OPUBCO / Oklahoman Business Practices

[chuck5815]

I can appreciate Mize writing. However he writes too many generalized fluff pieces on the real estate industry. I am here to tell you that it is not all gravy in the metro. Many areas are struggling to sell homes. People are losing a lot of money on selling homes that are only a few years old.

Yep. Plenty of folks who bought new construction in Edmond at or around $300K in 2014-15 are now trying to sell into a market that supports pricing closer to $250-260K.

[Rover]

Yep. Plenty of folks who bought new construction in Edmond at or around $300K in 2014-15 are now trying to sell into a market that supports pricing closer to $250-260K.

What zip codes are you speaking of because many of the Edmond areas are among the highest listing, sales price, and average $/ft of the metro. I know it is fashionable to bash Edmond, but it has been comparatively strong, especially given all the new inventory there.

[Plutonic Panda]

^^^ I’m curious about this as well. I’m in Edmond right now as all my family lives here and Nichols hills and both of those places seem to have had home prices steadily increase.

[chuck5815]

What zip codes are you speaking of because many of the Edmond areas are among the highest listing, sales price, and average $/ft of the metro. I know it is fashionable to bash Edmond, but it has been comparatively strong, especially given all the new inventory there.

Here's a few examples:

https://ariisp1.oklahomacounty.org/A...pertyID=329580
https://ariisp1.oklahomacounty.org/A...pertyID=333832
https://ariisp1.oklahomacounty.org/A...pertyID=333814

[Rover]

Here's a few examples:

https://ariisp1.oklahomacounty.org/A...pertyID=329580
https://ariisp1.oklahomacounty.org/A...pertyID=333832
https://ariisp1.oklahomacounty.org/A...pertyID=333814

And I can find many more that sold for more. Every area everywhere will have some houses that sell for less for lots of reasons. It doesn’t define a market or sub-market.

[TheTravellers]

Just read this today in the print Gazette, did not know how low the Joklahoman has gone...

https://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/c...ry?oid=2872480

[Dob Hooligan]

Although I think the Oklahoman has declined terribly and dislike it as much as the next guy, I don't feel that the "Brand Insight" features are very misleading. Or maybe I've become super sensitive to all content in the paper so I assume they're advertorials from the start. I'm guessing anything that says "For the Oklahoman by...' or "Special to the Oklahoman" is provided content?

One thing Mr. Lang mentioned in the last couple paragraphs was a headline from April 2018. I read it to mean that the GateHouse Media editors in Austin, Texas wrote it. Were the GateHouse people providing that service to the Oklahoman while Mr. Anschutz owned it?

[TheTravellers]

Although I think the Oklahoman has declined terribly and dislike it as much as the next guy, I don't feel that the "Brand Insight" features are very misleading. Or maybe I've become super sensitive to all content in the paper so I assume they're advertorials from the start. I'm guessing anything that says "For the Oklahoman by...' or "Special to the Oklahoman" is provided content?

One thing Mr. Lang mentioned in the last couple paragraphs was a headline from April 2018. I read it to mean that the GateHouse Media editors in Austin, Texas wrote it. Were the GateHouse people providing that service to the Oklahoman while Mr. Anschutz owned it?

Yes, they were (wife used to work there long ago, so we keep up with their nefarious doings).

https://www.thelostogle.com/2016/06/...s-own-layoffs/

[Pete]

Although I think the Oklahoman has declined terribly and dislike it as much as the next guy, I don't feel that the "Brand Insight" features are very misleading. Or maybe I've become super sensitive to all content in the paper so I assume they're advertorials from the start. I'm guessing anything that says "For the Oklahoman by...' or "Special to the Oklahoman" is provided content?

You are more or less proving the point that it's hard to distiguish which content is paid for and which isn't.

Once a publication goes down that path (something OKCTalk and Gazette has never, ever done nor will we do as long as I am the owner and publisher) it calls into question every single thing they write.

Also, why paying for editorial content is a growing practice, it is no less unethical. Financial distress is not an excuse to dispense with principles, especially while appealing for people to subsidize your work as if its a public trust.

[turnpup]

This practice bothered me from the beginning, especially as I've noticed that many of the products/services in the "articles" are aimed at our senior citizen population.

[Pete]

As I have mentioned elsewhere, TEEMCO paid the Oklahoman for editorial content at least once. And that one article I can confirm (I have the invoices with all the detail) was written by the same person who was also covering them throughout this whole fraud mess. Not surprisingly, their coverage was viewed then (and especially now with the recent conviction) as carrying the water for that mess of a company and their felonious CEO.

Let that settle in for a minute.

You can see the massive, inherent conflicts of interest. How do you trust a publication that undertakes these practices?

A: You can't and shouldn't and that's why the practice should be regarded with extreme contempt.

[stick47]

As I have mentioned elsewhere, TEEMCO paid the Oklahoman for editorial content at least once. And that one article I can confirm (I have the invoices with all the detail) was written by the same person who was also covering them throughout this whole fraud mess. Not surprisingly, their coverage was viewed then (and especially now with the recent conviction) as carrying the water for that mess of a company and their felonious CEO.

Let that settle in for a minute.

You can see the massive, inherent conflicts of interest. How do you trust a publication that undertakes these practices?

A: You can't and shouldn't and that's why the practice should be regarded with extreme contempt.

Interesting. If I may ask, who was the owner of the Oklahoman at the time of this? If Gatehouse, could this all have been them just squeezing profit from the paper at every opportunity?

[Pete]

It was still Anschutz.

And the Oklahoman has been doing this sort of thing under 3 owners; first the Gaylords, then Anschutz and now GateHouse.

[Dob Hooligan]

I think today's Oklahoman has hit a new, but typical, low.
Top article is a made up suggestion of conflict of interest on state boards, that even says on page 8 that legislative leaders support the supposed conflicted member and it is required by state constitution that 2 people on state boards have to be industry professionals.
Next is a 4 page advertorial for Rose State and other community colleges.
Then a story about expensive state legislature races.
The first story that was less than 2 weeks old was on page 7.

[Jim Kyle]

It was still Anschutz.

And the Oklahoman has been doing this sort of thing under 3 owners; first the Gaylords, then Anschutz and now GateHouse.

The original Gaylord, Mister G to his associates, didn't permit such goings-on, even if anyone on the staff had been susceptible. This isn't to say that he was squeaky clean; he was just too careful to tolerate something so blatant and easily detected. In his time the coverage was always slanted, but by omission, not commission. "It isn't news until we print it" was the policy. Also policy was the practice of firing staff members just before they qualified for retirement, refusal of ads from ventures of which he did not approve (which earned the firm a permanent injunction, but not until it had run Scripps-Howard out of town), and maintaining an image of being investigative but never finding anything leading to the real power players of the city and state.

His son and grandchildren failed to inherit his canniness, which in turn led to the current situation and opened opportunities for you and others!

[Pete]

My understanding they are now down to about 200 employees.

They claimed 350 employees and the great economic impact that would have on downtown when they applied for and were given $1.5MM in TIF (taxpayer) money for their buildout.

I've heard they will soon be vacating one of their two floors in a consolidation move.

[okatty]

I got my renewal notice today (It says renewal due on Jan. 6th, 2019, but who's counting). Cash price for 52 weeks is 187 plus a $6 processing fee. I have been paying about $160. When I called the number on the notice it went to an automated voice that said my wait time was in excess of 30 minutes. Payment is to be mailed to Gateway Oklahoma in Dallas. I'll probably just wait until they call me and see how long it continues to arrive in the driveway.

[Bellaboo]

I got my renewal notice today (It says renewal due on Jan. 6th, 2019, but who's counting). Cash price for 52 weeks is 187 plus a $6 processing fee. I have been paying about $160. When I called the number on the notice it went to an automated voice that said my wait time was in excess of 30 minutes. Payment is to be mailed to Gateway Oklahoma in Dallas. I'll probably just wait until they call me and see how long it continues to arrive in the driveway.

Mine continued for a month and a half. I'm not renewing for $ 299.00 like they want. I thought i'd get a call from them by now but have not.

[okatty]

^Dang...is the $299 paid monthly? Mine listed a quarterly price of $67 which would be the highest possible option - and that is for 7 day service plus online. Maybe I better hurry and pay the 193! Ha

[Bellaboo]

^Dang...is the $299 paid monthly? Mine listed a quarterly price of $67 which would be the highest possible option - and that is for 7 day service plus online. Maybe I better hurry and pay the 193! Ha

That's for an annual subscription. I'm not taking the paper if i can't find a reasonable price. Why do they want almost $ 300 when most others are paying less than $200 ?

[soonerguru]

Publishing guidelines are clear: no editorial staff should ever participate in an "advertorial" presentation, and the labeling of such should be clear to readers, i.e. "advertisement."

As a reader of magazines, I'm usually annoyed by this type of content but sometimes I find it valuable, such as in travel publications. Not every ad is effective with scantily clad models and one or two lines of copy. Advertorial content that is informative and credible can be a reader service, but its deployment should be clear to readers and presented in a design style that differs from the publication.

[Jim Kyle]

Publishing guidelines are clear: no editorial staff should ever participate in an "advertorial" presentation, and the labeling of such should be clear to readers, i.e. "advertisement."

As a reader of magazines, I'm usually annoyed by this type of content but sometimes I find it valuable, such as in travel publications. Not every ad is effective with scantily clad models and one or two lines of copy. Advertorial content that is informative and credible can be a reader service, but its deployment should be clear to readers and presented in a design style that differs from the publication.

The problem, of course, is that these are guidelines, not legal requirements -- and by a strict reading of the First Amendment, no legal requirements can be set. We must trust to the honor of the owners, who over the years have demonstrated a total lack of same: Hearst, Pulitzer, et al come to mind.

[okatty]

Interesting new TV ad for Oklahoman that I just saw during Thunder broadcast. Urges supporting local journalism to support democracy (in a nutshell). Maybe it has been out and I just haven’t seen it before.

[Pete]

Interesting new TV ad for Oklahoman that I just saw during Thunder broadcast. Urges supporting local journalism to support democracy (in a nutshell). Maybe it has been out and I just haven’t seen it before.

They've been running it for about a month.

[stile99]

If they started offering some local journalism, I would happily support it. Them first though.