I had been working for an hour or so in my basement growlery (”Sit down, my dear,” said Mr. Jarndyce. ‘This, you must know, is the growlery. When I am out of humour, I come and growl here.’” —Charles Dickens, Bleak House, chapter VIII), when, despite the best efforts of two electric space heaters, I realized that a deep chill was afflicting my octogenarian bones. Too lazy to climb the stairs for the fleece vest I usually don at times like these, I bethought me of a ratty old sweater that was abandoned down here when one of my sons gifted me with the fleece. Putting it on and attempting to thrust my hand all the way down the sleeve rather than out the elbow hole I recalled my long ago visit to you and The Graphic (I think it had something to do with computers) and your tale of an old sweater you had formerly worn about the office to Faye’s dismay. You quoted a little maxim, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”

This drove me to wondering what you were up to, or, indeed, whether you were still up to anything. I turned to my old friend Google as I so often do, and soon had you pinned down. I’ve read enough on your blog to discover that you are still playing the same game, but in a new ballpark.

The truth is that I should be at work on a newsletter project (I do the layout and comp) for the fleece son, but couldn’t resist the temptation to give you a hail. I’ve bookmarked your blog, and as soon as I get the job done I’ll be back to read more of it. I’d be interested to hear your ideas on the current state of the newspaper industry.

’til then, best regards from an old compatriot in IFPA.

“In the first quarter, Gannett revenue dropped 18 percent to $1.38 billion. Revenue from advertisements in the company’s publications fell 34 percent to $723 million, and circulation revenue went down 3.1 percent to $300 million.”

>> TM Comment: Circ revenue went down, because they caused it too. Increasing cost for a subscriber, for less… and they wonder why they lost money? > TM Comment: Ad revenue went down because they are pricing ads more like the metro’s such as Indy Star. Gannett forces the local papers to constantly ‘budget’ based off of last year’s number’s, yet with no regard to anything trend-wise in the economy. When you have small business say they can’t afford to run in the local paper… that should be a warning sign that they need to accomodate and adapt to include them… or die off

That’s why I own a Honda. I knew the government would finally
get those Toyota bad guys!!!!

You and that old lady in the article taught me my “lesson”.
Is bottled wine ok?

Porter