1. Texas Burger Stops

   Paper?

   Isn’t that counter-productive to the ‘green’ movement?

   Seriously, I haven’t picked up a paper in a long time except for the local one from my hometown.

   Aug 20th, 2008

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2. Steve-O

   I’m not quite sure what the green comment is about, but I’m a big believer in newspapers and think that newspapers, along with the one-room schoolhouse, freedom to have any religion or no religion, the flintlock rifle, can beer, electric guitars and astronauts,helped make this country great.

   Didn’t see that one coming, huh?

   A great local paper makes any town a little bit better. It goes great with a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, and it goes great in the recycle bin when you are done.

   Aug 20th, 2008

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3. Chris

   I was a daily subscriber for years and cut back to just weekends a couple of years ago. Now I probably won’t renew next time because the changes made in the last couple of years have left the S-T thinner, weaker, and just not nearly as good. If they are losing me, they are in real trouble, because I can’t imagine there are many people who enjoy sitting down with a newspaper and a cup of coffee to start off the day more than me. Well, there’s still coffee, I guess.

   Aug 20th, 2008

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4. VinnyV

   The wife like the coupons section on Sundays and I read it occasionally, but I don’t see enough of a benefit to justify paying 13 - 16 bucks a month. I think I’ll just stick to the online news sources - they are just as inaccurate and bias at times, sure - but at least I’m not paying good money.

   Aug 20th, 2008

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5. Anton

   I’ve been reading the Star Telegram since I was a kid. It’s more colorful and user-friendlyish than other papers, but for news that isn’t bleeding and local, I turn to the New York Times and The Economist.

   A reporter interviewed me last month and even sent out a photog, but my story was never printed. I’ve since emailed her and her email address no longer exists. I’m guessing she’s no longer with the paper.

   Aug 21st, 2008

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6. texfana

   We have subscribed for 20 years (remember when you had to choose between the morning and the evening editions?). The paper has gotten so thin and uninteresting but I do still feel the need to stay current on the city’s doings with newsprint rather that the talking heads on the tv news. We also use the presspass occasionally, read the startime for weekend ideas, check the classifieds for estate sales and use the tv guide. I guess I would miss it if it were gone but it isn’t what it used to be.

   Aug 21st, 2008

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7. b kooistra

   I spent the first 10 years of my employment life following college working as a journalist in the newspaper industry, and the day I left the bidness was the last day I read a newspaper on a daily basis. And with what passes for a newspaper in this city, can anyone blame me? The S-T has gotten smaller, physically, both in terms of page size as well as news hole. Much of the content inside is refered off the front of sections–not just jumps, which seem to be a thing of the past, but the entire first few paragraphs. What happened to the news on section fronts being of some import because of their placement? Now the section fronts–and the front page, even–have become glorified teasers for what’s inside.

   We get the paper on Sunday only. My wife uses it for the coupons, I take the editorial content to work and read it when things are slow. The best things in the paper to me are Michael Schnurmann (probably misspelled his name) and Ed Wallace. The rest of it I’d hardly wipe my ass with.

   Aug 21st, 2008

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8. Max

   I quit taking the FWST - er, the ST - several years ago. I get the DMN. I made the switch initially because of the quality of the sports page. I have stuck with the DMN because of the quality of the whole paper. My office gets the ST, so I can read what I think I need to read in about 3 minutes on my way past the reception desk. I’m not happy about it, because I always liked reading the paper, espec when it was the Fort Worth paper, which obviously has/had more local content. I just don’t like what the ST has become over the last several years, but especially within about the last one or two. So, to answer your final question, no, the ST is not relevant to my daily life, but I wish it was.

   Aug 21st, 2008

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9. John C.

   Sadly, this is very well said: “So, to answer your final question, no, the ST is not relevant to my daily life, but I wish it was.”

   I’m a weekend subscriber, and a former newspaper journalist myself … I sincerely WANT the newspaper to be an important part of my daily routine, but I find that it’s slipping away. Having said that, I have been pleasantly surprised in the past couple of years about some of the ST’s enterprise reporting, namely the multi-piece “To Catch a Killer” and “The Working Poor” series — both of which represent a view of what a community newspaper CAN be when given the opportunity (meaning, time, warm bodies and money). This is why I continue to subscribe, and will for the forseeable future. Weekend mornings on the porch with a cup of coffee just wouldn’t be the same without it.

   (Oh, and I still hate the re-design, but I dry heave a little less each time I pick up the paper … )

   Aug 21st, 2008

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10. Chasity

    I get my news online and it rarely comes from the ST.

    Aug 21st, 2008

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11. Dismuke

    I have never subscribed to the S-T and canceled my subscription to the DMN when I finally grew tired of hauling unread papers to the trash. I get pretty much all of my news online which allows me to explore stories that happen to be of interest to me in far greater depth than any newspaper could possibly provide. I am very much of a “New Media” sort of person and, being old enough to remember the bad old days when the “Old Media” dominated everything during my childhood, I am certainly very much aware of the limitations and downsides of the Old Media.

    On the other hand, even though I do not subscribe, the demise of local media outlets is something that I do not enjoy seeing and I think is grounds for concern. If you stop and think of it, New Media outlets very heavily depend on Old Media outlets for content. For example, even blogs that have an entirely different editorial take than the local media outlets and which are perhaps even somewhat hostile to local media outlets, very frequently depend on them as the starting point for their own reporting and stories.

    The one thing that the Old Media had which very, very few New Media outlets can afford is full time people who get paid to pound the pavement and uncover stories. New Media outlets frequently take exception to how they do it and they frequently accuse them of being biased - but the fact remains is that few New Media outlets can afford to have paid professionals who spends their days knocking on doors and interviewing people and uncovering information. Providing news coverage is a VERY expensive proposition.

    If the S-T and DMN were to go away, we, at least for a while, still have local media in the form of the television news departments. But I think it is only a matter of time before local television stations are in the same boat as newspapers. The very premise of broadcasting - where a sizable percentage of the population makes a “date” to be in front of an electronic box at a specific time - is completely antiquated in today’s world. People with active lives already ignore programing schedules and record programs for playback at a more convenient time. But doing that is going to increasingly be regarded as an inconvenience. People will still watch television programs and such - but it will all be on-demand and one will have instant access to past episodes and even the television programs one remembers from childhood. That will make things VERY profitable for those who produce such content - every episode will have a potential worldwide audience 24 hours a day. The television networks are already making steps in this direction. The problem is that people will no longer need local television stations. When we are all connected to fiber, why mess with Channel 8 if you can watch the programs you want when you want them on the ABC website or, perhaps even on the website of the production company itself? The only reason to watch broadcast television in an on-demand world is for programing that needs to be transmitted live, such as sporting events. Breaking news stores fall into that category when they are dramatic enough and while they are rapidly unfolding. But how often do such stories happen on a local basis?

    I am not so much concerned about the demise of newspapers or local television stations per se - I haven’t regularly followed either in years. But I do get a certain portion of my news from their websites - websites which are not profitable enough to function at their current level on a stand-alone basis. What I am concerned about is what is going to come along and replace them - and will it have the resources to accomplish the sorts of things we still rely on the Old Media to provide? My strong guess is the answer will be, “yes.” There IS a demand out there for professional quality news and information. My guess is someone will eventually figure out how to make it viable and profitable to provide it in a New Media format. Right now, however, nobody seems to have the answer as to what it will be.

    Aug 21st, 2008

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12. Greg

    I agree with Max and John C: I wish it was.

    A paper whose purpose in life has its historic roots in boosterism for the home town is doomed in the long run. It won’t get into controversies that could make Fort Worth look anything less than perfect. And that’s just not interesting. By not digging and finding things that need improvment I guess it’s assumed Fort Worth can look great. The problem is if we don’t expose what’s wrong, how do we ever get better? I mean, I love Fort Worth but I still think we have some areas that fall short of perfection.

    Worse, by not digging into city failures and bad ideas the paper leaves the casual observer thinking there’s no reason to take an interest in civic affairs. And so people don’t show up and they don’t pay attention.

    A free press is critical to preserving our other freedoms, but only to the extent that it does its job to inform the citizens about their government, including criticizing it. Fortunately we have the Weekly and occasionally the Business Press taking a few shots, but that’s not enough.

    I don’t want to imply, though, that the S-T doesn’t have some dedicated and talented people. What it lacks is vision.

    Aug 21st, 2008

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13. b kooistra

    For what this is worth, the bleeding continues at McClatchy–the company offered ALL employees at the Modesto Bee a buyout (hmmm. what if EVERYONE took them up on it?) and they’re going ahead with plans to shut down the Modesto presses and printing the paper on the Sacramento Bee presses and trucking the paper to Modesto every day.

    Aug 21st, 2008

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14. Jonathan

    I read the S-T every day. I have the S-T Business section, Fort Worth section, Home section and Jen Floyd feeds plugged in to Google Reader… right next to West and Clear and Fortworthology. I haven’t picked up a hard copy since the last time I ate breakfast at a diner, probably a month ago.

    That means I’ll be affected by the loss of reporters. Perhaps they should start to take some tricks from other online papers: only allow partial rss feeds (so if you’re interested you have to click through to their site and load some ads), and put ads in the feeds so they generate some decent revenue from their online operation.

    Just for goodness sakes don’t let Jen Floyd go.

    Aug 21st, 2008

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15. John Peter Smith

    A few years ago my wife and I were planning a move. So we subscribed to the ST for a while so my wife would have some newsprint to wrap his breakables in. Once we got settled we canceled.

    Aug 21st, 2008

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16. Steve Munday

    I, too, have ink in my veins. I love newspapers therefore the slow death of the Startle-Gram really hurts.

    I subscribe 7 days a week. It takes me only a few minutes to go through the A and B, and the business section. The Sunday issue gets a closer read. Other sections are read based on “throne time.”

    At 60 and as a 35-year resident, I find the most important thing about the S-T is the obituaries.

    Ironic, no?

    Aug 21st, 2008

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17. Ann

    We get the Star Telegram daily and I read it daily. I have some of the same complaints as mentioned above but I will continue to have daily delivery and read it daily as it is the local paper and while its daily relavance to my life may be sparse at times I can usually find at least a couple of things of interest to me in my daily reading.

    We also get the Morning News but I don’t read it (my husband does) because years ago when we stayed over night in Dallas and I could not find any place to buy a Star Telegram it really made me mad so I have been boycotting ever since.

    Aug 22nd, 2008

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