News comes via Romenesko this morning that the Oregonian plans to stop delivery to the state’s second-largest Metro area. Here’s a letter sent to the paper’s Eugene readers:
December 9, 2008
Dear Oregonian Reader,
Due to rising newsprint and distribution costs, The Oregonian will be making changes that will affect your delivery effective January 1, 2009. Please know that we value each and every one of our readers and understand the impact this change may have on you.
Beginning January 1, we will no longer provide daily delivery of The Oregonian to your home Monday through Saturday, and will no longer be providing daily papers to local retail stores and newsracks. Sunday home delivery will continue, and The Sunday Oregonian will remain available for sale in retail stores and newsracks. If you currently have daily and Sunday home delivery, your account will be changed to Sunday only delivery. Any balance you have on your account will be applied to your Sunday only subscription. If you do not wish to continue Sunday delivery, please contact us at 1-800-452-1420.
While daily home delivery, retail store and newsrack purchase will no longer be offered, The Oregonian is available by mail delivery. You may contact The Oregonian at 1-800-452-1420 ext. 8109 to inquire about subscribing through the mail. In addition, much of The Oregonian’s news content is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week at our online affiliate, OregonLive.com. We hope you will continue to enjoy the many benefits of the daily Oregonian through one of those alternatives.
If you have questions regarding this change please call The Oregonian at 1-800-452-1420.
Sincerely,
Kevin Denny
Circulation Director
The news follows massive staff cuts at the paper back in August. Meanwhile regular Eugene reader Betsy Boyd has some objections on the Oregonian‘s blog this morning:
Frankly, I don’t understand.
Someone at circulation was patient and listened to my queries about the business model. Seems Eugene is not alone. The Oregonian stopped delivering to Ontario several years ago for the same reasons.
I’m not insensitive to the rural-urban divide, but Eugene-Springfield is a scant 100 miles down I-5 from Portland and Ontario is in another time zone.
What next? Changing the paper’s name to the Portlandian?
Those of us (dinosaurs?) who still get daily delivery of the Oregonian should just be glad we don’t live in Detroit (for many reasons.) One big reason is because the Detroit Free Press is only going to do home delivery three days a week. Seems like a recipe for a failed paper, so things must be on the verge of collapse.
“Portlandian” does not really capture the singlemindedness of their focus.
I’d suggest “The PBA Newsletter.”
It’s the sign of the times I am afraid. All mainstream newspapers all over the country are losing millions. It is hard to say why but if any indications are it could be because of the internet and the uber-consolidation of media conglomerates that have spurned this on.
It’s a rag. it should go away.
So my parents live in Coos Bay, and they lost their delivery last year. But they can still go down the street and buy the paper at the store, (although that might be changing too.) But not even having the paper at the store in Eugene? That seems like mistake…
And costs have been in free fall for the last couple months. I know the bottom dropped out of the recycled paper market, it is still cheaper to recycle it than throw it away, but it used to be that companies made money off the stuff…