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I'm done with the Dallas Morning News (Long rant)

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Flip Wilson, Oct 10, 2008.

  1. Flip Wilson

    Flip Wilson Well-Known Member

    I've been a reader of the DMN for years; love the paper. I've stayed with it through several recent design changes and cutbacks, but now I'm done.

    I usually buy the paper on the way to to work every morning because I like to read it at lunch. Recently, the wife suggested I just subscribe as it would probably save money. I checked the DMN Web site, and it would be a little cheaper, and I would get the paper every day, instead of just Monday through Friday, when I go to the office.

    The changes implemented this week, however, have convinced me to give it up altogether. The sports section has been chopped, and the last few pages most days this week were classifieds. Out of a 12-page section, for example, four would be ads, so sports was cut down. And the paper cut 14 of the comics and combined that section with its daily Guide section, cutting back on both of those.

    So I'm paying 75 cents every day (it went up from 50 not too long ago) for the same product, but I'm getting less and less of it. I realize newsprint costs are up and ad revenue is down everywhere, but these latest changes are affecting the amount of content, and I've had it.

    As for my need to read the hard copy of something every day: The New York Times is free at the college's library across the street, so I'll start picking that up, like I did today. I read about the Backup Club (those QBs who have been Farve's second string), how many New Yorkers are buying vacation homes in their old hometowns; the story on Pacman Jones; and a few other interesting pieces. I don't have the comics to read every day, but I'll adjust.

    Rant over.
     
  2. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    No offense, but if the section is so noticeably smaller, what did they take out of it that you miss?

    The NY Times has always had different, interesting stories that other papers don't have.
     
  3. trifectarich

    trifectarich Well-Known Member

    Depends on what you're after.

    If I were going to choose to subscribe to either my local major metro daily or the NYT, I'd go with the Times because I can get my fill of local news via TV or the Internet. For a national and international perspective, the local metro can't compete.
     
  4. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    So you're getting the NYT because its free . . . but newspapers who make their product available over the internet for free are idiots.

    Put yourself in a bean counter's shoes. What do you do? Make something free (which hurts revenue), or charge for it (and watch people abandon it for cheaper alternatives, which hurts revenue)?
     
  5. Flip Wilson

    Flip Wilson Well-Known Member

    I certainly understand the bean counters are in a quandry over this. The only reason the Times if free is because I'm on a college campus. (The Wall Street Journal is free, too, but only if I want to walk over to the business school and get a copy.) If I worked in a downtown office, I would have to buy it at the corner newstand.

    What's the answer to the free/paid content question? I don't know, and I'm not sure if anybody does just yet.
     
  6. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    That's not long.
     
  7. txsportsscribe

    txsportsscribe Active Member

    i was shocked a couple of days ago when i picked up the dmn at my parents' home. the entire paper was 70 pages.
     
  8. Flip Wilson

    Flip Wilson Well-Known Member

    That's what she said.
     
  9. Bullwinkle

    Bullwinkle Member

    Your rant sucked and so did your show.

    [​IMG]
     
  10. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    The devil made him do it.
     
  11. steveu

    steveu Well-Known Member

    Hold on, hold on. His show was good. Wasn't his fault he got killed by The Waltons.

    Now as for the paper... did you read an early-week edition like Tuesday or Wednesday? Their size is down on those days for the most part. It's still a fairly decent sized section late in the week and on Sundays.

    Of course, I could be wrong... I haven't seen what the rest of the week is going to bring yet.
     
  12. Blame it on Geraldine!!!!!!!
     
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