Oklahoma Gazette and OKCTalk.com announce merger

[PaddyShack]

Also, if I am wanting more places in Yukon to carry the paper, do I need to have the store owner/manager contact the Gazette?

[Pete]

I am looking for a hard copy of last week's issue of the Ok Gazette, the Holiday issue, is there a place where one could get a copy?

Thank you in advance!

Send me a private message with you name and address and I'll mail you one.

Once the new issue goes out, we have our drivers pick up and recycle any of the previous issue that remain.

[Pete]

As of today, the Gazette is back in print but I wanted to make it clear that I am no longer personally involved in any way. That might not be obvious because they didn't even bother to include a masthead (a first in over 40 years of publication).

It's very different than anything that came out under me or under the original publisher Bill Bleakley and I'll just leave it at that.

[bucktalk]

As of today, the Gazette is back in print but I wanted to make it clear that I am no longer personally involved in any way. That might not be obvious because they didn't even bother to include a masthead (a first in over 40 years of publication).

It's very different than anything that came out under me or under the original publisher Bill Bleakley and I'll just leave it at that.

Wishing you the best as you continue to be a reliable news source.

[Pete]

Wishing you the best as you continue to be a reliable news source.

Thanks very much.

I'm very happy with the way things worked out and will have more time for OKCTalk.

[emtefury]

As of today, the Gazette is back in print but I wanted to make it clear that I am no longer personally involved in any way. That might not be obvious because they didn't even bother to include a masthead (a first in over 40 years of publication).

It's very different than anything that came out under me or under the original publisher Bill Bleakley and I'll just leave it at that.

Recommend updating Wikipedia as still shows you as the publisher.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Gazette

[BoulderSooner]

Recommend updating Wikipedia as still shows you as the publisher.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Gazette

the wiki is now updated

[TheTravellers]

As of today, the Gazette is back in print but I wanted to make it clear that I am no longer personally involved in any way. That might not be obvious because they didn't even bother to include a masthead (a first in over 40 years of publication).

It's very different than anything that came out under me or under the original publisher Bill Bleakley and I'll just leave it at that.

Picked a copy up the other day, and there is actually a masthead, it's on the last page (where it's been for a while, IIRC). Maybe you were thinking of bylines, since there are none of those (except for one in the TOC for the first story). It's basically now a newsprint version of So6six - fluff stories (what few there are), lots of big pics so fewer words have to be written, just not very good or interesting...

[soonerguru]

As of today, the Gazette is back in print but I wanted to make it clear that I am no longer personally involved in any way. That might not be obvious because they didn't even bother to include a masthead (a first in over 40 years of publication).

It's very different than anything that came out under me or under the original publisher Bill Bleakley and I'll just leave it at that.

Weird. I visited the website for the first time in months and the only current article is about cannabis. Is it now a weed-only outlet?

[soonerguru]

Picked a copy up the other day, and there is actually a masthead, it's on the last page (where it's been for a while, IIRC). Maybe you were thinking of bylines, since there are none of those (except for one in the TOC for the first story). It's basically now a newsprint version of So6six - fluff stories (what few there are), lots of big pics so fewer words have to be written, just not very good or interesting...

Gross.

[mkjeeves]

That's a shame. I looked for a print copy at my grocer a couple of days ago and wondered if it ever go to print again.

[Pete]

It's been announced that the Gazette is planning to stop printing. Will continue on in a digital-only format.

I'm biased of course because I owned it for a while then sold my interest to my partner because we did not see eye-to-eye, but I'm shocked it lasted this long. I know they have been losing their butt for quite a while.

They are down to 3 employees (they pay them as contractors without benefits or the associated social security and other taxes) and have been for a while.

[ManAboutTown]

It's been announced that the Gazette is planning to stop printing. Will continue on in a digital-only format.

I'm biased of course because I owned it for a while then sold my interest to my partner because we did not see eye-to-eye, but I'm shocked it lasted this long. I know they have been losing their butt for quite a while.

They are down to 3 employees (they pay them as contractors without benefits or the associated social security and other taxes) and have been for a while.

This is sad news. I always enjoy picking up a copy of the Gazette. Print news is dying a slow death and has been for years, obviously.

[TheTravellers]

This is sad news. I always enjoy picking up a copy of the Gazette. Print news is dying a slow death and has been for years, obviously.

Actually, it got sad after Pete sold it and the food writer (along with other good writers) left, turned into a shell of its former self - we stopped picking it up then.

[barrettd]

For years, the only reason I've picked up a Gazette was for the crossword. It's a shame to remember what it was decades ago.

[Pete]

For years, the only reason I've picked up a Gazette was for the crossword. It's a shame to remember what it was decades ago.

When I owned it, the two things we could not touch without inciting outrage were the crossword and horoscope.

When we had to stop printing during the pandemic we still paid for the crossword and made sure it was online every week.


More recently, those two were about the only things left.

Also, the Gazette has never had any meaningful digital traffic and there is very little engagement on their social media accounts. There was a time when we would run the same story there -- in print and online and then on social media -- and OKCTalk. And I'm not exaggerating when I say there was usually 1,000x more engagement on OKCTalk -- and that has only greatly widened over the last few years.

The Gazette never had any real digital revenue which is why we had to keep printing. So now that they aren't going to print, yes, their costs will go down but their revenue will be next to nothing.


We had a good thing going up until the pandemic hit. Actually turned a small profit in 2019 (first time in over a decade), had greatly increased the content, and seemed to be on firm ground. Then came 2020 and everything went teets up. My investor and I couldn't agree on how to come out the other side and frankly, all the Gazette was doing was robbing my time from OKCTalk which I knew had far, far more upside, so I painfully sold out.

No regrets, though. Humbly speaking, if I hadn't come along they would have been completely out of business years ago.

[Pete]

It's official: they are no longer in print.

I'd be surprised if they are even around digitally by the end of the year.

[ManAboutTown]

It's official: they are no longer in print.

I'd be surprised if they are even around digitally by the end of the year.

Dang. I've been picking up a copy of the Gazette for almost 40 years. Guess I'll have to find another source for my Sudoku.

[gjl]

I do a minimum of 4 crossword puzzles a day and most days more. The last time I picked up a Gazette it seemed like it was mainly just advertising for medical weed dispensaries.

[barrettd]

It's official: they are no longer in print.

I'd be surprised if they are even around digitally by the end of the year.

For a publication preaching the move to digital, their web content is not real up to date. Understandable when they were a weekly print publication, but doesn't make any sense to have a digital platform that updates once a week.

[Pete]

For a publication preaching the move to digital, their web content is not real up to date. Understandable when they were a weekly print publication, but doesn't make any sense to have a digital platform that updates once a week.

Believe me, they have no idea how to do digital properly.

Their social media has next to zero engagement.

[barrettd]

Believe me, they have no idea how to do digital properly.

Their social media has next to zero engagement.

I do believe you. The digital piece has been lacking for a long time, but since it was a weekly publication, it was no big deal. Plus their promotion of this move from print to digital feels desperate.

[Pete]

^

It wasn't even weekly for the last two years. Only every other week and typically 28 pages, which is the bare minimum.

[barrettd]

^

It wasn't even weekly for the last two years. Only every other week and typically 28 pages, which is the bare minimum.

I did not realize that. Oh, well.

[ManAboutTown]

Where will all the weed shops advertise now?!