Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Disappearing Content

I am going to miss my morning newspaper. I still get a paper every morning, but it is less and less all the time.

There are a lot of full page ads, but I won't miss those. There are some articles that I still enjoy reading, but those are few and far between.  Most of what is in the paper I saw on the local news the day before, or I read it online from USA Today or CNN.

I used to get enough grocery coupons to pay for the cost of the paper. Now the coupons are still there, but not for stuff I want. Besides the store brands are less than the name brands even with a coupon.

I have been debating for some time whether or not to keep the newspaper. There has always been something satisfying about reading the paper with my morning coffee, and that enjoyment kept me from unsubscribing even though the content has been diminishing and some days there doesn't seem to be much of anything besides the comic strips. I need that morning chuckle to start the day.

Today was my decision day to stop paying over $200 a year for the paper. Sunday morning comics have always been a nice respite from all the negative news.  Today they were gone. No comics.  I called the paper to find out why and was told they were to be found in Section F. Why would you put the comics in the 'Homes for Sale section? Perverse humor? Nope they weren't there either.

"Well, look in the Your Life section, That is section F" the customer service rep said. Nope, not there either, and that section is section E not F. I know sometimes I may not 'get it', but I can read the section numbers! The comics are missing. So she sent me out another paper.

Guess what, no comics in this one either, but there were a few more ad circulars. The section numbers are still the same as the first paper. So, the customer service rep didn't know which section was which or else no one told her the comics were gone. Another thing could have been a 'Dilbert' move, they laid off the folks who know how to put the paper together.

Regardless of what happened, my decision has been made. I customized my Google page to include my favorite comics and that's the end of it.

Martha

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