I wish I could feel bad about this. Most certainly, people who do not deserve it are being caught in the economic crossfire. But this local "newspaper" is reaping what it has sown. The fault lies at the feet of the publishers and editors who endlessly and shamelessly sucked up to those "right people" shoring up "the stagnant ad revenue".
6 PM Update:
I've taken a number of calls on this development. "What comes next?", seems to be the big question. After that, it's, "Why aren't the Courier's two biggest stories of the week online?".
Sunday's story on Community One finally made it online at 4:18 PM today.
And here's my prediction about what comes next: If the big guns at Stephens Media/in Las Vegas don't get their heads out of their asses and stop catering to the "right people" . . . and ditch the paywalls . . . and the banning & deleting of comments . . . if they don't switch gears and open their "watchful eyes" and start telling the stories-that-should-have-been told all along . . . what comes next is getting rid of Saturday publication . . . then taking it down to two days a week . . . and then POOF!, the Courier is the Randolph Guide.
And the Guide would STOMP them.
4 comments:
Perhaps they'll come into the 21st Century. If you do a Google search today on "Courier Tribine", right below their link is one for something called "Dr. J's HouseCalls".....
Buzz, if this newspaper had EVER played fair, Dr. J's Housecalls would NOT exist - because my story would have been reported as it happened - and (I still believe in my bones) the local populace would not have stood for it.
Very important (now WAY overpaid) heads would have rolled.
My life could have been very different. But the wagons have been tightly circled since day one. You cannot say anything bad about Randolph Hospital - or (especially) the people who run it. Morrison and Eblin were/remain untouchable.
And again, with regards to what is being said on this blog (and elsewhere), the publishers of the Courier have no one to blame but themselves.
J.D. Walker putting down her pen as my Father and I pleaded to the Asheboro City Council for help (back in April 2004) - and not reporting a word, is certainly memorable.
But I will never forget standing outside of one of the public meetings on the annexation of Dave's Mountain - talking with my ex - after I had stood up and publicly eviscerated the entire "right" lot for their under-handed machinations (see the sidebar) . . . and seeing CT "reporter" Chip Womick wal out of the meeting. He looked back at me/us and literally sneered/chuckled/shook his head . . . and kept walking in the other direction.
I wanted to rip that stupid ponytail right off his head.
You can cater to those who buy the big ads all you want. But if no one reads your paper because you've lost all your credibility, all the ads in the world will not matter.
Can't believe that I "kan't" spell today. Anyway, look at the Wikipedia link about the "High Point Enterprise", the local paper for the Furniture City, or what's left of it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Point_Enterprise
They print the High Point paper in Durham. Go figure? Wonder where they'll print the "Courier Tribune"?
My late Aunt Betsy Armfield Smith, a long time High Point resident, told me years ago that High Point was just a larger version of Asheboro. So, I can only wonder if what has transpired there, will play out elsewhere? High Point has lost their mall, and has had a 50% increase in the number of abandoned houses(see link: http://www.myfox8.com/news/wghp-story-abandoned-homes-110318,0,6388086.story). A real estate agent acquaintance cringes whenever he gets a listing in High Point now. High Point is there, but nobody seems to be beating a path to it.
Sounds a lot like Asheboro doesn't it?
As hardened as my heart is right now, I'd like to think that Asheboro, given its location sitting on two major east-west/north-south highways, with at least one decent tourist attraction, and without the uber-baggage of a dying furniture market, has a better chance at long-term survival/revival than High Point.
But quite simply, our leaders are going to have to clean up their act.
The winking and nodding and good-ole-boy crap has to stop . . . and small town values have to actually MEAN something.
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