It's been a couple of years since we dropped our Oregonian subscription, the combination of price increase and diminished product having become too great a disincentive to continue. We'd start again tomorrow if we could get the paper we had back, say, even five years ago. But that ship seems to have sailed.
And the Oregonian marketing department seems to know it; it's been well over a year since we've heard from them, by phone or mail or anything else, soliciting back our business. Usually, if you're looking for new customers, old customers are a good place to look.
We do look at the paper much of the time - a neighbor shares many copies of it after finishing with it - and the content seems ever thinner. And then there was the report a few days ago about the latest round of buyouts, which eliminated nearly all of the last few publicly-visible and well-regarded (in these quarters anyway) names, like columnist Steve Duin and political reporter Jeff Mapes.
The paper will soldier on. But it will get weaker in all regards. And it's giving people ever fewer reasons to come back, or to hang in there. A sad thing. - rs