I touched on this in a post eight days ago. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has decided in its infinite wisdom that it will charge four dollars, plus tax in Missouri, for its Sunday paper. Yep, you heard me right, four bucks for a paper that is a shadow of what it was in its prime.
The paper which is published by Lee Enterprises is four bucks if you buy it at a convenience store. (Notice I didn't say newsstand? Those things no longer exist in Saint Louis). But, the thing that's interesting is the Post charges those who subscribe to it a buck. You say really, but that's not right.
I agree, but Lee Enterprises is automatically removing money from the bank accounts of those who subscribe to their paper.
If you don't want to pay the four bucks, do what many people in Saint Louis are doing. Just go online and answer some stupid question and you can read the paper for free. It's a dumb business practice to give the paper away for free on the Internet, but charge those who don't have a computer or access to the Internet four bucks for the Sunday rag.
Showing posts with label Lee Enterprises. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lee Enterprises. Show all posts
December 31, 2017
April 28, 2014
The Post Dispatch Fails...Again
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, owned by Lee Enterprises, has decided to implement a paywall for its on-line publication, stltoday.com. A paywall is designed to charge readers for the privilege or reading the publication's editorial content.
Apparently the managers and IT Staff at the paper didn't give too much thought to setting up the paywall. It took less than a day for a former Saint Louis area resident to find a hole in the paywall that circumvents the entire process. Mike Flynn has published his findings on circumventing the Post's attempt to charge for its content.
Perhaps instead of paying the CEO a $700,000 bonus Lee Enterprises should spend some money on its core business operations.
Apparently the managers and IT Staff at the paper didn't give too much thought to setting up the paywall. It took less than a day for a former Saint Louis area resident to find a hole in the paywall that circumvents the entire process. Mike Flynn has published his findings on circumventing the Post's attempt to charge for its content.
Perhaps instead of paying the CEO a $700,000 bonus Lee Enterprises should spend some money on its core business operations.
September 29, 2011
Lee Enterprises Sued by yet Another Post-Dispatch Union
If you've read this blog with any regularity, you'll know I believe Lee Enterprises is in over it's head.
Well, the large media company out of Iowa has been named as a defendant again by one of it's labor unions at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Riverfront Times has done a nice job with the story so I will just refer you to this link.
Well, the large media company out of Iowa has been named as a defendant again by one of it's labor unions at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Riverfront Times has done a nice job with the story so I will just refer you to this link.
August 23, 2009
Post-Dispatch Dying a Slow Death
Lee Enterprises has decided to lay off another 18 St. Louisans who it employed at the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch. This is the fifth round of layoffs in the past two years under the management of Lee Enterprises.
The logic imparted to labor by Lee was the layoffs were needed due to "declining revenues". As has been written here previously, Lee took on too much debt when it bought the Post from Pulitzer Publishing several years ago. Add to that newspapers are experiencing rapid loss of circulation due to new media, and the Post is not going to get better. And Lee's management record at the Post has been to make bad decisions. The bean counters have vetoed the people who know the newspaper business.
To read the union take on the latest round of layoffs you may click here.
The logic imparted to labor by Lee was the layoffs were needed due to "declining revenues". As has been written here previously, Lee took on too much debt when it bought the Post from Pulitzer Publishing several years ago. Add to that newspapers are experiencing rapid loss of circulation due to new media, and the Post is not going to get better. And Lee's management record at the Post has been to make bad decisions. The bean counters have vetoed the people who know the newspaper business.
To read the union take on the latest round of layoffs you may click here.
July 18, 2009
Post - Dispatch Gets Very Lucky
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch continues to amaze by it's lack of professionalism. Thursday evening a member of the "management" team decided to run full steam ahead with a "tweet" from the social networking page "Twitter". The story was that the annual Farm Aid concert would be held in St. Louis. Management decided the story was so important and on the cutting edge of utilizing social media, that it reported the story as gospel truth, without doing any fact checking or confirming the story.
It turns out the concert will be held at St. Louis' outdoor amphitheatre in Riverport on October fourth. And it will include a wide variety of artists and acts.
But, the real issue is why does an old established newspaper run a major story without doing any fact checking or getting confirmation of the issues? It's shoddy journalism at best and would result in a journalism student getting a good chewing out and a failing grade. Professionals at the Post-Dispatch should know better.
It turns out the concert will be held at St. Louis' outdoor amphitheatre in Riverport on October fourth. And it will include a wide variety of artists and acts.
But, the real issue is why does an old established newspaper run a major story without doing any fact checking or getting confirmation of the issues? It's shoddy journalism at best and would result in a journalism student getting a good chewing out and a failing grade. Professionals at the Post-Dispatch should know better.
May 30, 2009
Lee Enterprises Wanting More...More...More
Lee Enterprises is asking it's employees at the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" for more in the way of concessions. Lee, whose stock closed at a dollar a share on Friday, is asking each worker at the Post to take another week off without pay. The union...er, Newspaper Guild told Lee it would consider the offer only if Lee would agree to no layoffs during contract negotiations.
Earlier Lee apparently angered it's employees by asking for a 23 percent pay cut over the next three years and a huge slash to the benefits of it's working and retired employees.
The Post-Dispatch is the company's largest newspaper holding. Lee's previous newspaper experience has been in markets such as Hannibal and Park Hills, Mo. Maysville, Ky and Munster, In.
Earlier Lee apparently angered it's employees by asking for a 23 percent pay cut over the next three years and a huge slash to the benefits of it's working and retired employees.
The Post-Dispatch is the company's largest newspaper holding. Lee's previous newspaper experience has been in markets such as Hannibal and Park Hills, Mo. Maysville, Ky and Munster, In.
May 22, 2009
More Layoffs at the Post
"The St. Louis Post-Dispatch" has canned 39 more employees. The "paper of record" is outsourcing three of the jobs to one of it's small town papers in Indiana where it operates a call center handling classified advertising. The remaining jobs were cut as Lee Enterprises, which owns the Post, is contracting with a third party to handle it's distribution.
The bottom line for St. Louis is if you want to put a classified ad in the Post, you will have to call someone in Indiana who is employed by a company headquartered in Davenport, Iowa. And if you have a problem with your paper being delivered you will have to deal with some faceless person who doesn't work for the Post-Dispatch, but rather some Lee Enterprises subsidiary.
And Lee wonders why fewer and fewer St. Louisans are reading it's newspaper.
The bottom line for St. Louis is if you want to put a classified ad in the Post, you will have to call someone in Indiana who is employed by a company headquartered in Davenport, Iowa. And if you have a problem with your paper being delivered you will have to deal with some faceless person who doesn't work for the Post-Dispatch, but rather some Lee Enterprises subsidiary.
And Lee wonders why fewer and fewer St. Louisans are reading it's newspaper.
April 28, 2009
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
How's this for loyalty? Lee Enterprises canned the reporter who took a bullet while covering the city council meeting in Kirkwood in which resident Cookie Thornton shot and killed five city officials. Reporter Todd Smith was shot in the hand and has since endured two surgeries. Lee Enterprises which owns the Suburban Journal Newspapers and St. Louis Post-Dispatch among other newspapers, last week told Smith his services are no longer needed.
This story is a bit old but the Riverfront Times Kristin Hinman has a great post in the RFT blog at this site:
This story is a bit old but the Riverfront Times Kristin Hinman has a great post in the RFT blog at this site:
April 21, 2009
Sloppy Writing and Editing at the Post-Dispatch
I've been busy for the past couple of weeks and have not had the time to post. But, a sloppy, sloppy error in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sports section yesterday almost made me laugh out loud.
On Sunday the Cardinals were rained out in Chicago. Wrote the "paper of record". "The game will be made up as part of a day night doubleheader with separate admissions on July 12th. That is one day before the All-Star Game".
Uh...gee, but no it's not. The All-Star Game is on July 14th at Busch Stadium. Maybe I will mail the paper a Cardinals schedule so it's editors can avoid future errors.
On Sunday the Cardinals were rained out in Chicago. Wrote the "paper of record". "The game will be made up as part of a day night doubleheader with separate admissions on July 12th. That is one day before the All-Star Game".
Uh...gee, but no it's not. The All-Star Game is on July 14th at Busch Stadium. Maybe I will mail the paper a Cardinals schedule so it's editors can avoid future errors.
March 27, 2009
A Question for the Post-Dispatch
Why is it that the largest daily newspaper in the state of Missouri doesn't have a reporter assigned to cover the University of Missouri athletic teams?
Since the woman who covered the Mizzou beat left the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last year, the Post has passed around the state's largest and most prestigious University sports beat as if it were some general assignment.
The daily papers in Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia all have reporters assigned to the beat and it is a prized job at those publications. But, not the Post-Dispatch. If someone from the Post wants to reply I will be glad to post your explanation. As I posted below, the Post is ignoring the largest college fan base in the region with shoddy and in some instances no coverage of Mizzou sports.
Since the woman who covered the Mizzou beat left the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last year, the Post has passed around the state's largest and most prestigious University sports beat as if it were some general assignment.
The daily papers in Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia all have reporters assigned to the beat and it is a prized job at those publications. But, not the Post-Dispatch. If someone from the Post wants to reply I will be glad to post your explanation. As I posted below, the Post is ignoring the largest college fan base in the region with shoddy and in some instances no coverage of Mizzou sports.
Reflections on the NCAAs
Earlier this week the St. Louis Post-Dispatch went out of it's way to run an article from a coach at a second rate basketball school saying Missouri would lose in the "Sweet 16".
Coach Rick Majerus of St. Louis University was quoted as saying Memphis had the better team and would win the game. I had respected Majerus in the past and applaud his taking a Utah Utes team to the Final Four several seasons ago. But, the article was out of line. Maybe the paper was looking for a fresh angle in covering Missouri, but really, who the heck cares what the coach at St. Louis University thinks?
But, why did the Post even run an article saying the Tigers would lose? I'm not sure. It certainly doesn't make any sense for the paper to alienate the largest alumni base in it's readership area. But, the Sports department has shown little concern for Missouri fans and alums in the past. Perhaps it's because many of the writers are from the Baltimore Sun and perceive Mizzou as inferior for some reason. Whatever it's motivation, the publication alienated even more Missouri fans and alums this week. Maybe someone needs to suggest to the paper's management this type of coverage is a reason the Post's readership base continues to shrink.
Coach Rick Majerus of St. Louis University was quoted as saying Memphis had the better team and would win the game. I had respected Majerus in the past and applaud his taking a Utah Utes team to the Final Four several seasons ago. But, the article was out of line. Maybe the paper was looking for a fresh angle in covering Missouri, but really, who the heck cares what the coach at St. Louis University thinks?
But, why did the Post even run an article saying the Tigers would lose? I'm not sure. It certainly doesn't make any sense for the paper to alienate the largest alumni base in it's readership area. But, the Sports department has shown little concern for Missouri fans and alums in the past. Perhaps it's because many of the writers are from the Baltimore Sun and perceive Mizzou as inferior for some reason. Whatever it's motivation, the publication alienated even more Missouri fans and alums this week. Maybe someone needs to suggest to the paper's management this type of coverage is a reason the Post's readership base continues to shrink.
March 24, 2009
Less Post-Dispatch...but no improvement
The "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" has reduced the width of it's daily paper and removed sections from it. The paper is about an inch and a half narrower than it was last week. The paper on Monday dropped it's Metro section too. The ownership of the paper may be doing this to cut down on newsprint costs.
But, it's remains the same old mediocre publication it's always been. The ownership of the Post-Dispatch continues to place ads on the front page in a cry for revenue. Apparently, things really are that bad at the parent company Lee Enterprises.
But, it's remains the same old mediocre publication it's always been. The ownership of the Post-Dispatch continues to place ads on the front page in a cry for revenue. Apparently, things really are that bad at the parent company Lee Enterprises.
March 05, 2009
Post - Dispatch Continuing to Lose Money Hand over Fist
"The St. Louis Post-Dispatch" appears to be slowly driving it's parent corporation Lee Enterprises into bankruptcy. The Post has resorted to placing advertising stickers on the front page in an effort to bolster declining revenues. (See previous posts about the meaning of advertising on the front page of a daily newspaper). I've said before the Post-Dispatch has no integrity. But, now I would say it is going broke AND has no integrity.
On top of this, the paper's employees have voluntarily agreed to week long furloughs for all Newspaper Guild members at the Post. Labor has a contract with the company, but for some reason agreed to have it's members take a week off of work without pay. To me this is the height of stupidity on labor's part. The employees did nothing to drive Lee's stock down to less than 50 cents a share. This is a management problem and management needs to pay the price. Lee Enterprises should stick to running the "Park Hills Daily Journal" and similar small town operations.
If I were a guild member at the Post I would be getting rid of the current leadership and setting up a slate of candidates to replace them at the next newspaper Guild elections. But, then it may be academic since Lee appears headed for bankruptcy.
On top of this, the paper's employees have voluntarily agreed to week long furloughs for all Newspaper Guild members at the Post. Labor has a contract with the company, but for some reason agreed to have it's members take a week off of work without pay. To me this is the height of stupidity on labor's part. The employees did nothing to drive Lee's stock down to less than 50 cents a share. This is a management problem and management needs to pay the price. Lee Enterprises should stick to running the "Park Hills Daily Journal" and similar small town operations.
If I were a guild member at the Post I would be getting rid of the current leadership and setting up a slate of candidates to replace them at the next newspaper Guild elections. But, then it may be academic since Lee appears headed for bankruptcy.
December 22, 2007
The Post-Dispatch has Sold It's Soul
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has shown again this week why it is one of the world's worst newspapers.
The St. Louis "newspaper of record", placed a display advertisement on the front page of the paper a couple of days ago. It was an advertisement for a new casino in downtown St. Louis that the Post has written of extensively, presumably in hope of large advertising revenues in return.
Years ago when I was in Journalism School I had an old professor who had been around the newspaper business for years. I specifically remember him saying if you see a paper with an ad on the front page it tells you one of two things. Either the paper is going broke, or it has no integrity.
The last time I checked the parent company of the Post, Lee Enterprises, wasn't going broke.
The St. Louis "newspaper of record", placed a display advertisement on the front page of the paper a couple of days ago. It was an advertisement for a new casino in downtown St. Louis that the Post has written of extensively, presumably in hope of large advertising revenues in return.
Years ago when I was in Journalism School I had an old professor who had been around the newspaper business for years. I specifically remember him saying if you see a paper with an ad on the front page it tells you one of two things. Either the paper is going broke, or it has no integrity.
The last time I checked the parent company of the Post, Lee Enterprises, wasn't going broke.
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