OPUBCO / Oklahoman Business Practices

[Jeepnokc]

^

Thanks Jim.

I know I had to pay what seemed to be a good chunk of money at a very bad time when my father passed in 1983.

That was long before the Internet bogeyman started eating their profits.

My dad passed a couple of months ago and the obit was $300

[CloudDeckMedia]

Pete, I have to publish a notice a few times of year in a "publication of record," so locally I have used either the Oklahoman or the Journal Record. What is required to become a "publication of record," and do you have any thoughts about the Gazette becoming one?

[Dob Hooligan]

Boy, this is a time I wish my dad were still alive to explain it to me again. I recall a "publication of record" or "legal notice paper" is some kind of franchise awarded by the State of Oklahoma. I think they are assigned geographically, and can be sold or surrendered. But, I don't think any are being added.

Going way back in time-he told me that is why J. Leland Gourley bought the North Star News, a weekly paper in the Village area, and converted it to Friday, because it was a legal paper and the guaranteed revenue was critical.

[DowntownMan]

Even Steve’s weekly chat is behind the paywall. I bet the participation will go will go down now.

Good thing OKC talk already has all the information I need.

[TheTravellers]

Even Steve’s weekly chat is behind the paywall. I bet the participation will go will go down now.

Good thing OKC talk already has all the information I need.

Interesting, he said it would continue to be free. I didn't get to last week's while it was live, but was able to read the transcript without paying later that day. And as an addendum, I just got into it live using Opera, so it's not behind the paywall.

Edit: Should've actually started reading the chat before I posted, his first post is this:

"Well, here we go. As some of you may have noticed, we now have a metered paywall at The Oklahoman as is common at pretty much every news site these days as subscriptions become more and more critical to supporting local journalism.

I was hoping and was under the impression the live chat would remain free from the paywall as reader participation is critical to its success.

Today that is not the case. I am hoping to get that changed, but I do not know how this will work out as I just learned about this chat being behind the paywall."

Not sure how I can read the full chat without paying, though.

[checkthat]

Might try incognito mode or a different browser for a fresh dose of free views. Incognito usually works on a soft paywall.

[TheTravellers]

Might try incognito mode or a different browser for a fresh dose of free views. Incognito usually works on a soft paywall.

I can read it without paying or being a subscriber, sorry, my "Not sure..." comment wasn't completely clear. I do have HTML5 autoplay disabled by an extension in Opera, but I'm not in incognito mode, but can still read it. I always have to use IE or Opera to read it, Firefox and Chrome don't work and didn't before the paywall, but I've got all kinds of extensions blocking things on those.

[Pete]

I've made this point repeatedly, how the Oklahoman simply waits for other local journalists to do the real work of reporting, then swoops in a few days after they have been completely educated by another piece of journalsim and writes their own story without any attribution whatsoever.

When someone gets the story first, what comes after that is called 'matching' or 'following'. Matching is merely covering the same story with the same information. Following is using the original article as a starting point then adding substantial new information. In both cases, the undebatable ethical (and common sense) practice is to properly attribute the original reporting and then provide a link to that story.

The Oklahoman refuses to do this. In fact, here is a story by Steve Lackemeyer yesterday that was clearly prompted by work by Free Press OKC, and we provided that link in another thread.

When the article first came out on the Oklahoman digital platform, the story was attributed but did not contain any sort of link.

Within an hour, that attribution was removed forever, including the version that went into the paper.

This matters for many important reasons. First, it's a complete abuse of their semi-monopoly; the writers there today have a platform and audience that is a remnant of the old newspaper monopolies that were generally built to squeeze everyone else out and protect their own interests. And in doing so, it is an active attempt to trample anyone who dares get on their turf.

Secondly, it's just a terribly lousy thing to do. Brent Dickerson (owner of Free Press) works very hard and then gets little credit when his work is directly responsible for educating the community, which is the entire goal of journalism.

None of this is in 'gray area'. I've interviewed journalism ethics experts who told me this long after my own common sense and moral compass instinctively led me to this practice. We posted the link to the Free Press article. Hundreds and hundreds of Oklahoman articles are posted here with links and full attribution.

At the same time, a search of this site will reveal that the Oklahoman screamed bloody murder if even a photo was shared here, even with attribution. We have always complied with their requests.

Simply put: The Oklahoman continues practices that are bad for this community. They claim to champion 'local journalism' but they use their platform to trample it. To attribute the proper source takes nothing away from the Oklahoman, but of course it denies proper credit and exposure to the person and entity truly responsible for the work.

People lament their inevitable demise but I'm very sure lots of other entities and people who deeply care about Oklahoma will easily fill any void, and to a large extent that has already happened. And for the most part, those people are doing it for little or no compensation.

[king183]

The Oklahoman is struggling big time to create content, so it's no surprise they end up stealing from others who put in the work. Pete, you've pointed out how little original material they produce. Just look at the morning "newsletter" they send out every morning promoting the stories of the day to highlight this point. I'm not exaggerating when I say nearly 50% of the stories they send out are MONTHS old and even more than that are a week or two old. They even keep posting articles about what Russell Westbrook needs to do to improve next season on the Thunder. Still! I've seen the same story on Raymond Felton at least a dozen times--and like Westbrook, he's not even on the team.

[Pete]

^

I need to point out that they have always stolen the work of others without proper credit.

They are now playing the 'save us because we are important to the community' card and then simultaneously using their self-created predicament to justify any behavior.

They have always been predatory and at least in this sense, actively working against the common good of the community. Ironically, now they need the community to save them while constantly trying to promote themselves as the champion of 'local journalism'.

They are as local as an Applebees. A franchise of a massive corporation with profits and all major decisions going out of state, with some of their employees being in town.


Another point: I own the Oklahoma Gazette (another legacy print publication) and we don't rip off the work of others, nor do we just take stories and full sections written out of state and use it to fill our publication. We are truly locally owed and write every single word (well, not the horoscope) in our offices; 20+ employees all living here in the community and busting their tails every day to do things the right way.

I haven't mentioned this yet but we also recently bought our building at NW 36th & Shartel. The Oklahoman, directly after selling their old HQ and pocketing $75M (!), received a $1.5M handout from taxpayers for their new offices. And now, they are attempting to sublease a good chunk of that space that we all helped pay for.

The Oklahoman is using their self-created woes as a crutch and to justify behavior that has been going on for decades.

[OKC_Chipper]

I mean this explanation is just insane...

[Pete]

It's not only insane it's completely wrong and he and the Oklahoman know it. As I've said several times, this convoluted reasoning not only flies against the most basic common sense, there is no gray area in terms of journalistic ethics, at least for anyone not working for the Oklahoman. The gymnastics to arrive at this rationalization are comical.


"Not trashing rivals or complaining".

Translation: "I will continue to use the massive bully pulpit provided by my out of state employer to put down anyone who calls out my/our blatantly unethical practices that hurt our community".


Giving someone else credit costs you nothing, unless your own fragile ego can't tolerate it.

[Jim Kyle]

The Oklahoman is struggling big time to create content.

They're not putting in enough effort to call it a big time struggle! Your list of stale material they continue to feature omits what I feel is the most blatant -- the story about weather researchers studying thunderstorms, which is at least a year old.

I fully expect to see an edition soon with 72-point headlines declaring "Oklahoma to Become 46th State"...

[progressiveboy]

If the DO keeps this up, my prediction is because they seem to lack integrity and ambition, this so called newspaper will become non-relevant and question it's survival within the next couple of years. Would hate to see good solid reporters and newspaper employees lose their jobs. I wonder what the Gaylord family thinks of their former newspaper now? Pretty pitiful situation.

[Pete]

^

Remember, the Gaylords pocketed huge profits for decades, then sold the business off and put that money in their pockets as well.

[Dob Hooligan]

I have zero inside knowledge, but my observations after living in OKC 60 years are that E.K Gaylord was the newspaperman. E.K. was still going into the office daily until he died in the early 1970s at 100 years old-ish. E.L. Gaylord was already in his 70s when he ascended to the throne. Legend was that E.L. never had the love for the paper, and possibly resented it some. He did appreciate what it could do for him and his image in life. Something that always seemed to be shared by his descendants.

E.L. Gaylord appeared to be a great businessman of the 70s-90s. He aggressively traded in all types of media in the 80s-90s. Grand Old Opry, Opryland, WSM Radio, The Nashville Network, Country Music Television. Word Records, Myrhh Records, Channel 39 in D/FW that was becoming a SuperStation, TV stations in Detroit, Houston and other cities, The San Antonio Spurs and the Nashville Predators are all entities that the Gaylords had, IIRC, significant to full ownership positions in during his era.

I don't know if Mr. Gaylord kept OPUBCO out of loyalty, or an inability to get max value in a sale.

[mugofbeer]

Mostly correct. E L, l don't think, resented to paper so much, but resented his Dad for not giving him full control of the business until EL was well into his 70s.

IMO, Though he was an excellent businessman and he gave a lot to charity, he did an excellent job of sucking the economic life out of Oklahoma City. Before cable TV and the internet started killing off newspapers, the Oklahoman had the highest add charges per capita of any major newspaper in the country and adds were very important. The rates were so high many small businesses couldn't afford them and many large businesses just refused to pay the rates and stayed out of OKC.

[Pete]

^

And he ruled the local news business with an iron fist.

Also held huge power over politics and policies and IMO was perhaps the primary reason our beloved state is near the very bottom in almost every health, education and quality of life measurement. And why the mindset remains so entrenched and hard to change.

[Dob Hooligan]

^^^

Yep. I think he knew what he owned and wasn't afraid to use it. My memory suggests that one of the first sections of the widened Broadway extension that was completed is the area north and south of Britton Road, and within a week the Oklahoman had front page stories every day fixated on how everybody was speeding and it had too many lanes open. It was a high speed menace to public safety! It also was right outside Mr. Gaylord's office tower and he owned much of the real estate along that stretch. My thought was that he and his old buddies were afraid to drive above 60 mph at their age, so that road scared the hell out of them. The police were working the stretch in force after a couple weeks of daily editorials demanding action and the road was narrowed to three lanes each side, down from the five it was built for.

But, to his credit, I recall that the Oklahoman ran extensive coverage when one of their employees was killed. I remember thinking that some stories about murdered employees were getting daily front page coverage while they would have been stuck inside if it weren't for their employer. Not out of revenge, but a desire to make sure they got all the attention they deserved.

[ctchandler]

Without getting into his good or bad control of OPUBCO, did you know that Mr. Gaylord's phone number was listed in the white pages? He felt that to be a good journalist he needed to be available. Now I don't know who answered the phone but I heard that he often did.
C. T.

[Pete]

Gatehouse is taking over Gannett (110 papers including USA Today) but will be using the Gannett name for the combined organization.

https://www.poynter.org/business-wor...een-finalized/

[Jim Kyle]

And he ruled the local news business with an iron fist.

As I've said many times before, here, semi-official policy when I spent four years there was "It's not news until we print it." That's a direct quote from my City Editor to me, when I was arguing in favor of covering a protest meeting. Of course I lost.

Never forget that Mr. G came to Oklahoma City, after the Cripple Creek gold rush cooled down, as the paid secretary of the chamber of commerce. He saw a good thing in a small struggling newspaper, bought into it, and built an empire -- but until his death at 103 he remained primarily a promoter. I think he truly believed that a rising tide lifts all boats, and built up OKC to increase the value of his own holdings -- but we must also keep in mind that he and Stanley Draper were the promoters of the Urban Renewal disaster and the destruction of our historic downtown.

[Pete]

^^

And this state (and particularly OKC) has ever since employed the "Rich Guys Know Best" approach to policymaking and governance.

And here we sit, dead last or close to it in every measurable quality of life, health and income category despite having a rich abundance of the most valuable of natural resources... And continuing to double-down on all that.

[catch22]

You'd think Steve would be playing a little nicer, a little more fair, and put forth an effort to mend fences. There's a good chance he could be out of a job within the next 5 years as the Oklahoman continues to get sketchier and sketchier. He would probably be a good add for the Gazette if the Oklahoman tanked - however why would Pete hire him after all the crap talking and dishonest dealings he's done about Pete's work.

His ego is far too big.

[Pete]

Oklahoman offers job, it's accepted, then a month later it's rescinded.

Lead story right now on Poynter, a leading media news site:

https://www.poynter.org/business-wor...-even-started/