Cancelling the Oregonian

[sayulita]

Originally Posted by Minervah

BINGO! That's it! Thanks so much. Now I will be able to fall asleep tonite.

I know how that feels! Glad I could help.

[The Cactus Leaguer]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

Now that I live out of the Portland area (but still in Oregon), I'd LIKE to be able to keep up with the news but I can't stand the "Oregonlive" site. I use igoogle as an aggregator and I get the top 10 headlines from the Oregonian every morning and have to be happy with those, because trying to find anything on Oregonlive irritates me. I was surprised to follow a link to a newspaper in the Midwest somewhere and discover that there is someone else that uses the exact same software - why I cannot fathom.

The choices for places to get Oregon news online are very, very slim.

Back in the 80's/90's, The Oregonian's motto was "If it matters to Oregonians, it's in The Oregonian."

At the same time there were several big local interest stories that were completely missed by the local paper and they were scooped by papers in other cities (Packwood and/or Goldschmidt scandals included, if memory serves). So the running joke became:

"If it matters to Oregonians, it's in the Washington Post!"

[Rob Allen]

Originally Posted by sayulita

Two hours ago I called to cancel and get the paper on Sunday only. They apparently don't so that anymore so I ended up with a Fri/Sat/Sun package ...

If you insist, they will give you a Sunday-only subscription. At least they did for us a few years ago.

[sayulita]

Originally Posted by Rob Allen

If you insist, they will give you a Sunday-only subscription. At least they did for us a few years ago.

Things were a lot different there a few years ago. Right now it's all about getting the most money for the least paper. I'm on day 2 of no paper and so far I've survived just fine.

[Bluesmama]

I cancelled The Oregonian when they made the bird-brained decision to CHARGE EXTRA for the TV Click insert, which I used faithfully. First you have to be a subscriber, THEN pay extra for The Click. I was never wild about The Oregonian, so the only editions I bought were Friday's (for the A&E) and Sunday's. But there's no way in Hell I was going to pay for that.

I don't like to read newspapers online (hate it, in fact); therefore, I don't keep up on local news so well anymore. I watch it on TV and call it good.

I do still buy the Friday paper to get that A&E insert.

[khyron]

I'm a newcomer to Portland, but I can relate because the big local newspaper back where I grew up has fallen to exactly the same fate (horrible content management software which ruins their web site, overrun with ads, fired everyone good long ago, now filled with empty, pandering, and often downright inaccurate or unimportant "news"). The local TV stations back there are the same way.

For whatever its worth, since I came to Portland only knowing the Oregonian in its current incarnation, I gravitated towards other sources for news, events, and editorial content by default. I started voraciously absorbing each week of The Mercury and Willamette Week, and I got addicted to a bunch of local blogs about politics, news and events, music, and food (among other things). I think what really puts a nail in the Oregonian's coffin is that in addition to their becoming out of touch like so many aging and failing newspapers around the country, they also happen to be struggling to survive in a town that's absolutely saturated with other sources for information. It's sad, but instead of competing effectively they just seem to be foundering. So who knows, maybe when I've been in PDX long enough to call myself or my kids "locals" it might not even be around?

[sayulita]

I agree. Newspapers are becoming dinosaurs. It's sad, but a fact of life. The internet changed everything and there's no going back. What used to be a big player in the market is now nothing more than an also ran. During the years I worked there I was very proud of the Oregonian, but the last few years, both before and after I left, were and are profoundly demoralizing and depressing. In the end, the almighty dollar and the greedy Newhouses prevailed at the expense of excellence and once valued employees. Pretty much what's left is a bunch of non revenue producing, crappy managers and completely miserable employees. It makes me both very sad and so grateful I was in a position to leave when I did.

[Bluesmama]

Personally, I think the decline of many newspapers is that they turned to molding the news rather than just report the news. They're full of propaganda and politics themselves, and The Oregonian is right up there. Internet news is no different.

I get more excitement reading the "nothing newspapers" from my out-of-state hometown because it is straight reporting whether it's small news or big news, with down-to-earth articles about the town and its people.