Where do you get your Oregon news?
Paul Gronke
The time has finally arrived: I am canceling my subscription to the "dead trees" version of the Oregonian. I got close a few times over the past few months as the experienced reporters and columnists took their buyouts.
Every Sunday, I would take apart the circulars, ads, and junk inserts and look at what was left--less than what used to constitute a decent daily--and was sure I'd pull the string. There have been a few recent stories that were so poorly sourced that I came close once again. Each time I read a wire service report that I'd already read days before, I told myself why pay for this paper? And when I would turn to the Metro section and it consisted of four pages--just one broadsheet--I told myself no more.
But today's reorganization of the Monday paper was the last straw. Now the Metro section has been eliminated and merged into the front page, explained as a cost-savings measure, but surely one that will only reduce further the amount of news coverage in the Oregonian.
Like many of you, I have been a loyal newspaper reader my whole life. I don't mind the ink stained hands. Reading a paper on a computer is not the same.
Strike one was getting the NY Times for an academic discount of only $21/month for the full seven day paper. Sure, even the Grey Lady is showing her age, but at least that paper arrives with a satisfying thump every morning on my porch. I admit, the IPhone interface has made me question that subscription, but how can I justify $18/month for the O when I pay just $3 more for the NY Times?
Strike two was the buyout. And strike 3 is today's reorganization. How can I pay for a paper that takes me less than 5 minutes?
This leaves me detached from Oregon news. Oregonlive is improved but still abysmal. The blogs aren't consistent. The Tribune is just once a week.
What should I do? What do you do for your Oregon news?
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connect with blueoregon
Dec 1, '08
The time has definitely come for locals like WW et al. to have a daily, live video. I think the real queston is about turning off the boob tube and having some sense of traditional connectedness. It's not different infomation, but the presentation would fill the preceived vacuum.
I think the question is much more a social than a data one.
Dec 1, '08
Remember: If it matters to Oregonians, it's in the Washington Post.
Dec 1, '08
I like local talk shows (both liberal and conservative), the Capital Press (weekly ag newspaper), local TV news, and sometimes Oregon shows up on the international disease reporting systems for human, plant, animal and zoonotic diseases that I subscribe to. I also like blogs like Blue Oregon....as well as some of the county and state websites.
I'm also subscribed to some news letters and a great many national discussion lists that Oregon shows up on from time to time, subscribe to an Oregon Yahoo list regarding the National Animal ID System, keep an ear out for what's going on in the Mulino/Molalla/Canby area through social networking and reading the local newspapers ocasionally - Molalla Pioneer, and the Canby paper, I forget the name at the moment. I'm also involved with the Mulino Hamlet - I'm the webmaster and registrar, and the Hamlet board and county Liason are great resources for finding out what's going on as far as land use regulations, and other things.
For anyone who is outside of an incorporated city, and for which a CPO, Hamlet or Village has been formed, those are great venues to find out what's going on regarding state and local issues. The Molalla CPO has a lot of info on the LNG issues going on right now in Oregon. I went to a Molalla CPO meeting a few months ago because I was giving a talk and Q&A on the Urban and Rural Reserves process that was going to have a direct impact on the CPO and it's residents/property owners and it's relationship with the city of Molalla (I'm serving on the Policy Advisory Committee for Clackamas county for the reserves process). I learned more about the LNG issue and FERC than I had from most of the other information resources I normally use.
Newspapers are good starting points, but I prefer to go to the source if at all possible. And at any rate, the wider a base a person can source their information, the more you can validate things and learn to see new angles.
Dec 1, '08
Let's see, for me it's the Mercury, Oregonlive, Tribune (dead tree format), Blue Oregon, the fairly awesome Ridenbaugh Press, and...word of mouth. Amy Ruiz & co. at the Merc have been doing an outstanding job, especially on the city hall beat. The Tribune always has great coverage of issues, even though it has to be filtered for OBA/PBA propaganda. Ridenbaugh has been great post-election, digging up some pretty cool stories, and combining local with regional coverage in a way that I've rarely seen even in the NYT. Oh, and Oregonlive/word of mouth to fill in the gaps.
I don't read the willieweak anymore on principle; their drive to get the "scoop" on scandalous stories blinds them to big-picture issues, and makes them come off as smarmy and inaccurate to boot. Sorry. /rant
Does anyone do a good local news digest? BO and Ridenbaugh link to small-paper stories, but I haven't found a site (or dead tree) that consistently collects local stories from all over Oregon and publishes a digest. (Hrm, maybe I should get into the local-news-digest-blog business for myself....)
Dec 1, '08
Where I get my news each week (in order):
7:01 p.m.
Dec 1, '08
Prof, I read the NY Times online, watch The News Hour, and check various blogs - including Oregon Live. In my home state of New Mexico, some intelligent folks put together their own online newspaper/blog. It's all hard news without the wasteful paper format. I think someone in Oregon should give it a try. .
7:02 p.m.
Dec 1, '08
Great post. I've always considered it a civic duty to support the local paper since no one else is going to fill the need for doing investigative journalism. But of course increasingly you don't even get that, you just get reprints of AP stories and the highlights off the police blotter. Not a lot of there there to be sure, but I honestly don't see anyone else filling in for the role papers used to fulfill.
For everything other than local news, I get it from the WaPo or Christian Science Monitor websites. Blogs do a good job on their specific issues, but tend to be niche oriented; for good comprehensive local news I don't see anything at all. (And yeah, the Oregonian's online presence is terrible--completely disorganized.)
7:03 p.m.
Dec 1, '08
Sorry, it's called the New Mexico Independent. I still for the life of me cannot make a link.
Dec 1, '08
I agree that reading online isn't the experience that reading the dead-tree version is, but that's where I get my news. I get RSS feeds from the OregonLive, Corvallis GT (I live in Corvallis), OSU Barometer, Bend Bulletin, Statesmen Journal, Portland Tribune, and the Portland Business News. I used to get the Register Guard, but even more than OregonLive, they don't seem to understand that quantity is not quality. And sending me the same article 20 times does not make me more informed (or happier) than sending it once- so I droppped that one. I also follow a variety of politiblogs (like this one) and personal blogs that often hit on news and political topics. There's no one source that's going to satisfy me, but taken together, my mix keeps me pretty happy. Oh, and just drop television completely- it serves no purpose unless you enjoy being angry.
Dec 1, '08
After reading the small (blue background) story on the changes to the big O's daily format, I called the public editor and asked which section they were going to put racist NAZI inspired hate DVDs into.
I won't even buy the rag out of one of those yellow boxes much less subscribe.
Some selected sources in no particular order: 1. BBC world service 2. Air America, Nova M, Jones network 3. PBS, NPR 4. 538.com 5. Joe the Plumber 6. All the newspapers and magazines there also!
7:37 p.m.
Dec 1, '08
I am still a subscriber, and will be until the O decides it's too expensive to deliver a paper to my house every morning. It's a 20+ year ritual for me to start my morning with the paper and a cup of joe. I wouldn't know what to do otherwise.
As for news, we're in a bad place. The O still does more original reporting than anyone else--by far. Blogs are a useful filter, but until we start paying people to go out and report, we'll never do anything like real journalism.
I think the future of news is the OPB model. You want good news, you should pay the newspeople--not advertisers--to make sure it gets done.
Incidentally, I suspect that my morning newspaper-reading days are less than five years from ending. I wouldn't be surprised to see the O suspend daily delivery within two years.
7:41 p.m.
Dec 1, '08
National: AP & New York Times
Local: KGW.com, OPB, blogs and weekly print
Dec 1, '08
When the Oregonian hit $1.00 per weekday paper, I quit - about 6 weeks back. Their subscription service in Central Oregon stinks. If you want the paper stopped for a week while you're out of town, forget it, you'll find a molding pile upon your return. I live on a couple acres, with my house back from the street aways. My agreement upon initial subscription was for the driver to go up the driveway, throw the paper towards my door, and go back down the driveway (lots of room to drive a circle). It took only 2 months for the instructions to be lost, and the paper to be delivered in the middle of the driveway at the street - where it was nearly always the worst for wear.
So, the Oregonian lost my interest by way of very poor service and high expense. In other words - a poor business model.
So, I watch cable TV including the Portland stations and MSNBC, I read Blue OR, I read the Bend Bulletin every other day or so (only 50 cents a copy weekdays), I occasionally read National papers.
But, never again the Oregonian - which is sad, as I was a regular reader for over 40 years.
Dec 1, '08
The last straw for me was the editorial endorsement of Gordon Smith, as blinkered a point of view as I have ever read in a newspaper. I have some regrets about leaving some good news reporters because of a smarmy editorial page editor, but I finally could no longer square my support for the paper with my values.
Dec 1, '08
I absolutely need a tangible newspaper in my hands in the morning when I drink my first cup of coffee and that has almost always been The Oregonian. One factor in that decision in recent years is that the NY Times on-line version is far superior to OregonLive. So, at least in one instance, The O has retained a subscriber simply because of its inferior web site.
I don't trust any purported news from commercial radio or television. The other papers don't have the resources to cover Portland and Oregon very well, but combined, you can piece together most of the news. So being a news junkie with a bad caffeine habit (also need a cup in the afternoon) I read everything that's published on a regular schedule--Willie Weak, Merc, Trib, many of the neighborhood rags and several local blogs.
The amount of news the NY Times carries about Oregon is somewhat suprising.
10:39 p.m.
Dec 1, '08
OK, I guess I'm too old to change, but I can't imagine starting the day without reading the newspaper. I've always done that, in every town I've lived in. I read lots of stuff on-line too, but I find stories in the O that I would never find on-line. It's little ones; features that seem to rare now; maybe it's partly the visibility of all the headlines on a page, or working your way from start to finish. You can never finish an on-line publication.
I spent about 5 minutes this morning trying to find the Metro section, cuz the first thing I do in the morning is pull out the front page, metro, and business and toss the rest. I guess now that they've combined all 3 into the first section, they can whittle away a page at a time, until they can throw it out with the bath water.
At some point, these organizations have to stop cutting costs and start raising revenues. Wish they could figure out how. Wish I could figure out how.
Most of the on-line rags still really depend on traditional print journalists for most of their facts. Then it gets wrapped in some blogger's opinions, followed by a thousand screeching commenters that are usually operating at about bill o'reilly's level of discourse. (Sometimes Including me.). If we lose our papers, we will lose responsible edited comprehensive journalism. Nothing on line can replace that yet.
10:40 p.m.
Dec 1, '08
Jeff, I am wondering how you can justify the O when you can get the NY Times for just a few dollars more.
How do you get the RSS feed from Oregon live? Can someone tell me more?
Someone clued me into a conservative leaning oregon news feed a few years ago and I've lost the link. It wasn't bad--sometimes the stories had a snarky commentary next to them, but it actually did a good job of listing the main headlines from most of the major Oregon newspapers.
Dec 1, '08
For a long time, I've read the O daily, at the coffee shop. The NYtimes too. The O has decent reporters and coverage of Oregon news, but of course, not all of it is covered in any one single edition of the O's numerous print locale specific editions...what are there? 9 or so? So, the downtown metro edition doesn't have certain Washington Co or Clackamas Co stories, and so forth. Online is kind of indispensable to make up for those lapses.
I wonder why the O can't get oregonlive organized to be more user friendly. What is it? The money? NYtimes online is comparatively so much easier. Subscribe to that paper and you can even get the paper online in print layout form so you can see it just as you would if you were holding it in your hands. I realize the O isn't the Times, but maybe they could try just a little harder.
I'd miss being able to get my hands on a paper copy of the news. Hope this form won't become so costly or exclusive that people can't get one when they wish to.
Until I read this thread this evening, I wasn't aware of the O's elimination of a separate Metro section. There I am at the coffee shop going through the discard magazine rack and fresh copies of the O, looking for the stupid Metro section. Well, I'd seen some of the regular Metro section items in the main page I'd read, but they didn't seem to all be there. Maybe they dropped some of the nationally syndicated columnists they've been carrying up until now. I don't think this was a wise move on the O's part.
Maybe the O should go to a print version 4 days a week, using the savings to keep the content up.
10:54 p.m.
Dec 1, '08
Well, I'm less into local news than I am into national and international news. It's always been that way, I don't know why other than that I'm a foreign policy junkie at heart.
My daily sources of news in no particular order:
OPB/NPR Blue Oregon OregonLive Yahoo News
There are lots of other sources but none are part of my daily news grazing.
Dec 1, '08
Paul: Oregonlive has multiple RSS feeds. All you need to do is:
Click on the RSS link at the bottom of the page, or http://www.oregonlive.com/blogs/index.ssf
You'll see all the feeds; click on the orange box next any of them, and you will be prompted to add it to your RSS reader. I use Google Reader, which works fine for me.
At the risk of revealing my post-literate self: my #1 sources of MSM news are podcasts of OPB and other NPR programs. Free podcasts make my day. OPB podcasts Think Out Loud, Oregon Morning Edition, and the City Club, and maybe others.
A slightly off topic plug: In my view the best national NPR news program, hands down, is the Diane Rehm Show, a call-in broadcast daily from D.C. Unfortunately, it's broadcast live from 10-12 Eastern which means it can't play on the west coast. But you can subscribe to a podcast or stream it; the station is WAMU (http://www.wamu.org). Do check it out, especially the Friday end-of-week news wrapup.
Dec 1, '08
Since I'm a hick: Baker City Herald NYT online WaPo online McClatchy DC online Ridenbaugh BO Balloon Juice (for comments in a big way also) OregonLive occassionally a lot of odd "B" grade blogs (maybe a letter farther along the alphabet)
11:40 p.m.
Dec 1, '08
Paul, you're probably thinking of Oregon Watchdog (oregonwatchdog.com), which not a few lefty friends of mine check daily, despite its conservative angle.
For me, there's nothing like the print Oregonian. While OregonLive has improved lately, I can't tell you how many times I reference something in the paper that online readers never saw. Well, I could tell you if you bought me a nice beer. But it's a very common occurrence.
I just interact with the news a different way, and in the paper, I'm much more likely to read or at least scan things I wouldn't click through on when I read the NYT online. I think it gives me a broader perspective. The trend towards reading online feels like "the Big Sort" of news (like the Big Sort of moving into politically-similar neighborhoods) -- that we just sort into reading the subset of info we want, rather than a broader diversity of news that might be helpful for us to better understand the world.
11:45 p.m.
Dec 1, '08
i love having so many options online. all thru the day i can check the O, NYTimes, Seattle Times, Billings Gazette (grew up there), LA Times, Corvallis GT, Merc (WW has done jumped the shark and rarely worth the read), KC Star (my bro's paper), Chicago, WaPost, Huff Post, BBC ... the whole freaking world is there. i hit a few regularly but frequently just follow the bouncing ball. the world is a crazy place, so why make a plan for my news? it's all edited before i read it, so i don't go looking for "truth". facts i find by having enough different people, of different perspectives, say things similar enough.
no tv. clips via Crooks & Liars, etc, if it's important. Jon Stewart on Hulu, a day late. whatever.
wake up to NPR but don't rarely listen too long. talk about shark-jumpers.
and whatever Chuck Butcher tells me, that's good enough.
12:00 a.m.
Dec 2, '08
In my home state of New Mexico, some intelligent folks put together their own online newspaper/blog. It's all hard news without the wasteful paper format. I think someone in Oregon should give it a try.
Well, that's pretty much what LocalNewsDaily.com is - the entire family of Pamplin papers agglomerated into a single website.
The New Mexico Independent is sort of a souped-up blog. It does hard news, but it's got a progressive take. Basically, what BlueOregon would/could be if we had $100,000/year.
I'm pretty sure the Oregonian re-org is only for Mondays, right? Or did I misread that?
Three additional places I go for news:
<h1>1. The BlueOregon News page - an automated feed of political news, helpfully linked from the navigation and labeled "Oregon News". I'm always surprised how many people don't know that it's there.</h1> <h1>2. The Oregon page on LeftyBlogs.com. You don't have to visit every blog in the state every day - just hit 'em when a headline pops up.</h1> <h1>3. PolitickerOR. They regurgitate too many press releases, and it seems that someone killed the copy editor, and "Wally Edge" is annoyingly anonymous, but they're pretty fast on the trigger on political news.</h1>But here's the thing: I know how to find the news on topics that I know I care about. But the reason I like the physical paper is the serendipity of browsing - coming across the stories that I don't know that I care about.
I will say this - it's sort of a battlefield promotion, but moving the opinion pages up to the front section is long overdue. I've always felt that burying them in Section C or whatever is a statement that the editorial section is sub-par (which I actually don't think it is.)
And is it just me, or is Jonathan Nicholas gone too?
Dec 2, '08
NPR OPB WSJ The Guardian UK The New Yorker Drudge BO
:)...
Dec 2, '08
The daily blogs from the Merc, WW, and JO as well as Oregonlive and Portland Indy's web site. BO, LO, and PDXwiseguys. Also KBOO, OPB and KPOJ.
Dec 2, '08
No Oregonian? Sheesh. Do you expect me to take my laptop into the bathroom for 25 minutes every morning?
Dec 2, '08
You know, before we react TOO much to what we think we all read, I believe that editor's note stated they were changing the MONDAY paper, not every day of the week.
I would bet that Metro is intact and separate on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. After all, there's a difference between dropping Monday's Metro (not as many people work Sundays) and dropping the rest of the week's Metro (people work during the week).
I agree dropping Monday Metro is bad, but maybe not as bad as some of you are making it out to be. Guess we'll find out this morning.
7:06 a.m.
Dec 2, '08
Gee, Paul, I'm guessing the O will be calling Lunch and Eisenger exclusively for expert political analyses in the future. You've got papers to grade, anyway.
I'm down to three newspapers that I insist on holding in my hands - the Oregonian, NYT, and WSJ. I cannot accurately gauge the impact of a story unless I see the placement, headline, etc. on the printed page. Me and my kind are largely irrelevant to the newspaper industry at this point, however.
Like Jeff Alworth, I would probably prefer paying for news via the OPB or CQ model. If newspapers have to rely on the OPB model, the reporters and others who remain in the business will all be making OPB wages (which seem to track the non-profit wage scale). That brave, new world could be interesting, but it would push out a whole lot of talented journalists and rule out large swaths of potential future journalists. I don't think there is enough of a news-dependent market in Oregon to successfully follow the CQ route.
I began to more fully understand the fresh hell the O and other newspapers were living when I first became able, through a variety of online sources, to read 90% of the next day's Oregonian 8-16 hours before it hit my doorstep. The economic downturn is simply accelerating the entropy brought on by the rapidly evolving media landscape.
In addition to my 3 papers, I subscribe to a variety of Google News Alerts, check the NYT, Washington Post, Oregon Live, and CNN sites, and jockey Google News throughout the day.
For what it's worth, like Kari, I think the recent re-design of the Oregonian makes sense. I have long thought the editorial voice of the O suffered, in part, because of how few of their readers actually made it to the back of the Metro section.
Dec 2, '08
The Portland Mercury has the city news down to a science. Especially on their blog. They consistently scoop the Oregonian. WW does a decent job as well.
Dec 2, '08
I cancelled the O months ago for pretty much the same reasons. I did not want to tell them they sucked when I called, so I fibbed and told them I was moving.
They tried desperately to keep me. The phone person offered me 90 days of the O for free at my new address if I did not cancel now, but I declined.
She next said I could give the free paper to someone who could not afford it for the next 90 days, but I again declined.
She next told me that since I was moving the paper was great to wrap dishes in before boxing them, and I could always cancel later (no kidding). I remained steadfast, and said no thanks. It seems they need desperately need distribution numbers for ads, no matter if the paper is actually read or not. I wish them well, but the future seems dim for them.
8:18 a.m.
Dec 2, '08
I basically quit wasting my money on The Oregonian when they got rid of their local news section.
My news comes from...
The Gresham Outlook KATU and KGW web sites Oregonlive WWeek Blue Oregon and other local blogs
The Oregonlive web site is based on a model by Advance Internet which is used for all of the newspapers owned by the company that owns The Oregonian. When I worked there, we had plenty of suggestions about changes to be made - even offered to make the changes ourselves. They weren't interested.
Too many newspapers still don't get what the internet means to them and how they can utilize it. And they definitely don't understand blogging.
9:01 a.m.
Dec 2, '08
Personally, I keep my subscription to the O. I also have one with the Beaverton Valley Times. Neither will I cancel.
If we want reporters to cover local stories, we have to make it worth someone's while to report them. And if the public doesn't do that by paying directly, instead we'll start to see the FOX news model: "news" being little more than a paid political advertisement.
Dec 2, '08
Tuesday's Oregonian has a separate Metro section. Is it possible the ranting is a little premature?
Dec 2, '08
I dumped the Oregonian after thirty years of daily reading when they delivered a copy of the Obsession DVD in my Sunday paper and Fred Stickel said it was a free speech issue.
I miss the local coverage but some things cannot be forgiven. The O will not be around too much longer anyway, I think, so good riddance.
It's hard to get local news, though.
Dec 2, '08
Some may still enjoy the O, but I think the subscriber numbers are exaggerated to keep paid advertisers.
A close second in wasted paper would be the white and yellow pages that are dropped of at our doors without being requested. I received new ones yesterday, and they are already being recycled today. Again, just keep the subscriber numbers up to attract advertisers, even if the recipients are not really reading the print.
9:44 a.m.
Dec 2, '08
I am wondering how you can justify the O when you can get the NY Times for just a few dollars more.
Paul, I can't get it "for a few dollars more." It's $700 a year for civilians. Would that it were otherwise. I have never been on the jihad against the Times, even during the dark days of the war. I expect it will only get more expensive--the cost of paper, ink, gasoline, and bodies to get it to my door are only going up.
I should mention that I get a huge amount of my local news from OPB. They do a great job.
9:44 a.m.
Dec 2, '08
Mike, no they said Monday only. My frustration has been building and the elimination of the Monday Metro was just an excuse. I am more frustrated at the 5 minutes (not 25 as Gil describes) that it takes me to get through the O most days.
I agree with all the posters who say the physical nature of the print edition can't be replaced with an electronic version. Would I read about Chavez's attempt to eliminate term limits if it were not in the print NYTimes? Probably not since it was not prominent in the electronic World section. Would I read the little snippets of news from Clackamas, Gresham, Sandy if not for the print Oregonian? Doubtful.
The O still landed on my doorstep this morning so perhaps I am just crying wolf. It would be a hard step to eliminate the local newspaper.
And Josh, the O never calls me anyway. The O is interested only in local news and I am mainly a national guy. The irony is that I've appeared more times in the NY Times and USA Today than the O.
Dec 2, '08
I'm shocked at the respect for the NY Times. Much better than most US, but I find it to be vastly inferior to the Manchester Guardian. Definitely a sobering consideration.
10:36 a.m.
Dec 2, '08
Posted by: Greg D. | Dec 2, 2008 5:51:09 AM
No Oregonian? Sheesh. Do you expect me to take my laptop into the bathroom for 25 minutes every morning?
There you go. I get nervous going into the bathroom without reading material, and what could be more appropriate than the O, even without Reinhard?
11:20 a.m.
Dec 2, '08
I don't expect that much in terms of national political reporting from the O. I like the local news, I like the recipes in FoodDay, I like the new emphasis on sustainability in the Living section. And I want to read Zits and Doonesbury and Dear Abby. And clip the coupons. ($10 off at Safeway today!) I enjoy reading about what's going on in the community and hearing about new restaurants and opportunities to volunteer.
I'm with Jeff and John and several others. I wouldn't know what to do in the morning if I didn't have the paper.
Dec 2, '08
I read the O on occasion - the website is abysmal. The Eugene Register Guard - pretty much daily WW Tillamook Headlight Herald
I am old - I like the physical paper.
Online I read Blue Oregon, Daily Kos, Huffpost and salon. Also NW Republican to see what the wingnuts are saying.
For sports I read ESPN, FOXSports and Deadspin
I listen to NPR in the morning
No tv news at all - used to watch Bill Maher's show but no longer have HBO.
I spoke with a guy who's worked at the O for 30 years. They really are struggling with finding their place in the world.
Dec 2, '08
I only catch the "O" at work for free on my break. It temporarily distracts me. I rarely pay for it. As for improvement I would start by getting rid of all the lame conservative columnists. The departed David Reinhart was an embarrassment, Jonah Goldberg is a joke and the rest are completely uninteresting. Isn't there anybody better out there? The Editorial Board could stand a good housecleaning as well.
I log onto BO, Rawstory, Daily Kos, Huffpo, WaPo, NYT, WSJ, Crooks and LIars, Firedoglake, Glenn Greenwald,McClatchy, a little Oregon Live, and stream some Rachel Maddow and or Keith Olbermann.
I read the Albany Democrat Herald for trashy crime reports. The Corvallis Gazette Times has an awful website so I don't look at it much although I live here.
But, I admit as well I still like the physical paper so I will pick up and read anything that comes into view including the 'tell and sell.'
Dec 2, '08
Hey, Paul: Anna Griffin's new Metro column starts tomorrow. I'm betting that it will consistently add a few minutes to what's left of your appreciation of what we do.
9:17 p.m.
Dec 2, '08
I started commuting to Salem daily just yesterday for a new job and debated whether to subscribe to the Oregonian or continue to buy it each day.
I opted for a quick stop at the 7-11 on Barbur Blvd. just past Tobacco Town.
Got to work early and started to read the O. WHERE THE HELL IS THE METRO SECTION? I thought I'd gotten short-changed. Then I read the explanation on the front page. Never mind.
For the REST of the story:
NPR/OPB WashingtonPost.com NYTimes.com Drudge StatesmanJournal.com KGW.com New Yorker
We are what we read. Right?
Dec 3, '08
I'm required to read the Oregonian, Gresham Outlook, Sandy Post, The Dalles Chronicle and Hood River News for my work (looking for education-related stories).
For myself, I have a subscription on my Kindle to NYT ($13.99/month). I also rotate buying/reading single copies of various other papers from around the world, available on Kindle--LA Times, Chicago Tribune, WSJ, WaPo,Boston Globe.
Locally,I go online to OregonLive, Gresham Outlook, Mercury, WW, BO, and other blogs. I also listen (live or podcast) to various OPB/NPR stuff as I have time, read Daily Kos, Firedog Lake,Roll Call. I watch Olbermann and Maddow online and scan the online news via Yahoo.
No TV. What drives me nutty about the O is how many grammatical and spelling errors there are. Don't these people have spell-check on their computers? Don't they know how to write a sentence and not have it end in a preposition? Also, why is that at least once a week, the O will have a story start on one page, but refer you to the wrong page to finish the story? In other words, why aren't they proofreading the damn paper before printing it? I've seen more professional university newspapers. (sorry/rant)
But seriously, if you have Kindle, go that route for NYT---much cheaper that way.
Dec 4, '08
I have to read around. Today, I read about our Democratic Senator Wyden on Glenn Greenwald's Salon blog. This morning we hear Greenwald report that Wyden is now backtracking on his statements opposing torture. Here is Greenwald, begining his discussion,
"...According to Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane, who wrote the article, Feinstein and Wyden are just two of the "senior Democratic lawmakers" who have "seemed reluctant in recent interviews to commit the new administration to following the Army Field Manual in all cases" -- despite the fact that both Feinstein and Wyden said throughout the year that they emphatically favored such a measure and even co-sponsored legislation requiring it.
From the Times article: "in an interview on Tuesday, Mrs. Feinstein indicated that extreme cases might call for flexibility." And: "'I think that you have to use the noncoercive standard to the greatest extent possible,' she said, raising the possibility that an imminent terrorist threat might require special measures." Wyden's comments were even worse:
Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, another top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said he would consult with the C.I.A. and approve interrogation techniques that went beyond the Army Field Manual as long as they were “legal, humane and noncoercive.” But Mr. Wyden declined to say whether C.I.A. techniques ought to be made public.
What makes this so notable is that, for the last year, Feinstein and Wyden were both insistent that the only way to end torture and restore America's standing in the world was to require CIA compliance with the Army Field Manual -- period..."
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/12/04/feinstein/index.html
There's more discussion following this snip. I read the Oregonian only occasionally. There is no one place to go for news because no one place covers all the topics that I want to keep up on. You have to look around.
Dec 4, '08
NYT every day, Portland Tribune once a week, bikeportland.org every now and then, misc. other websites and now: blueoregon as my home page. I was tempted to buy the Sizemore issue of the O the other day, but 75 cents? No way.
Dec 4, '08
Well,
If the paper's size and ability to cover the news is suffering from lack of support, withdrawing your support isn't going to help.
"If I had to choose between government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I would gladly choose the latter."
T-Jeff
Dec 5, '08
Editor and Publisher says a number of cities may get the reverse Jefferson by 2010: http://is.gd/acvC
Dec 5, '08
Kari--Don't tell me you miss Jonathan Nicholas?
Last I heard, he was writing some of the editorials.