Despite my decision not to renew, I am still receiving regular home delivery of the DN on Thursday and Friday and that other rag on Sunday. According to my Caller-ID, I am also receiving regular phone calls from the Detroit Newspaper Agency, which I refuse to pick up.

RIP DNA.

**catch22** · October-14-09, 09:54 AM

I've never had good luck with home delivery, but have been buying the Free Press from the local drug store for years. I've tried my best to accept all the changes, but the steady decline in both editorial and feature content has made it harder and harder to keep it up. The recent change to $1 for the weekday paper has just about sealed it for me.

I was out of town a few days ago, and the hotel I stayed at provided a free copy of USA Today. I read it, for the first time in years, and was surprised to discover that the content was actually more interesting than the Freeps I've been reading lately. Sad.

**jtf1972** · October-14-09, 10:15 AM

I haven't got my Detroit Times in a while...

stinkbug · October-14-09, 10:38 AM

Dropping the home delivery sealed it for me.
The paper has been getting thinner and stupider for years. However, I still had my ritual of at least scanning through all my local news before I wolfed down my eggs and coffee and dashed out the door. If I happened to have the day off, we would sit and pass the paper and talk about the articles.
They punished their most loyal followers by cutting daily delivery. Who is honestly going to read that rag on a computer? I sit at a computer for most of the day, why the fuck would I want to some more? Should I eat my breakfast and dinner in front of the computer? Should I pass the laptop around the dinner table? Should I take it to the shitter? Do I have to write on my computer screen to do the jumble?
I didn't care for their cavalier attitude about it, either. They overmarkted it as the wave of the future and that we cavemen must change and keep up with the times. Why not write a decent paper instead, assholes?
So they console me by telling me I can walk to Mobil in the freezing fucking cold to drop $1.00 on that rag? The summaries are moronic. Why should I read a factless blurb that repeats what I'm going to be reading on the next page? Now their stories from individual cities usually involve meeting times for city councils or Knights of Columbus fundraisers. Guess what? That isn't news.
The paper has been declining in quality and quantity for years. If they had been writing a decent paper, they could have kept up with their expenses. Too bad they sucked too bad to manage that.
I still have my subscription but have fallen out of reading the paper daily. I'm looking forward to them going bust because it is no fault but their own, no matter how much they like to blame everything else. I'd rather wipe my ass with a fistful of broken glass than that rag. I hope someone from the Detroit newspapers is reading this and taking notes, if they can write.
Now someone just has to step up to the plate and write a real local paper. How about some of the good people the Detroit rags have laid off over the years and the journalism grads from out state U's? Buy the old Freep building that they abandoned and give me a daily delivery because I have my checkbook ready.

**eno** · October-14-09, 11:39 AM

Have you people forgotten the role played by the Free Press in exposing the text messages of Kwame and Christine Beatty. There is still a role for newspapers in this town tho' the quality of the coverage is pitiful. I subscribe to the Thurs-Fri-Sunday papers and read both online editions daily.

**Ray1936** · October-14-09, 11:42 AM

Another reason why I'm glad I moved to Nevada. The Las Vegas Review-Journal delivers seven days a week without fail. Good paper and they seem to have plenty of advertising to keep in the black.

I usually scan the web editions of the News and Freep just for a quick update on what's going on back in Detroit, but rarely look at it in depth or read the feature writers/editorials.

**East Detroit** · October-14-09, 12:09 PM

HINFY.

I subscribe to the Free Press. We need a local paper and I enjoy it. And I don't think I am entitled to just read the freep.com for free. I know that sounds crazy to the entitled generation.

**jhartmich** · October-14-09, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by eno

Have you people forgotten the role played by the Free Press in exposing the text messages of Kwame and Christine Beatty. There is still a role for newspapers in this town tho' the quality of the coverage is pitiful.....

You just answered yourself.

Yes, they do have some great stuff occasionally, but the quality is inconsistent as you were alluding to.

I personally am SICK of so many opinion pieces. Maybe that is easier and cheaper than investigative stories, but I'm sick of them always telling us how things should be, according to them.

**bailey** · October-14-09, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by East Detroit

HINFY.

I subscribe to the Free Press. We need a local paper and I enjoy it. And I don't think I am entitled to just read the freep.com for free. I know that sounds crazy to the entitled generation.

Well, you can go right on paying for something that is 24-48 hours old and is a mash of AP and syndicated columns anyway. There is nothing "entitled" about choosing to use the free and up to the minute version instead of paying for delivery of bird cage liner. The freep and news [[and all print) killed themselves by offering a free online edition of what they are selling you. If I were you, I'd be pissed I was paying for something everyone else is getting for free.

Further, it is a personal mission in my life that I do all I can to ensure I contribute in no way to Mitch Albom or Rochelle Riley's salaries.

**iheartthed** · October-14-09, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by ImHere

I used to subscribe and had for years [[10 +). I cancelled my subscription when they stopped home delivery on Saturdays. I only read the paper on Saturday and Sundays. I threw away the paper that I got on Thursday and Friday without even opening it [[No time too read on those days).

Once the Saturday delivery stopped, I couldn't see paying the extra money to only read the Sunday paper. So now on Sunday mornings I get up and walk to the store and buy the Sunday edition. I guess they did me a favor: I save money and get some exersise. Not sure how this will work out once the snow flies, but I'll worry about that then.

Now on Saturday, I ususally just read the Free on-line version, but Sunday I prefer to have the real thing in hand.

When I cancelled my subscription I told them exactly why, and I thought stopping Saturday delivery was a bad decision. I would have kept my subscription if they wouuld have went to a Friday, Saturday, Sunday delivery, but they didn't

Well if that isn't socialism......

**East Detroit** · October-14-09, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

There is nothing "entitled" about choosing to use the free and up to the minute version instead of paying for delivery of bird cage liner. The freep and news [[and all print) killed themselves by offering a free online edition of what they are selling you. If I were you, I'd be pissed I was paying for something everyone else is getting for free.

Sorry, I feel better paying for someone else's work. And no, I'm not going to be pissed at you for taking it for free. I'll just have less than admiration for you.

You can continue to read the freep for free in your "unentitled" way which includes blaming them for making it free. Make sure to close your eyes whenever you see an advertisement.

**bailey** · October-14-09, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by East Detroit

Sorry, I feel better paying for someone else's work. And no, I'm not going to be pissed at you for taking it for free. I'll just have less than admiration for you.

You can continue to read the freep for free in your "unentitled" way which includes blaming them for making it free. Make sure to close your eyes whenever you see an advertisement.

Hey, it's not napster. It's not copy written material being shared in violation of the law. The ones who produce the product are giving it away for free. In fact the free product is generally better [[in my view) than the print edition. It's their own fault for removing any incentive for anyone to pay for the product they need people to buy.

Offer some content worth paying for and I may subscribe again. until then, I'd take the NYT 'weekender' over anythign the Freep or News are trying to sell me.

**iheartthed** · October-14-09, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

Hey, it's not napster. It's not copy written material being shared in violation of the law. The ones who produce the product are giving it away for free. In fact the free product is generally better [[in my view) than the print edition. It's their own fault for removing any incentive for anyone to pay for the product they need people to buy.

Offer some content worth paying for and I may subscribe again. until then, I'd take the NYT 'weekender' over anythign the Freep or News are trying to sell me.

They are not offering it for free.

**bailey** · October-14-09, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

They are not offering it for free.

It's free to me. I'm not bothered by the ads or the awkward page breaks that a paid online subscription allows one to avoid.

**eno** · October-14-09, 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by jhartmich

You just answered yourself.

Yes, they do have some great stuff occasionally, but the quality is inconsistent as you were alluding to.

I personally am SICK of so many opinion pieces. Maybe that is easier and cheaper than investigative stories, but I'm sick of them always telling us how things should be, according to them.

Are you kidding me? The publication of the text messages exposed the lies of the Mayor and his chief of staff which led to their removal from office. That is nothing short of revolutionary. It has the potential, depending on the quality of the newly elected officials, of clearing out the self-serving politicos for a new generation that seeks to serve the interests of the city and it's residents. The rest of the complainers in this thread are mere whiners.

**iheartthed** · October-14-09, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

It's free to me. I'm not bothered by the ads or the awkward page breaks that a paid online subscription allows one to avoid.

It's "free", yet you are paying for it when you buy products from companies who advertise on those web sites. So it isn't free. It's using the same model of profit through ad revenue that broadcast television has been using since forever.

**bailey** · October-14-09, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

It's "free", yet you are paying for it when you buy products from companies who advertise on those web sites. So it isn't free. It's using the same model of profit through ad revenue that broadcast television has been using since forever.

I suppose that is true if I were in the market for a Ford or apartment hunting on Apartments.com...but I get ya. I guess we should be really pissed we ever had to pay for the paper then.