August 09, 2005
More Spinny Apologia From The 'Tribune'
Phil Stanford Feigns Ignorance
People over at the Portland Tribune sure are getting touchy about their situation over there.
First, at the end of last month, the paper's president spun himself silly over the paper's move out of Portland, recent layoffs, and deletion of its Business section.
Today, their star columnists bugs out in reaction to a Willamette Week crack (in a piece about Commissioner Sam Adams) about the Tribune being "Portland's fastest-shrinking newspaper."
"I have no idea what was going through their heads when an unsigned column in Willamette Week dropped that crack last week," Stanford writes. "If you want my best guess, though, they were probably looking in a mirror and just got confused." He then goes on to rattle off some statistics about the Willamette Week itself.
Now, the tit-for-tat isn't a problem. It's the mock shock (shmock?) that Stanford professes that the crack might have had any basis in reality. But if he's going to pretend he needs an explanation scorecard, here's a few of the important bits of what the Tribune has done to itself over the past few years.
They eliminated or reduced home delivery. They laid people off. They reduced the physical size of the paper their print on. They laid some more people off. They essentially abandoned their Portland offices. They dropped their Business section.
Somehow, we're fairly confident in asserting that Stanford was not aware of these things. Go ahead and counter the crack with stats about the WW. That's just all's fair and what goes around comes around. But feigning ignorance of your paper's ongoing and years-long woes? That just makes you look dumb.
Comments (23)
Jeff on 09 Aug 2005
Here I come looking for Trib analysis on the Sten piece and you give me ... Stanford?! How'm I supposed to link back to Stanford?
Betsy on 09 Aug 2005
I find it really ironic that publisher Steve Clark said this less than two weeks ago:
Perhaps he forgot to pass the new 'take the high road' mantra on to Stanford?
The One True b!X on 09 Aug 2005
Oh nice catch.
Jack Bog on 09 Aug 2005
The last thing this town needs is a cat fight between the Trib and the WW.
If the Trib had opened with just what it is now, it still would have been one of the great days in Portland history. Rather than participating in tearing it down (which is what the pancake makeup set in local TV newsland would love to do), we should be nurturing it. If it just stays where it is today, we'll still be much, much better off than we were when it didn't exist.
Phil Stanford's way too on the defensive. He ought to ignore the catcalls, not argue with them.
The One True b!X on 09 Aug 2005
The local blogosphere could always pool its money and buy the paper. ;)
(Shoot me, I used a smiley).
The One True b!X on 09 Aug 2005
Oh, and FWIW I have no desire to see the Tribune fail. But the first step, as they say, to overcoming a problem is to first admit that you have one. Obviously, except for the grunt-level (not a dismissive term, by the way) staffers, the paper refuses to do that.
They're going to need to try something bold if they want to continue to occupy a niche anyone's going to engage with.
Me, I still think someone locally should try this, and if the Tribune were to try, they'd certainly recreate some of the buzz that accompanied their initial debut.
Johnathon on 09 Aug 2005
When I talked to Phil the other day at Silverado, he told me that the reason they moved to Clackamas was because the Portland taxes where killing them, and they were shifting to relying more on outsourced writers as well as prewritten articles bought from various sources (ala the Utne reader)
brett on 09 Aug 2005
i love the portland tribune and look forward to it being handed to me every tuesday and friday by nice smiling couriers. hmmm. that makes me wonder. when they throw around the circulation statistics, how are those culled. willy week and the mercury and the O all have stands or are displayed in businesses. the trib however, along with stands, is handed out to people who may or may not read it. every tuesday morning downtown, the streets, buses and max are littered with discarded tribs.
Bassbird on 09 Aug 2005
Good point. I think the fact that it gets littered everywhere has the subliminal effect of making people believe that it is “garbage”.
The One True b!X on 09 Aug 2005
Wait a minute. If the reason they moved was because of Portland taxes, then they should be able to take those savings and maintain their local reporting and editorial staff. The fact that in addition to (allegedly) moving to escape taxes they also are doing another slash-and-burn on their local staff and replacing it with "outsourced" material means the problem isn't just Portland taxes, but the fact that they're just plain not performing and/or managed well.
bassbird on 09 Aug 2005
maybe they just wanna make more money
Jack Bog on 09 Aug 2005
The Trib is more a philanthropic venture than anything else. It is not run by a giant out-of-town media conglomerate that cares only about the bottom line. I don't think it was ever expected to be a big money maker. It sure is a civic asset, though.
JVK on 09 Aug 2005
Well golly, it shore is! Especially when a bumbling print reporter gives you a venue to spout your dreck. Does Jack finally feel vindicated? I hope so, 'cause it's going to be all the more funny if the Trib takes a terminal dive.
Jack Bog on 09 Aug 2005
I could care less whether I'm in the paper. I make enough trouble "spouting my dreck" on my own site. Apparently it's hit a nerve among some of the sheep.
Lily on 09 Aug 2005
Aw Jack, people always want to shoot the messanger of unwanted news. I's hard for those sheep to maintain their denial abut the status quo with your blog challenging them on everything. Personally, my reaction to alot of things seems to be very close to yours, so I think you are the voice of reason. Jack's Bog and the Trib are civic assests to this town. (You too, b!X)
Anne Dufay on 09 Aug 2005
hum. What I want to know is who at HBO told him the Bill Maher "Swiss" show would air -- in a few weeks? ... Frank and I watched it twice, on HBO, in the past week...
(Yeah, worth watching twice. And, yeah, Frank did spot a fellow City person in the televised audience :-))
bill mcdonald on 09 Aug 2005
Dear Anne,
Phil Stanford’s phrase was “will be aired for another two weeks” meaning it has been aired and “will be aired for another two weeks.” HBO repeats its specials as you noted. Now you could argue that it hasn’t been aired at all since it’s on HBO which is cable, but there has to be some air between where you sit and your television set.
cab on 10 Aug 2005
If the taxes in Portland were "killing them" Why did they move there Suburban branches to the new location? This excuse is a perfect example of why the tribune has failed. They have a personal distaste against their largest market.
Anne Dufay on 10 Aug 2005
Thanks, Bill.
I looked back at it, yup, I was wrong. What I get for skimming (a process that sometimes introduces air between the ears...)
JVK on 10 Aug 2005
I actually believe you. But I also expect you to be smart enough to know that others are going to point out and take issue with your involvement (inclusing posters on your website, I noticed), and for you to bring it up yourself. Guess I was wrong.
The only sheep I see is a fifth-rate professor of a third-rate private college with delusions of academic rigor. Baaaaaaah!
The One True b!X on 10 Aug 2005
Not so much with the ad hominems, please.
paul gronke on 10 Aug 2005
b!x,
I don't think you know enough to make this claim:
Wait a minute. If the reason they moved was because of Portland taxes, then they should be able to take those savings and maintain their local reporting and editorial staff.
It's quite possible that they were losing money, and one way to save money was to avoid Portland taxes, but even having done that, they had to cut staff.
And JVK, do your homework before you slam someone. Lewis and Clark is definitely SECOND rate (77th nationally; top 50 are generally described as "top tier") (http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/libartco/tier1/t1libartco_brief.php) and their law school is the second ranked law school in the NW (interestingly again 77th nationally): http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_brief.php
The One True b!X on 10 Aug 2005
It's quite possible that they were losing money, and one way to save money was to avoid Portland taxes, but even having done that, they had to cut staff.
Hello? I said exactly that, in the very same comment you were respinding to here:
Heh.