[Speed Gibson,
Tuesday May 1, 2007 at 10:54pm]
Poor Circulation
I'm part of the statistic, and I truly wish I weren't. The latest counts report that our Minneapolis Star Tribune is losing subscribers by the thousands, including me early this year. The quality just isn't there anymore, even when they get most of the story right. The emptied-clip hit piece done on Fifth District candidate Alan Fine was the proverbial last straw, and I don't even live in that District.
Since then, we've had a couple of telemarketing calls trying to get us back. Like at a car dealer, when the salesman can't quite reel the "up" in, they have the next level person call you. He offered to put me right through to "one of the editors" to discuss my complaint, and it was tempting. But I told him that they already have an eMail from me on why I quit and what it will take to get me back. And it isn't promises. It's action, like getting rid of reporters and columnists that consistently get stories wrong, like favorite NARN/MOB target Nick Coleman.
A paper at all serious about getting serious about news again has no room for a Nick Coleman. But if I ran that zoo, I'd simply find a veteran old-school copy editor between Coleman and the press room. Every line is fact checked, every source confirmed, and the grammer policed without mercy. Ditto Doug Grow and Lori Sturdevant. But what would I print when not even a line of a column can pass traditional scutiny? They wouldn't be on vacation, ill, or on assignment. I couldn't even say for sure when the next column would appear.
No, I would print the truth. "[Columnist] did not submit anything worth printing today."
Since then, we've had a couple of telemarketing calls trying to get us back. Like at a car dealer, when the salesman can't quite reel the "up" in, they have the next level person call you. He offered to put me right through to "one of the editors" to discuss my complaint, and it was tempting. But I told him that they already have an eMail from me on why I quit and what it will take to get me back. And it isn't promises. It's action, like getting rid of reporters and columnists that consistently get stories wrong, like favorite NARN/MOB target Nick Coleman.
A paper at all serious about getting serious about news again has no room for a Nick Coleman. But if I ran that zoo, I'd simply find a veteran old-school copy editor between Coleman and the press room. Every line is fact checked, every source confirmed, and the grammer policed without mercy. Ditto Doug Grow and Lori Sturdevant. But what would I print when not even a line of a column can pass traditional scutiny? They wouldn't be on vacation, ill, or on assignment. I couldn't even say for sure when the next column would appear.
No, I would print the truth. "[Columnist] did not submit anything worth printing today."