Ever since I ended my career as an itinerant musician
decades ago, I’ve had a daily newspaper delivered to my home in every state and
town I’ve lived in. I’m sure the same is
true for my wife Toni. We’re both still newsies at heart, so we had a serious
discussion this weekend about the letter that came in the mail from The
Wisconsin State Journal, which we’ve had delivered to the Compound since we
bought the joint in ’98.
The letter informed us that the next time they took a chunk
of money out of our bank account, the amount would be changing to $29.25 a
month. A buck a day. They of course did not list what they’re charging now, so
I looked it up, and it was pretty close what I thought it was: $22.65 a month.
Math is far from my strong suit, but I think that’s about a
29% increase.
My bride’s reaction was simple: we ought not be on the hook
for paying down Lee Enterprises debt. I’m still not exactly sure how the
ownership arrangement works; it involves entities like Lee, Capital Newspapers
Inc., The Wisconsin State Journal, The Capital Times; one owns half of this and
part of that; one owns part of this and some of that; yawn. But Lee Enterprises seems to be the one in
control.
I was saddened a few years back when Lee pulled the plug on
the Capital Times, the “liberal” Madison daily paper. But, given the times, it
wasn’t that surprising. The Capital Times is now essentially an online
operation, but their print product is delivered as a section of the Wednesday
morning Wisconsin State Journal, and I looked forward to getting it every
Wednesday. I enjoy Paul Fanlund’s columns a great deal; I like Mike Ivey’s
stuff; I enjoy the several pages of op/ed the Cap Times provides, too.
My wife and I are…..well, were….big supporters of the State
Journal. We read it every day. At least, when it’s delivered before 6:30 AM on
weekdays, we do. But lately, that’s been slipping. Too often it makes an
appearance after 7 AM, and by then, Toni’s gone off to work and I’m at work in
my home studio in front of this computer.
The State Journal still has some really top-notch reporters and
columnists. George Hesselberg’s stuff is top-shelf. Dee Hall is a tremendous
reporter. David Wahlberg is a formidable health-beat reporter. Our friend Doug
Moe’s column is the quintessence of Madison. Pat Simms, a great reporter, still
does some part-time work for the paper.
I know I’m forgetting some names; but – let me make it clear that our
cancellation has NOTHING to do with their excellent work.
But the product the State Journal puts on our porch in the
morning (and I mean literally on our porch – we tip our delivery man $50 at
Christmas and $50 on the 4th of July to drive up the driveway and
toss the paper right on our front porch) does not merit in any way a 29%
increase in cost. News content has
steadily declined over the past few years, as the reporting staff was constantly
downsized; overall, the quality is, in our estimation, lower. Again, not the
quality of work being done by the reporting staff, but the overall quality of
the paper.
Here’s the home office building for Lee Enterprises, in
Davenport Iowa - certainly an unassuming edifice for a company that owns a lot
of media properties. I do not know a
great deal about the finances of Lee Enterprises, but I do know that they made
some gambles a while ago and racked up a huge amount of debt acquiring more
media properties. Their stock has tanked a couple times in recent memory and
was nearly de-listed not that long ago.
Above is a map representing Lee’s various media holdings.
They have a pretty big footprint across the nation.
Mary Junck is the CEO, and, unflattering caricature above
notwithstanding, I’m sure she’s had to make some “difficult decisions” in the
past decade. Usually, the way I see it, the decisions have involved firing a
lot of reporters, photographers, and content-creators in general, while taking
huge bonuses as the stock tanks and the quality diminishes.
When I called Monday afternoon to cancel, the young lady who
answered the phone didn’t even try to resell me. She simply said “your last paper will be June
15th”. I had to ask how much it would cost to get the paper on
Sunday only - $15/month, or, $3.46 per Sunday paper – an absurdly high rate for
a paper which is mostly paid advertising.
I don’t expect Og Mandino (the so-called “world’s greatest salesman”) to
be on the other end of the line, but perhaps a few dollars spent in sales
training for the phone staff over there on Fish Hatchery Road (or wherever they
are) would pay for itself in a hurry.
There is no joy here.
There was no sense lecturing the phone-answering-lady about the
outrageousness of a 29% rate-hike. It’s a decision my wife and I did not make
lightly, and I hope our friends who still work at the State Journal and Cap
Times can hang on long enough to leave on their own terms.
As Ed Murrow used to say, good night, and good luck.
