My brother and sister-in-law are having a tough time right now. Their beloved dog Holly is suffering major organ failure and won’t survive much longer. Our whole family shares their grief.
I suffered a less tragic but heartfelt loss yesterday. I canceled my Tribune subscription and ordered the Times.
After 25 years of home delivery, 22 of which I also worked at the paper, I had to put that relationship out of its misery. The new, “improved” Trib was just too painful to live with. Anemic beyond hope, skimpy in size and content — with a “lead” story about how Christmas merchandise is being put on sale during October — it’s the new Coke of modern journalism.
I feel the same tinge of guilt that one feels when allowing the vet to euthanize a beloved companion. The Trib was a daily habit that I stuck with before and after my employment there. But I could no longer watch my old friend suffer.
There remain many fine writers and editors at that paper, but we won’t be seeing much evidence of it any more. And while the Times has also pared back, there’s no longer any comparison in the amount of news in the two papers. We can only pray that the St. Pete folks are not forced to follow the Trib’s steeply declining path.
Oh, yeah: If you are prepaid at the Tribune (I had almost a year to go), they will give you a refund. And if you talk to the circulation department at the Times, tell them that your friends in Tampa got a full year of home delivery for $39. I ended up making money on the deal. But that doesn’t make me a bit happy about it.
Clyde
1 year ago
The fate of the Tribune is tied to out-of-state corporate ownership. When newspapers are no longer owned locally they ultimately suffer. The Poynter Institute, owner of the Times, is local. While not exempt from the laws of economics, it also is not subject to “next quarter earnings” problems. Moving to Tampa after reading the Washington Post for 40 years, I have found the Tribune pathetic. The St Pete Times has some idea of how to run a newspaper, although they sometimes have trouble figuring out what the front page lead hould be.(Hint: it isn’t always about sports, guys.)
junebee
1 year ago
Like you, Bob, I was a Trib employee, though short-term just a few years ago. I too stuck by the paper, but when they cancelled Joseph Brown, I cancelled my subscription. The carrier delivered a copy this past Wednesday anyway. The new Trib is so sliced and diced, it’s hard to read, and I didn’t like the gigantic-one-section format either. I didn’t like the previous changes, but I hung in there as a loyal subscriber. I can no longer justify that loyalty.
John
1 year ago
Sorry to hear about your brother’s dog, Bob. And I’m with you on the “new” Tribune. I actually saw the paper yesterday for the first time in a while and wasn’t impressed. Not a huge fan of the Times, but was a Tribune reader for years. Was.
Clark
1 year ago
The New Coke version of the Tribune is going to be scrapped starting Monday due to “overwhelming reader demand”. I just saw the commercial…err, news story on channel 8.
breadlover
1 year ago
Bob Ross’ gentle post was more than the Trib deserves. In fact, the Tribune’s real decline began when the johnny-come-lately powers-that-be decided to lay off Bob and David O’Keeffe, two marquee names and talents who were respected and enjoyed by readers and were ambassadors in the community. Not to mention the TV viewers who listened to Bob’s movie reviews on Channel 8 every week. When talented people like that are laid off over ridiculous editors, well, that says it all. Bob should be saying good riddance to the paper, but he’s too much of a gentleman.
Jackie Ross
1 year ago
I think that pretty soon our dear beloved old Trib…(which, Brother Bob, I cancelled the day they were silly enough to let you go, as did many others)will be a large Friday Extra, or a fat TBT spinoff, as the new layouts are a joke….I now buy the St Pete Times and have for over a year now.
When the Trib asked me why I was cancelling.. I told them exactly why. Most of all…to Brother Lee and Pola and Holly-Berry…And you all who have deep animal souls and wrote, we are keeping everything crossed!!Love JJ
MikeM
1 year ago
It’s official! Tampa is now a one newspaper town (and it ain’t the Trib).
hong kong willie
1 year ago
they failed to keep up with the new world.