RECENT COMMENTS
Do you subscribe to the Times-Dispatch?
The Richmond Times-Dispatch laid of 33 employees yesterday. This is bad for Richmond.
We need more Times-Dispatch, not less. There is no other source of in-depth, comprehensive coverage of Richmond. The archipelago of local news — including the television stations, Richmond Magazine, Style Weekly, Richmond Free Press, Richmond BizSense, Ross Catrow’s Good Morning RVA, RVA Hub, and Small Richmond — each have a place, but do not collectively come close to doing what only a city newspaper can do.
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@gmoomaw more local reporting. Need y'all be the best at RVA + VA state news. Don't need national from y'all, hate your op-ed + commenters
— Kathleen (@konufer) April 3, 2017
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CHPN will always be free. We are a toy compared to the RTD, though, and we are diminished by every cut at our city’s paper.
You must care about local news to be reading this right now. Do you subscribe the Times-Dispatch? Why or why not?
TAGGED: chpn
No. I don’t subscribe to the RTD. Simply stated, I believe they’ve tried to be a little bit of everything for everybody and succeeded to not do anything well. The issues I have are too numerous to mention but, a few of the biggies:
-depth of reporting is somewhat weak
-timeliness of “news”, when it hits the RTD- it’s usually not news anymore
-many sources of info available instantly- a daily is a dinosaur in this day unless it can be relevant at the moment
Unless a radical change takes place, the days of RTD are numbered -like it or not..
No and I don’t see myself doing so. It’s poorly written, its website is bad in just about every aspect, and its editorial board’s opinions are nutty.
Look who owns the RTD. Look who owns the Washington Post. Look who owns NBC. Look who owns ABC. Look who owns Fox.
All news has an agenda. While a local newspaper has a valid role to play in the culture of a city, the history of most news in the United States is that of yellow journalism.
For decades, the Times-Dispatch and News Leader imperiously controlled what was known and unknown about state and local government, as well as our business leaders.
They were the gatekeepers of “truth” in the city and state, and anyone who knows the history of Virginia and Richmond from the early 1900s through the 70s and 80s cannot state that they did their jobs well.
Those of us who vividly remember Vietnam and Watergate were fortunate enough to experience American journalism at its finest. Journalism that was able to positively initiate debate and change in American society.
Those days are long gone. Walter Cronkite is dead, Brian Williams is alive, Donald Trump is president – all three of these things are related.
The final irony is that Craigslist ultimately killed local newspapers by breaking their grip on classified advertising.
I am sad for the people who lost their jobs yesterday. They were not responsible for the decline of journalism in Richmond.
Look at the bright side: Berkshire Hathaway just enhanced shareholder value for the next quarterly results. Share price was up $750 to $250,600 yesterday.
That’s all you really need to know about the slow death of the Times-Dispatch.
I do not subscribe to the Times-Disgrace, but I assure you, if the need arises to transport a large amount of fish, it will be my go-to.
I did for years but delivery was spotty at best. Newspapers are important–in-depth reporting and well-considered opinion are becoming a rarity. But if the delivery system fails, then it doesn’t matter what’s in it. I would be happy to buy one from a newspaper box or nearby store daily, but there are none of those things in my neighborhood. I will probably subscribe to the digital version to support it.
The problem the RTD (and almost every newspaper has) is that they gave away their content online for years. It reduced the imperative to subscribe to the print edition (which is where the revenue was) and signaled to readers that news is “free.” Now they want money for a less product versus what they offered for free five years ago. Good luck selling that.
You can have a paid service in news but it is VERY hard. The New York Times supposedly does the best on the pay wall for general news outlets (I think the Wall Street Journal may do better but they are a little more niche) and they are still nowhere near where they need to be revenue-wise. Digital ads aren’t going to save it. The ROI on display ads for most advertisers is pretty low, the revenues aren’t high enough for the publisher, and the ad blockers are only getting more widespread.
The basic RTD newspaper business model has failed in the digital era. Moreover, they continue to invest outside their core competency of written journalism. Videos of print journalists giving the news on their site is an example of their trying to play an away game badly. I don’t go to the RTD to watch Karri Peifer look uncomfortable on camera talking about restaurants. I want to read what she writes–she’s a better writer and it’s faster. They need to stick to the home game, build a product that is compelling–which means breaking real news and investing in the newsroom rather than cutting local content, and get non-newsgathering costs down. It may even be time to ditch printing every single day the way the New Orleans Picayune has. They definitely need to divest or reposition that massive printing plant in Hanover that is a total financial albatross.
We tried to get a subscription for them online about two years ago, and at the time their form for that was broken. Haven’t tried since.
Thank you very much for sharing this.
Yes, I subscribe to the Times-Dispatch. Why? Among other things the Metro section, Michael Paul Williams, Mark Holmberg, Richard Nunnally, long read reports on local issues, and the comics.
I subscribe to the New York Times, too.
A teacher once told me to read a local and a national paper every day and I’ve followed that practice ever since.
I subscribe to the Sunday RTD, but am thinking about canceling simply because their customer service is terrible. They make it so completely difficult to do ANYTHING – vacation stop, address change, billing inquiries, etc., etc.
Sad for the folks who got laid off, but real talk… the RTD is racist af.
I called them four times to cancel my paper. after it was finally cancelled they started delivering again and tried to charge me for it.
Yes, we subscribe. We like the state and local coverage and would like to see more of it. The more subscribers a paper has the more news it can cover. Do we like every article or agree with every Op Ed? No, of course not. But considering opposing viewpoints has value in helping us to evaluate our own reasoning or identifying information in the piece that we believe is incorrect.
We used to take the Sunday paper but I got tired of 1) spotty or no delivery and 2) canceling it for vacations and it still getting delivered. I always loved reading the Sunday paper but we have done without it for several years now. I also don’t pay for the online service. Once my ten articles run out, I just stop reading.
I agree we need a city paper and I do enjoy the RTD. We are too big of a city to be without a local newspaper. Neighborhood blogs do not replace a city newspaper.
That being said, I think they need to figure out how to make it work for themselves and not put that blame on the consumer. Perhaps they need to rely more on advertising or simple develop a more modernized business model. It believe it could done.
I subscribe to the Sunday RTD and that is purely to support them and get access to the digital content. People don’t realize how important local reporters are when it comes to informing you about things that actually effect your daily lives.
Terrible and embarrassing newspaper
yes. I know people get caught up with hating on the corporate overlords behind papers like this. But honestly I have been repeatedly impressed by the crop of reporters coming thru in the last few years. Let’s stop losing good journalists to other bigger cities. Let’s stop losing good talent because we are cheap and bitter about the past or minor inconveniences. Read Graham Moomaw, Michael Paul Wiliams, Ned Oliver , Debbie Truong and Michael Martz, just to name a few great reporters old and new.
We subscribe to the Thursday thru Sunday option of the paper. I’ve always gotten the paper and found its local and regional coverage to be very helpful. I love the restaurant reviews and entertainment sections.I don’t get National news from them but I really don’t get people that trash the Times Dispatch. It’s no WSJ, but it’s not bad for a city this size, and I appreciate all the things they sponsor during the year.
And Holmberg is THE BEST writer in RVA, period.
But I could totally do without all the race baiting of Michael Paul Williams.
I worked for RNI for many years. They are good solid people, who do good work. Sorry that some lost their jobs.
No I do not subscribe. Used to but delivery proved to be spotty. Have a friend who subscribed last year, said delivery and customer service were horrible, the only good thing that came of it was he finally got a phone number for his carrier and that helped.
I agree, we need a local paper, and I do read their local news online. Other than the obits, that is all I read of the local paper. I get my national news elsewhere (NPR, Wash Post, etc). I agree with everyone who says it is important to be informed of local news.
We have tried several times. The editorial bent is simply too toxic — it makes me angry to even have it in the house.Which is a shame because it’s not bad on local news, if you can ignore the front page and the editorial page.
No way! They published my salary (state employee) which I thought was super not-cool. Editorial pages way too conservative. They’re often out-scooped by the Washington Post on state government news, too. I get my local news from CHPN 🙂
I subscribe and have so for years. We are in the dark with out local news media.
No. I don’t. I think the paper stretches in too many directions and leans too far to the other side for my taste. I’m also a WaPo subscriber.
Considered it but no. The website is abysmal. The quality of reporting is mediocre. The editorial content is not particularly well written or researched. When I read TD stories, I find myself asking: why did this event happen? What was the consequence? How does this impact the community?
That said, there are columnists I enjoy and I feel a bit guilty for not supporting my local paper financially. I do subscribe to the NYT and support NPR financially
I’ve always said that I am only one of three people in RVA that still get the RTD daily. Love the local news coverage, sports and crossword puzzle. I am truly old (sigh).
I’m gonna answer my own question, now that we’ve got some good discussion going 🙂
Somewhat embarrassingly, I’ve only very recently subscribed. I grew up on the paper, but got hooked on free news (and it’s way too easy to get around the RTD paywall). I know I should pay, though, and now I do.
I hate that the paper has an editorial slant. It really skews how the whole organization is perceived, and this is unfair to the folks actually reporting the news.
I hate the noxious comments at the bottom of too many pages. This offers nothing, but does change the reading environment. (Hey RTD – those people are *your* assholes, unless you do something about it. I learned this myself.)
I want way more local. There are a million stories in this city and surrounding counties. People will read compelling, local, individual stories. Compare the front page of the RTD business section (http://www.richmond.com/business/) and Richmond BizSense (http://richmondbizsense.com) – which one is telling the city’s story better?
I would pay and subscribe to RTD if I could use my frequent flyer miles. That’s how I subscribe to the WSJ. And I agree with John — it’s very easy to get around the RTD paywall.
@Gretta – your salary is public information if you work for government. Anyone can FOIA that information.
Way to go RTD for making it a searchable database. NOW – if they would make it more comprehensive. There’s a lot of holes.
This paper has an anti-City bias – largely because of the greater County subscriber circulation. So if this effort causes a larger City subscription and the bias accordingly shifts,then that’s good.
I get the paper 7 days a week. I like that I don’t have to search several places to find out what’s going on locally and in the state. The letters to the editor give me a sense of other’s views on topics. The health, business, and entertainment news let me know what’s going on locally. Love the gardening advice, Mark Holmberg, and columnists.
I grew up with a daily paper and as such, subscribe to both RTD and WSJ. Yes – delivery can be terrible. They have my phone number flagged in the automated system so every single time my paper doesn’t show up, I talk to a real person about it.
I do not agree with everything in either one of the papers I read, but I believe it is important to be exposed to different opinions. And reading the comics online will never take the place of reading them in the paper.
An unsolicited response from someone with whom I shared this blog post: “Who reads the Times Dispatch? I used parts of it to light charcoal and it doesn’t even burn well.”
I dutifully buy the TD at the store almost every day – my way of supporting a dying but critical institution. I feel like supporting news outlets like real paper newspapers is more important than ever these days and if they disappear, it only makes us more vulnerable to the disinformation, lies and bull s**t that our Executive Branch disseminates every day.
I certainly do. The TD might not be as good as it once was, but frankly very few metropolitan dailies are. The Baltimore Sun was once one of the leading papers in the nation and is now effectively a vehicle for grocery store circulars. The Times-Dispatch still employs journalistic responsibility.
I subscribe and take daily delivery plus full online content. It feels a bit like having a landline phone, but I do so because I believe local news deserves local support and that my subscription adds to quality coverage. . Like other commenters, I also sense a suburban bias to the paper which is a pity and makes me question how long I will keep it.
The 21st century fate of news folks: Biased and/or irrelevant news/opinion…sooner or later you die.
Take the message big news or small news: Bye, bye.
@27 John, I agree with your position on the RTD. Editorial slant overshadows the awesome reporting by folks like Graham Moomaw and Ned Oliver.
Funny how such a big/wealthy company like BH wasn’t able to hire the right media experts to retool the iconic “daily paper of record” for Richmond and other cities.
This will be a case study one day for graduate level students of mass-communications.
I agree with John M. I want a local paper to cover local stories, not just lift national AP stories.
There are lots of things going on in the Richmond metro area that the local paper and other news outlets don’t cover. I don’t want the local paper to drone on about national issues when they don’t cover the stories in our own backyard.
I count on the RTD delivery to my front sidewalk every morning. It’s always there, and if I need to stop it, the online form works well. It is comforting to read the local newspaper, pore over the local news, consider the viewpoints of others, knowing that there is bias inherent in everyone’s perspective. And how else am I going to get my daily comics fix as I eat my oatmeal and drink my coffee????
I don’t subscribe because I don’t need to go to them for Reuters and AP stories. I go to them for interesting local stories. I go to them for features on interesting people, events, or cultural happenings. I think the columns are very interesting, but the Op/Ed section is pretty disheartening.
The RTD suburban-focused editorial bias spills over to their reporting. Look no further than the RTD reporting on the Chesterfield County water park bailout. They’ve let that actual boondoggle slide right on by.
If you subscribe to the RTD, demand fair reporting and don’t automatically accept the premise they put out there.
A possible solution to all the woes of RTD…be the only palm in Richmond’s sea:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-06/the-most-feared-newspaper-in-france-is-full-of-fiction-scandal-and-puns
Just the weekday paper. I want my news and sports old school. I love the feel of the paper first thing in the morning.
@6 BAF, “The ROI on display ads for most advertisers is pretty low, the revenues aren’t high enough for the publisher, and the ad blockers are only getting more widespread.”
Not true. Return on digital advertising for the advertiser is very positive. You’re correct the revenue is not high enough to offset the print side of the business. Ad blockers are not widespread enough to be a concern, especially among newspaper sites.
Editorial stance? Yeah, newspapers have those. They always have. The T-D editorial page and the news section are two different things. Having an editorial page is not something the T-D invented.