Why, I remember, way back in the day when your grandpappy still had his hair and the world was young, a Sunday newspaper was really something. Bigger, thicker, more stories, and the funny pages were in color. Jeepers, back then, why, a Sunday paper was something to see, something to linger over.
So what's new in the Sunday PDN today? There's the big, in-depth story on...Blackberry pies at Joyce Daze. That's the above the fold lead story. Then there's a "story" - actually a repurposed press release from the City - informing people that several parking lots downtown will be closed for repairs next week. And then there's the story about the child rapist who was sentenced last week. Last week, as in, on Wednesday. KONP had the story up on their website Thursday morning. It was mentioned here soon after. The PDN put their story up (as of this writing on Sunday morning) five hours ago.And that's about it for new stories. In the big Sunday paper.
After their laughable website redo, I was absolutely believing that the PDN was moving towards a weekly model, and/or being an online-only "newspaper." But seeing how little they are actually doing makes me wonder if they're going to exist at all for much longer. No one will pay for this tiny trickle of non-news, in any format. It's not a viable model at all. Maybe they can limp along for a little while through staff cuts and ad sales, but what we're seeing now is totally unsustainable in even the short run. I mean, who is going to bother paying to advertise in a "newspaper" that no one is reading? This is bad news for Paul Gottlieb, and (potentially) good news for the Port O Call. It was always a natural thing for the Peninsula Daily News to actively oppose the Port O Call - it fit their personality and paranoid ideology. But seeing what we're seeing now with the rapid shrinkage of the PDN, it's clear that they saw the Port O Call as a real threat to their business.
So here's to the Peninsula Daily News suffering a death by a thousand paper cuts. No "newspaper" has deserved it more.
PDN is but one of several dozen corporate owned properties owned by David Black of Black Press in Victoria, BC. Black is easily compared to the Koch Brothers. He has many of the same interests as the Koch Brothers when it comes to fossil fuel and tanker cars and pipelines of crude oil transport. All of this spun out of his newspaper holdings. I do not think David Black gives a shit about what happens in Port Angeles and cares even less about what gets reported. As long as the ad revenue is up all is well with the Black boys. That means the censorship and obfuscation of local scandals center on the publisher in charge. Terry Ward made a short presence here, like a stone skipped on the water, before going on to bigger and better things for Black Press. His actual job is the "Axe Man" for Black Press in the Puget Sound area. He put his advertising man in charge of the day to day affairs at PDN and went round the corner getting rid of people that have been with Black Press long enough to make a decent living. Getting rid of these experienced staff will improve the bottom line and that is all the Koch/Black boys want to see.
ReplyDeleteNotice a constant "help wanted" ad in the PDN seeking reporters. There is no growth so who do you think will get the axe? Terry Ward in his current form is a totally reprehensible individual spreading fear and loathing where ever he goes. That is between him and David Black. It becomes our issue when the PDN attempts to influence political decisions on this side of the water. Take for instance the PDN's constant fawning over the EDC, of which Terry Ward is a member. This is all set to stampede the county commissioners to write another fat check to the EDC so they can continue to stifle competition and reduce wages--just as Terry Ward is doing at the PDN. If the EDC's biggest cheerleader is grinding its people into the ground what are the other less visible EDC members doing to keep wages low and competition out?
This is exactly how Ward operates. He did the same in Arkansas and Indiana before arriving here in Port Angeles. His modus operandi seems to be to fire all those easy to fire and make the workplace inhospitable to those whom he cannot just fire. Half the people in his Arkansas stint got fired and another third walked out and some got better jobs once he made it known they had no future with him. If there is one thing we can do to improve the economic climate in this county it is to prevail upon the county commissioners to quit funding this entrenched bunch of elitist who people the EDC. If their 100 plus members cannot fund the organization then they are not worth funding by the taxpayers. You can make your voice heard by the county commissioners by emailing them at the following addresses. In the subject line be sure to put "correspondence" so it gets into the official record. The commissioners' email are: mozias@co.clallam.wa.us, mchapman@co.clallam.wa.us, bpeach@co.clallam.wa.us
DeleteWhen the Peninsula Daily News finally goes under, it won't make any difference to the distribution of local news here. Not a bit. It hasn't been a source of real or accurate information for many years.
ReplyDeleteLet it die, and let's buy an ad in the POC to celebrate.
The PDN won't go away. It will be here for a long time to come.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, let me also say that the "new and improved" PDN will just be a vehicle for ads from the Home Depot, Walmart, etc. The chain stores that have big advertising budgets, and no local commitments. Those stores just go along, refining their mission: make money.
The model you see now, few stories, lots of ads, is what it is going to be from now on out. Other Black Press community papers don't have subscriptions, and are distributed to every doorstep. They want those ads in your face.
It won't go away, but fade and fade until it is merges with Little Nickel Classifieds.
DeleteMy apologies (of a sort) to the sorry PDN. I forgot to include the story about Marolee dropping her ethics complaint, which makes for a total of about two-and-a-half newish "stories" in today's Peninsula Daily News.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really see it at first, because I was already so trained to see that damned Pat Downie article they had heading things up for days and days, and because this was already old news to most of us.
So, sorry, PDN, but you're still much sorrier.
Yah ... that's good that you threw that in. One always wonders about the dog that did not bark in the night. One never knows, do one?
Delete12:45 a little early to be drinking to the point of incoherence, isn't it? Or, are you always like that? Better to stay drunk that be part of the thinking world, right?
DeleteWhat's that old chestnut: "drink up me hearties, yo ho!"
Downie looked even more cadaverous in the latest photo. Poor guy doesn't look like he has long to go.
DeleteSeeing the sad shape the Peninsula Daily News is in...It makes me smile whenever I see that someone has landed here on this blog after searching for them...
ReplyDeleteLooks like the city got the feds to keep our water flowing, at least temporarily. Still, the city's going to have to step up eventually, which will blast their budget, and (probably) cause our utility rates to go up - again.
ReplyDeleteThe city and the Feds are sparring over who will run the water plant and no one is asking where the water will come from once the snow pack is melted. October rains may be a long way off...
ReplyDeleteWe're looking better than last year. At 500 CFS right now vs 300 this time last year.
DeleteNevertheless, Jefferson County and Sequim are building or at least planning reservoirs, why aren't we?
Port Angeles has an extra 60 million gallons of reservoir capacity already built at no local cost. The Elwha Water Treatment Plant to be gifted by the feds includes four shiny 15-million gallon tanks. (Each one three times bigger than Cutler's Turd Tank, by comparison.)
DeleteResidential and commercial water customers consume less than 3 million gallons a day.
Use the Elwha storage tanks and Voila! Even without imposing any measures to conserve water, the city would have at least a 20 day water supply in reserve.
We know the weather and climate patterns are changing, and that trend is toward "hotter and drier". The glaciers that made water available in the summer and late summer seasons have all but melted away, because of this same "hotter and drier" trend.
DeleteWater storage, and building cisterns for individual houses could be a new business on the Peninsula, employing quite a few people. Having on-site water storage has a lot of advantages over one big centralized reservoir. The many tens of millions (if not hundreds of millions) that will be needed to build a reservoirs that actually could fill the needs of county residents could be instead used to subsidize individual storage cisterns.
Local business, creating local jobs. People have relied upon cisterns for their household water, all over the world, for centuries.
You sir/madam have hit the big one. This is the best idea floated in a long time. Let's talk it up.
DeleteDid the Port re-do the lease for Platypus yet? Sounded pretty dire the last time it was discussed.
ReplyDeleteIt is noted that the program at the Peninsula Daily News continues: "New" look with fewer and fewer new news stories each day. Media - all media - is based on providing content. I guess the PDN is trying to see if they can be a nearly content-free media outlet and survive.
ReplyDelete