Discontinued the Daily Joklehoman

[SOONER8693]

We have stopped our paper subscription. When the lady on the phone asked why, I just said, one was price is too high, and two, tired of the butt-kissing, bending over backwards to osu in the sports section. Everything osu has a positive spin and OU a negative spin. Lately the coverage amount is drastically in favor of osu. The lady taking the call, says, yes, we seem to be getting that a lot lately from people dropping the paper. I hope the Joklehoman rots on the vine and goes out of business.

[Just the facts]

I hope the Joklehoman rots on the vine and goes out of business.

Just becasue they favor OSU over OU in the sports section?

[zookeeper]

Just becasue they favor OSU over OU in the sports section?

So many people here in Oklahoma read the newspaper for the sports page, it's completely ridiculous. Who cares about petty entertainment in a world where so much is happening in that main section? So much news of actual importance goes unread because they must find out if OU signed that recruit out of Illinois. I would call it insanity, but it's so much a part of life around here. Not that it's an either/or situation, but too often it just is. The important thing, after all, is that the sports page be balanced.

[SoonerDave]

So many people here in Oklahoma read the newspaper for the sports page, it's completely ridiculous. Who cares about petty entertainment in a world where so much is happening in that main section? So much news of actual importance goes unread because they must find out if OU signed that recruit out of Illinois. I would call it insanity, but it's so much a part of life around here. Not that it's an either/or situation, but too often it just is. The important thing, after all, is that the sports page be balanced.

zoo, I appreciate your position, but to a degree I think sports is an outlet/catharsis for a lot of people from all those rotten Page 1 things. People can rant and rave about OU football and know in their heart it doesn't really matter to a hill of beans, and I think to an extent many people blow off a lot of steam about sports because they basically feel powerless to do anything about those other things that really DO matter. Make any sense?

I, for one, cancelled the Oklahoman a few years ago, primarily because I never had the time to read it, and it was just a waste to get the paper delivered only to throw it in the trash unopened. I got frustrated with their perpetually shrinking content, and, yes, with the general direction of the sports section - but having nothing to do with OU in particular, but their coverage level in general had just dropped in quality across the board. And I wasn't going to pay to read Jenni Carlson's columns.

But I understand your frustrations and can certainly empathize. I suspect most folks who are cancelling the paper are really doing so more for the cost and overall lack of quality than OU issues in particular. Too many people don't realize they can't be a shill for either school.

[CaptDave]

The editorial section and Letters to the Editor is a much better reason to cancel. I have maintained my subscription because I agree with Steve Lackmeyer there is value in having a daily newspaper that is actually in print. To not have one would diminish OKC as a major metro area in my opinion.

[bluedogok]

We had the Austin American Statesman until we moved from Austin, now we have a Thursday-Sunday subscription for the Denver Post. That seems to work pretty well for us, I typically will read what I want online during the week and my wife reads the hard copy. Weekends I will read the paper more.

[kevinpate]

For a couple of years now, I've had hard copies land in the drive on Wed., Fri-Sun. I doubt I have opened even six in two years. But hey, she likes ads, coupons and to hold paper in her lovely hands while she reads. Me, not so much, though I read a fair amount of it online, sometimes with a purpose, sometimes to kill the time spent on hold or when being a good egg means just letting the other person rant a while, with no real expectation I can or will fix anything but all the same having an uncanny knack for knowing when to slightly grunt or offer an occasional oh my stars and planet when it seems appropriate. We all have our lil' gifts. Semi-decent timing is apparently one of mine. Knowing it ain't my role to try and fix everything plopped in front of me is another.

[Bunty]

We have stopped our paper subscription. When the lady on the phone asked why, I just said, one was price is too high, and two, tired of the butt-kissing, bending over backwards to osu in the sports section. Everything osu has a positive spin and OU a negative spin. Lately the coverage amount is drastically in favor of osu. The lady taking the call, says, yes, we seem to be getting that a lot lately from people dropping the paper. I hope the Joklehoman rots on the vine and goes out of business.

I guess it's a bigger thrill to cover and favor the underdog, but no fun Fri. night. It lost to Kansas State and title hopes.

[OKCisOK4me]

Why did you even subscribe in the first place? Pfft

[tillyato]

We subscribe to the Wed, Fri-Sun papers, and that seems to work pretty well for us. I find it odd that people are complaingin about overly positive OSU coverage in the Oklahoman, for years OSU fans have complained that all of the editors are biased towards OU. I guess at the end of the day the "bias" doesn't really concern me, as long as they have quality reporting on teams I'm interested in, as well as some of the best local news and business coverage, I'll stay a subscriber. It is a chicken and egg problem though, the more people cancel subscriptions, the harder it becomes for the paper to keep up the same quality of reporting with less paying customers.

[Hawk405359]

Odd, when I read the sports section I find it to be pretty straight forward in coverage. Not great coverage, the opinion part of ranges from groan worthy to plain awful at times, but hardly the type of hatchet job being claimed. I guess some OU fans are like Manti Teo's dad and get angry whenever anyone says something negative about their school, even when it's factually accurate. That crowd would probably rather hear boosters fawn about how great everything is and how they're going to win the next 20 national titles, rather than hearing someone report that they lost a game and are in danger of not getting into the big dance. Maybe they were just spoiled with how heavily tilted the coverage used to be in favor of OU and just can't accept that OSU is worth talking about now in sports, especially since it's basketball season and OSU is better right now.

But given how many people in these parts base a huge chunk of their life on college kids playing games, I can't say I'm too shocked by any of that.

[onthestrip]

Funniest post I've seen in a while...

[bluedogok]

We subscribe to the Wed, Fri-Sun papers, and that seems to work pretty well for us. I find it odd that people are complaingin about overly positive OSU coverage in the Oklahoman, for years OSU fans have complained that all of the editors are biased towards OU. I guess at the end of the day the "bias" doesn't really concern me, as long as they have quality reporting on teams I'm interested in, as well as some of the best local news and business coverage, I'll stay a subscriber. It is a chicken and egg problem though, the more people cancel subscriptions, the harder it becomes for the paper to keep up the same quality of reporting with less paying customers.

"Bias" depends on what side of the fence you are on, I hear a bit about the "OSU bias" from my father but for the most part I think they try to be pretty even. When OSU is doing well there are going to be more articles about them then there is when they are having a bad season, the same pretty much for OU. There was no way he would have been able to put up with living in Austin (although there were quite a few stories about OU in the media down there) where the focus is elsewhere. Since I only look at the Oklahoman online now (except when I am back visiting the family) I don't really notice a large number of OSU stories since I pretty much go to the OU section.

[rezman]

We have stopped our paper subscription. When the lady on the phone asked why, I just said, one was price is too high, and two, tired of the butt-kissing, bending over backwards to osu in the sports section. Everything osu has a positive spin and OU a negative spin. Lately the coverage amount is drastically in favor of osu. The lady taking the call, says, yes, we seem to be getting that a lot lately from people dropping the paper. I hope the Joklehoman rots on the vine and goes out of business.

If the coverage leans toward OSU, then the paper is biased, but if it seems to favor OU, that's OK. Seems like your biased. I vividly remember color photo OU coverage on the front page of the paper and on the front page of the sports section, as well as color special sections, while OSU coverage was relegated to the third page of the sports section with a one page article and a couple black and white photos. Now that's bias.


I liked reading the paper with my coffee before work in the morning. I took home delivery of the Oklahoman for about a year but dropped it simply because they couldn't get it delivered to my house before I left for work.

[stlokc]

I used to work for a weekly business newspaper in St. Louis and I like what my old publisher used to say about the daily St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She said that civic-minded people should support the daily paper for the same reason that they buy symphony tickets that they sometimes don't use, or make a contribution to the United Way even while supporting their favorite charities with separate contributions. It's about contributing to the fabric of the community and supporting an essential news-gathering resource. In years to come, when daily publications fade away, a lot will be lost that we don't think about in this era of "free" news. I know the digital sites have maybe one-tenth of the actual news and original reporting that the printed papers have.

Perhaps the future of papers like the Oklahoman and the Post-Dispatch are as weekend encyclopedias of original, longer-form reporting. Check their web sites for 5 minutes a day to get the quick hits, who murdered who overnight and what was the score of the Cardinals game, and leave the reporters free to do in-depth stuff for which people will pay, say $15-20 a month to get on the weekends. I know there is nothing better in the world than a print-edition NY Times on a Sunday afternoon, although if I lived in NYC I doubt I would have a daily sub.

[stlokc]

I'd never heard of the Texas Tribune until just now. That's a good looking endeavor with serious, original reporting. Didn't take a lot of time with it just now, but if it's a non-profit that could be a good business model as long as it's subscription-based. I don't think, as a casual observer, I should have the right to read every article. We have to get over the mentality that news is "free."

[RadicalModerate]

We have to get over the mentality that news is "free."

News is free. News coverage . . . maybe not. (picky, picky, picky . . . geez =)

[zookeeper]

I think the future of news can be more like the The Texas Tribune. Not for profit media could be useful and yes, I'd certainly give money to reporters like Steve Lackmeyer.

Thanks for posting this Sid. This was my first exposure to the Texas Tribune as well, great stuff.
From their About page About Us | The Texas Tribune

[Just the facts]

Can we just all be Thunder fans and get along.

[CaptDave]

Exactly JTF.... OU<Thunder>OSU

[Okiezmom]

I stopped subscribing to the Oklahoman about 3 years ago when I found out that the quality of reporting was pretty bad. They reported about a situation that I knew a lot about. What was reported had only a nod to what the situation really was and the rest was fictionalization or sensationalism. I just can't support something that I cannot trust to get their facts right.

[HangryHippo]

I think the future of news can be more like the The Texas Tribune. Not for profit media could be useful and yes, I'd certainly give money to reporters like Steve Lackmeyer.

I wish the Oklahoma would try to emulate the Texas Tribune in the way their website is set up. The NewsOK homepage is really poorly laid out and functions incorrectly a lot. They really need a better design for the website moving forward, if more news is going to be delivered online.

[boitoirich]

Wow. Yes, it would be incredible to have something like the Texas Tribune here.

[ljbab728]

I wish the Oklahoma would try to emulate the Texas Tribune in the way their website is set up. The NewsOK homepage is really poorly laid out and functions incorrectly a lot. They really need a better design for the website moving forward, if more news is going to be delivered online.

You might note that Steve has been soliciting for suggestions to improve the Oklahoman is his blog.

What Should The Oklahoman Look Like In Years to Come? | OKC Central

[OKCTalker]

I just changed from seven day to Wednesday + weekend, saving $72.00 per year. Monday and Tuesday editions are so thin you could - well - read a newspaper through them, filled merely with a rehash of weekend news + wire service content.

I'll read the Oklahoman, watch the first ten minutes of the nightly national news (before it devolves into commercials) and none of the local TV news. The rest I'll get through institutional online sources and a few well-monitored threads like this one. I know what's happening in Cyprus, Israel, Washington, Cupertino, Bricktown and above the rim in the 'Peake, but not at all what's happening in Emiril Lagasse's kitchen, Kim Kardashian's bedroom, or Jay Leno's garage.