I have a character in a play living in a wilderness lodge who once a week makes the wintry drive to the nearest post office to which his Register-Guard is delivered, then daily doles the morning paper out to himself a week late. So, think I, why not cancel your RG subscription and have mail delivery of the San Francisco Chronicle, reading the news late, like the play’s Walt, gaining the same advantage he claims: Reading about inevitable outrages is a tad less outrageous a few days after it’s slipped into history? One phone call answered the question. The Chronicle would cost $840 per year. So much for that idea.
So despite the drastically shrunk news coverage at all levels (including failing to report the eventual indictment and jailing of the Florida white man whom the police had excused on the basis of stand your ground although he fired the fatal shot as the black man backed away); despite space being taken on the baseball stats page for reporting the like of transactions by the Lincoln Saltdogs and the Ottawa Champions (not to mention the River City Rascals and the New Jersey Jackals, nor that many event times are now Eastern, like ESPN); despite paring down editorials and opinion columns to the extent some days there are NONE of either (in the absence of Bob Welch and Jackman Wilson, the former being predictable); despite the near absence of editing that allows the word “icoiln” to show up in an editorial, and (hilariously, really) led to a correction regarding the misstating of the bike rental figure in the previous edition being in the same edition where further on in an editorial they misstated it AGAIN! — and these are only two of about 30 gross mistakes while casually reading the thing I made note of; despite all this and much, much more, I’m forced to swallow and swallow and swallow and accept that I’m captive to that paper if I’m to have a print newspaper to read with my morning coffee (which, alas, is a paper now so small that it no longer lasts long enough for me to take the editorials and op-ed columns with me for my quotidian visit to the water closet — no political comment intended), and a crossword puzzle to work with a pen while eating my morning meal.
In what other city home to a major university would this happen to a poor old guy? My one-time acquaintance, Bunky Baker, must be writhing in his grave. Sad. For all of you in the same sinking boat, I’ll finish by noting that good national and international coverage is available free on the Guardian’s and the Hong Kong News’ websites, and the EW website does a workmanlike job of keeping us up on local and regional goings-on.
John Biggs
Cottage Grove
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
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