More bad news on the high school media front

[EdgyTim]

The Daily Herald has been taking some serious hits over the last week or so and this one today really hurts. Schmitty is a good friend who has done an amazing job for DuPage Valley preps and the DH is down to a handful of people left on the preps side.

Everyone needs to support local media....please.

 

[ClownBaby]

Well he still has a job which is good but will be missed with HS sports side. I enjoyed listening to his podcast with Dave O. those two really knew the inter workings of DuPage football.

 

[johnndoe]

The Daily Southtown very recently circulated an online survey to subscribers with some ominous undertones. Most notably, a couple questions involving newspaper section importance rankings with prep sports being one of the listings. Stay tuned.

 

[MC63]

I urge each of you to take a subscription, print or electronic, to a Chicago area paper that covers prep sports well. Me, I enjoy my electronic subscription to the Sun-Times, which, by the way, understands that there are two MLB teams in this town.

 

[EdgyTim]

I urge each of you to take a subscription, print or electronic, to a Chicago area paper that covers prep sports well. Me, I enjoy my electronic subscription to the Sun-Times, which, by the way, understands that there are two MLB teams in this town.

Or even a hard working website focused on IHSA football? Asking for a friend...

 

[johnndoe]

I urge each of you to take a subscription, print or electronic, to a Chicago area paper that covers prep sports well. Me, I enjoy my electronic subscription to the Sun-Times, which, by the way, understands that there are two MLB teams in this town.

I discovered something "interesting" in the course of recently renewing for the Trib and Southtown, both under same ownership. I did the math on the period of the subscription on my bill, noticing that what I assumed to be a 6-month span, was only five. Upon reading some fine print and making a phone call, one automatically gets "opted-in" to charges for several premium issue supplements (like The Year in Photos, for example) which has the effect of reducing the length of service. Don't know exactly when this kicked in, but I requested and "opt-out" so I will be curious to see my next bill. Buyer beware!

 

[LTHSALUM76]

I discovered something "interesting" in the course of recently renewing for the Trib and Southtown, both under same ownership. I did the math on the period of the subscription on my bill, noticing that what I assumed to be a 6-month span, was only five. Upon reading some fine print and making a phone call, one automatically gets "opted-in" to charges for several premium issue supplements (like The Year in Photos, for example) which has the effect of reducing the length of service. Don't know exactly when this kicked in, but I requested and "opt-out" so I will be curious to see my next bill. Buyer beware!

Yes, I saw that when I first subscribed to the print edition of the Trib. You have to keep an eye on everything with any subscription. They sneak crap in there hoping you won't see it. I have a digital subscription with the Sun Times and the only reason I bother is because of the sports section. The rest is mostly garbage. My starting price was $34.00 for 52 weeks of daily viewing.

I also subscribe to the print edition of the Wall Street Journal. That was $1.00 for the first 13 weeks. Then they were going to increase it to $42.00 monthly. I called and asked a supervisor if there was anything they could do. They lowered it to $19.00 a month for the next six months. We'll see what happens after that.

Now, with our local paper, the Herald News. I had been reading that paper in print form since the late 60s. It became a paper I just don't recognize since Shaw Media bought it. I kept it for months because of local sports. July 27th was my last issue because I called and cancelled. They asked why and I said the same thing I say here. I don't recognize that paper anymore and the cost continued to go up.

But here is the kicker. I gave them a chance to keep me as a subscriber. I asked them to work with me with some kind of discount off the subscription and they refused. They not only refused, they were pretty rude about it. That is what actually did it for me. I'd like to support the local sports coverage, but I am not going to pay for a paper I don't like and a customer service department that doesn't give a damn about customers.

So, right now I read print editions of the Trib and WSJ and Sun Times digitally daily. On occasion I pick up a USA Today and a NY Times if I want a laugh.

 

[LakeCtyNewt]

It’s a very very sad day when a paper like the Herald loses touch with what got it to past successes. HS sports and community coverage is what has made the Herald great.

I’ll take the Herald suburban preps coverage over any paper. Sure, I am biased. But having worked with wonderful people like Kevin, Jerry, Joe, Marty, Dave and countless others, I know firsthand how much pride they put intk what they do.

it’s a very sad time for HS sports.

 

[William Foster]

Good luck, Kevin, with your new endeavor! You will be missed in the prep sports community.

 

[LTHSALUM76]

It’s a very very sad day when a paper like the Herald loses touch with what got it to past successes. HS sports and community coverage is what has made the Herald great.

I’ll take the Herald suburban preps coverage over any paper. Sure, I am biased. But having worked with wonderful people like Kevin, Jerry, Joe, Marty, Dave and countless others, I know firsthand how much pride they put intk what they do.

it’s a very sad time for HS sports.

Very good post. Our Herald was the same way at one time. Guys like Dave Parker, Bill Scheibe, Dick Goss and so many others were a pleasure to read and enjoy. The local coverage was outstanding. But, what I liked most was, these guys were positive guys who realized they were writing about kids who were not yet adults. You never saw these guys ripping on kids...or coaches for that matter. I miss that. Now, they just don't have the manpower to cover the sports like they once did. It's a shame because I'd much rather read that than some of the crap that is in that paper which caused me to cancel.

 

[PanthersWildcats86]

The boredom level in the Kankakee Daily Journal Sports Department must be at all time highs...without football, soccer & volleyball they are actually sending reporters to golf meets. The Journal has had more coverage of high school golf in the last week than they have had probably since I was still in high school - maybe 30 years worth of coverage...First major cross country meet this afternoon (Mac's hosting a bunch of schools at Legacy Park in Manteno)

But some interesting "public interest" type stories have resulted. Clifton Central has restarted golf after not having enough kids to support a team in like five years. Star golfer? Not surprisingly, Jay Lemanager, who should be slinging the rock as the Comets QB...

 

[missingwalter]

The boredom level in the Kankakee Daily Journal Sports Department must be at all time highs...without football, soccer & volleyball they are actually sending reporters to golf meets. The Journal has had more coverage of high school golf in the last week than they have had probably since I was still in high school - maybe 30 years worth of coverage...First major cross country meet this afternoon (Mac's hosting a bunch of schools at Legacy Park in Manteno)

But some interesting "public interest" type stories have resulted. Clifton Central has restarted golf after not having enough kids to support a team in like five years. Star golfer? Not surprisingly, Jay Lemanager, who should be slinging the rock as the Comets QB...

Oswego's orange crew actually went to a Golf meet last week.