Newspaper publishers are moving in the direction of forcing us to read their papers online, by significantly reducing the size of the hard copy we have delivered. For some of us, this is not desirable. Computers are a part of our life, but not our whole life.
The paper I subscribe to has gone in
this direction. The
most recent change made caused me to respond, as seen in the email letter below.
To Sacramento Bee Management/Editorial Staff:
When I picked up the paper this morning, March 1, 2021, I saw three words at the bottom of the page, “To Our Readers.” The opening statement, “The Sacramento Bee is refreshing its comics and puzzles offerings beginning today," took me by surprise. Although I am not a puzzles aficionado, I do love the comics. Turning to the comics page made me ill. “Refreshing" is the wrong word. “Destroying" is more appropriate.
I am a poet and writer who spends many hours creating poems and stories to post on my blog. Therefore, at other times, I want to be away from the computer. I enjoy holding the newspaper in hand and reading it every morning. I hated it when you canceled the Saturday paper. I follow the comics diligently and enjoy how their creators make social commentary come alive in a way that has meaning in everyday life. The comics make a point about how people think, interact, and try to navigate the myriad of obstacles life places before them. In many respects, they are an educational tool that some readers might dismiss. But one needs to look below the surface to get the true meaning of what the creator is saying.
The comics have now gone from over one and a half pages to one page, reducing the number of individual strips from 33 to 18, and increasing the single box comics to twice the size. Doing this eliminated some of the very good strips, including “Jumpstart,” “Mutts,” Beetle Bailey,” “Blondie,” “Crankshaft,” “Frank and Ernest,” “Drabble,” “Grand Avenue,” “LuAnn,” "Hi & Lois,” “Marmaduke”, and “Dennis the Menace,” all of which make comments about life that touch both our minds and hearts.
As a reader of the Bee for over 24 years, I have become more and more disappointed with the content in recent years. There are still people in this world who enjoy reading the news, a decent sports section, and the comics, while holding the paper in hand and sharing its contents with other members of their household. The paper keeps getting less in the value and scope of its contents, while the cost keeps rising.
I encourage you to rethink what you call an effort to "refresh your newspaper," because you have not achieved what you set out to do.
Best regards,
Alan Lowe
Ph.D. in Educational Psychology/Counseling
Retired College Psychology Instructor,
Counselor, and Administrator
Poet and Writer
https://slolowe44.blogspot.com/
Please Note: In today’s paper, it indicated that changes would be made because of readers’ comments. One of the new comic strips included in the “refreshed version” was removed and replaced by “Jumpstart.” The number of strips did not increase.
I also received a reply to my letter from the Bee this afternoon. It attributed the recent changes in content focus to the need to address issues related to the pandemic. I agree that providing this information is important. However, the response did not clarify why other topics no longer appeared, causing the paper to get thinner, and why the Saturday issue was discontinued and the cost of the paper increased. Instead, it suggested I set up my access to the eEdition that will provide me with the Saturday experience I was looking for, additional comics and puzzles, as well as 40 pages of news, sports, and features. The response missed my point about preferring a hard copy edition that provided me with this information.
Copyright © 2021 Alan Lowe. All rights reserved.
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