"The Oregonian": Black, White, and Read No More

Remember that joke from when you were a kid --- "Question:  "What is black and white and red all over?  Answer:  a newspaper!!!"  Ha! And you thought that was so hilarious and so funny you fell all over yourself laughing. Well, if  you juggle the semantics and tense as I've done for this post, it isn't so funny. Newspapers are being "read" no more.

My family has just joined the many others who have given up on our daily newspaper. We cancelled our subscription.  This was not done lightly, and frankly, I feel like I am losing an old friend.

 Portland's daily newspaper, The Oregonian, (I affectionately call the "O") has been a part of my life since I learned to read.  I recall my Mom used it as a tool to help us learn to read.   I can go back so far as to remember when there were two daily papers in Portland, the Oregonian in the mornings, and the Oregon Journal in the afternoon.  As a young girl, I devoured those papers, absorbing all the news, gossip, cartoons, and advice they offered on a twice-a-day basis.  I loved keeping track of what was going on so I could join in conversations with adults, and realized that it put me a step ahead of  my classmates at school.  I loved reading the paper.

A few times I have appeared in its pages for one reason or another. Most of the "appearances" were favorable and made me proud that I had achieved recognition in our paper.  As a young professional I was often asked to write press releases which quite often would appear as articles in the paper.  When I owned a small retail business, I regularly purchased advertising in the Oregonian knowing thousands might read about my business.  Occasionally, I would submit an article to the editors.  If it was published,  I felt honored.

For my entire life I have looked to the Oregonian as a resource:  it has been my go-to source for current events news, sports, the cultural scene, voting information, advice columnists, horoscope, and my daily scan of the obits. I have this habit of sitting down each morning, in my most comfortable chair, with a cup of coffee and the Oregonian.  I've always suspected thousands of others did the same.  

Using an iPhone for news will never match that morning experience.  There is no sensory feedback in holding an iPhone. The newsprint of the paper smelled of ink, and rustled and crinkled when you turned the pages. And even worse, for those of us advancing toward senior status, it is darned difficult to read the small print on an iPhone, especially in the early morning.  My future looms -- less informed and way less fun.

Saying all this, I have not forgotten my many friends and acquaintances who have made their careers at the Oregonian.  Many still do. Some have been editors, or reporters or columnists, and some have been involved in circulation and advertising.  I looked up to all of them.  They worked for an iconic and historical newspaper.

Alas, it seems, declining readership and sales, the increasing trend toward computer technology, as well as a younger generation getting its news from other places, has forced the Oregonian, (and many other daily newspapers) to reinvent themselves.  It appears our Oregonian has done this with a sharp knife, slicing away at their award winning coterie of local editors and reporters, and unfortunately relying more on "canned" news from wire services and the big papers back East.  Additionally,  it seems that news space once filled with news stories, is now filled with advertising.  Yuck!  Finally, and here is the really sad news.  Our staid old historical newspaper is now presented to us in a tabloid  format!  To me it smacks of  the National Enquirer and the New York Daily News and their like, which scream out at us with yellow journalism and quasi-news in huge headlines. I just can't bear it any more.

So, after really, really trying the new-fangled "O" for several months, my family agrees, it is time.  We are cutting the cord --- breaking a lifetime habit. After June 1st, we will get the printed Oregonian no more.  We might be able to get our news from various other sources, but it won't be the same.  RIP.