Times-Standard changes cause stir: Daily print delivery to Garberville ends Aug. 31
Recent changes to the North Coast’s only daily newspaper has prompted ire from some readers.
The Times-Standard announced its online subscriptions on Aug. 15, following an early August notice to Garberville area subscribers that it is discontinuing daily delivery service to the area as of Aug. 31.
Dee Way, the executive director of the Garberville Redway Area Chamber of Commerce, said the board met about the matter shortly after the delivery announcement and the overall feedback was “disappointment.”
”Of course they’re concerned because it’s our source of daily county news, and actually quite a few of my board members are subscribers,” Way said.
Garberville customers’ options now include a Sunday subscription, subscription to the newspaper’s e-edition, or an online subscription. Times-Standard publisher Dave Kuta said the newspaper is also offering a postal delivery option for daily papers, which means subscribers would get the newspaper with their mail.
Kuta said the decision was made after analysis of all service areas. the newspaper contracts with carriers to deliver the papers, and those who deliver in the Garberville area charge more due to the rural nature of the routes.
”We’re in the business to sell newspapers — when you decide not to sell in an area, it becomes a difficult decision,” Kuta said.
The newspaper was delivering about 550 newspapers to the area in home delivery and single sale copies, according to circulation numbers from June 1.
Within the first week of the delivery announcement, the company fielded about 25 complaints about the decision. While some customers were understanding about the rising costs of gas prices affecting the decision, others felt it was unfair. some residents said they would have paid more, given the option. many had stories about how the print edition is integral to their daily routine.
Way said some of the sentiment may be tied to a lack of reliable Internet access in rural Southern Humboldt, but she thinks the main concern is preference.
”some people just like to read it in print; there are things in the print addition that aren’t accessible online,” Way said.
Southern Humboldt subscriber Diane Martin-Kelly said she had been thinking about going to a Sunday only service for financial reasons but finds having the choice made for her unsettling. She said she thinks this will greatly affect her neighbors who routinely read the print edition.
”It feels very new age in that so many papers are online and that’s how they want their delivery system, but on the other hand, we are being forced to do that,” she said, adding that she has Internet but prefers the print edition.
Martin-Kelly wonders why Willow Creek, which is about the same distance as the Garberville area, can continue to receive daily delivery.
”It does kind of tick me off if they’re not doing the same thing in Willow Creek,” she said. “is this another case of the poor stepchild of Southern
Humboldt?”
Kuta said the Garberville area operation was just not cost-effective. the Willow Creek area — which includes Hoopa, Blue Lake, Burnt Ranch and Orleans — has more than 800 home delivery subscribers and nearly 600 single copy deliveries. the Garberville area has the lowest circulation numbers in the newspaper’s delivery area.
The newspaper’s introduction of an online subscription has also sparked some complaints. the Times-Standard’s parent company, MediaNews Group inc., launched a digital subscription model for 23 of its affiliate papers. Only daily newspapers were included, while other local MediaNews Group publications, including the Humboldt Beacon, the Redwood Times and the Tri-City Weekly, continue to be free online.
After the Aug. 15 announcement, one Facebook user, Miriam Holliman, posted, “what a laugh, no way would I even entertain the thought of paying for an online newspaper.”
Kuta said it costs money to provide news, and the newspaper industry is a reflection of how other industries have fared in the economy. He said change has been on the horizon for a while and likened the sale of online news to online music sales: “You used to be able to download music for free too. now it’s illegal to do that.”
”Our business is not different from any other,” Kuta said. “if you look at the businesses that have stayed afloat, they are not the businesses they were 10 to 20 years ago.”
Donna Tam can be reached at 441-0532 or dtam@times-standard.com.
