Tioga Herald

Dear Editors:

Shame on you for discontinuing all Saturday and holiday print publications. In fact, GODDAMN the fat pigs who have manipulated this market for more than 10 years, purposely attempting to eliminate local news coverage and local political issues, whether it be newspapers or the loss of local broadcasting.  If they only regulate themselves there could be no need for the common folks of America to demand government regulation.If they would only regulate themselves, by the examples of Binghamton-area folks from the past like George F. Johnson (be sensitive to community and employees and call this industrial democracy, based on the moral sentiments expressed by Founding Fathers contemporary, Adam Smith). We wake up this morning with our minds, “set on Jesus.” But we are no longer to wake up this morning on the 4th of July with our minds set on reading the newspaper, unless we get it FORCED and CRAMMED down our throats electronically. Piss on the fat pigs for doing this.

And there are those who scoff and laugh at me for being so adamant to stand up and turn this thing around. I do have experience in this line and a wisdom of age.

More recently, in an economics magazine, there was an article titled, “Culture vultures.” The article identified this yanking of local news with digital bullshit activities (my words, not the magazine’s words), to have reduced the ability of people to understand and to know the people running for Congress unless they listen to the bullshit ads on television with lies and tarnishing of images rather than a discussion of issues.  The lowest level of intelligence focuses on tarnishing images and the highest level of intelligence is to focus on issues. We have people seeking huge increases in their income, with bonuses, who have inundated the newspaper ownership with their lousy attitudes towards consumers and a push for digital. The discriminate against those who are unable to read on computers unless they spend tons of money to wire their home so as to sit in a recliner and read the morning newspaper. Let alone the discrimination against senior citizens and those who either don’t want computers or just plain cannot afford them. And don’t look for handouts to solve the problem by purchasing computers for such folks because it drives up the costs all around for all of society. Keep it SIMPLE STUPID. Stop the bullshit of sensationalist news on digital access.  The visually impaired are also discriminated against with this digital bullshit. We don’t want handouts when the KISS of all of this is to simply have a printed copy of a newspaper.  This 4th of July, the Gannett Pravda of Binghamton (Piss & Sun-Bullshit) tells us all to read it online.  Well. Piss on you, Fat Pigs of Gannett – the modern-day versions of ROBBER BARONS and FAT CATS. 

My experience and knowledge is like this. I observed as many of us who are trainers, educators, teachers, professors, librarians, healthcare workers, and many other LOW-PAID people who help people and society (as their goal) to be laid off and the jobs destroyed.  I was one of them, for the sake of fat pigs at the top of the corporation who kept many high-paid lawyers and accountants on while the rest of us were screwed.  Librarians, too, in newspapers. Their jobs to assist reporters (also losing their jobs) in local news. The LOCAL would not only include political news. It would also be sections in the newspapers on local food culture, arts, entertainment, restaurant reviews, health issues, business issues, personal finance issues, and don’t forget the comic strips.  The list goes on and on of what WAS once provided by LOCAL newspapers and local BROADCASTING.  All have been replaced by a communist style nationalization of newspapers done in the name of capitalist monopolization.  The company where I lost my job as a corporate librarian was one of many across the land which got rid of librarians, in the name of deregulation and monopolization (supply side Reaganomics).  In each case, whether a deregulated company or newspapers, the purpose was to eliminate the demand side of the market. The newspapers have done a swell job in accomplishing this task.

I knew someone who was laid off at a Florida newspaper in 2008, after working there for 33 years.  His local television TV grid, one of many things he did, was curtailed and quite possibly, eventually eliminated. All in the deliberate attempt to strategize to help Rupert Murdoch and others eliminate local broadcasting in favor of Fox News. I don’t dream this up about Rupert Murdoch. He is actually quoted, from which I paraphrase.  Recently, the Piss & Sun-Bullshit (Gannett’s local Pravda) eliminated local TV grids completely. I have suggested that if it’s too much to put in a grid with ALL those thousands of channels (most of which are shallow and useless, for which we pay Spectrum and others), that the Piss & Sun-Bullshit just compile the schedules of all the local broadcast channels and provide a listing of all the local radio stations (no need for schedule), identifying what music or news stations are provided by local radio. As people who moved to this area in 2019, we rely on those things. Instead, what did Gannett do? Offer us a separate “TV Weekly at cost.  Right. As Barbara Ehrenreich wrote in her book, “nickeling and diming” Americans.  This nickeling and diming of Americans does one thing and that is not to increase profits, but to make HUGE profits and line the pant pockets of the fat pigs at the top.  That has been proven, too, and needs to stop.

As a customer on the demand side of this market, I have purchased newspapers for many years and have observed the deliberate condensing of newspapers for the sake of ONLY those people at the top.  At one time, I did the advertising for a group in South Florida. We put ads in the local newspaper there and were very pleased with the turnout we received. A great capitalist return on investment. FACT:  Newspapers operate by selling more advertisements and the prices are based on circulation numbers.  This newspaper raised its advertising rates AND its circulation rates.  The organization with which I worked decided they were not going to pay those high prices because the return on investment for us was reduced, as the prices of subscriptions and single copies went up.  The net result was lack of money because the circulation numbers went down.  So, what is done? Raise the advertising rates. It becomes a catch 22 for which lainbrain fat pigs running these organizations running them were blinded.  Or were they blinded? 

When attending classes at UCF in Orlando, I noticed that the newspaper there was giving newspapers to students. With the “Knight card,” we could obtain a free newspaper. One had to get there to find a newspaper or they were all snarfed up. In other words, to sell more advertisements at a decent cost and to sell more tailored to the young age market, that newspaper could watch its circulation numbers go up. 

When I returned to my home campus in South Florida, I suggested the local newspapers there do the same thing. Having been with an organization which yanked our advertising for our LOCALLY PRODUCED concerts, I thought, as a professor at a college there, the same thing could be done in South Florida. I was scoffed at the suggestion by lainbrains. 

Then I move back to New York and discover, the thickest “papers” in the area and the only one of about a half dozen subscription-based weekly newspapers which failed, was one which had ALWAYS been available free of charge, even back to the days when I was a kid here. They succeeded with the same model of a “pape” which was done at UCF Orlando.  Since my earlier days, they had added “news” items as well.  Local news.  Such things did not exist. The local supermarket keeps this newspaper, but does NOT have the Piss & Sun-Bullshit nor the Ithaca (another Gannett in a monopolized world) Journal available. One does the grocery shopping and has to walk down the street to get the others.  The local newspaper which does NOT rely on selling subscriptions, gives it away free of charge and likely has a far larger advertising revenue to pay for the printing. And as far as I know, this local newspaper is NOT digital. So Piss & Sun-Bullshit loses readers with its lainbrain fat pigs who FORCE digital down our throats. 

I have some suggestions, but if one wants to simply scoff at my suggestions, then go to hell.

1. Gannett do what was done in the Tampa Bay area where they went from two newspapers (St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune) to one which incorporates the Gannett newspapers in the small cities of Binghamton, Ithaca, and Elmira. Call it the Southern Tier Press, Sun-Bulletin, Journal, Star-Gazette. Or simply shorten it to The Southern Tier Press because Binghamton is the largest of the cities.  The Sun-Bulletin consists of a name from the Endicott Bulletin, but most young people probably don’t even know such history.  Or simply create a new name completely, like The Southern Tier Newsday.  But don’t make it sensationalist like the bullshit in The Daily News or The New York Post. More like the tabloid called Newsday.

2. Make The Southern Tier Newsday a tabloid, but not sensationalist.

3. Bring back local community information besides just the news. Bring back local columnists which write non-biased observations about what is happening. Bring back a food column. With such a newspaper, the school at Cornell University which gave us upstate NY style BBQ chicken or Endicott-style spiedies, etc., etc., etc., could be part of such a food culture and recipe column. Bring back entertainment reviews, including concert reviews, theatre reviews, restaurant reviews, recreational reviews (not sports), etc. And there are many other local community events and reviews, including restaurant reviews, as well.  We don’t need Facebook to do this, but open it up for all of us to read, whether we are wealthy and can afford the best computers and over-priced Internet service, or less advantaged. 

4. Bring back local delivery of the newspapers by kids. Make certain these kids collect the money from the customers and have an advantage to expand their routes. These things have been removed by communist-style centrally located Gannett Pravda and others. What do we wish to do? Emulate freaking lousy Putin who needs to be pissed on?  He leads a nation which has ALWAYS been governed by vicious and lousy individuals who are more like Genghis Khan than like Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Eisenhower, JFK, and others in our long line of good leaders.  Allow the carriers to pay a wholesale cost and sell at retail so as to learn what COMPETITIVE capitalism, not the fat pig version of a monopolistic centrally-controlled economics which is NOT capitalism.  And if these young people need to go door-to-door to collect for the papers, then they should be required to have two people at any time when knocking on doors.  Of course, if all newspapers were distributed at no per-copy charge, then there would be no collections at the door, but customers encouraged to leave a tip for the carriers which would be paid according to the number of newspapers delivered.  The higher the number, the more the kids would be paid. Thus, such “business” enterprise could be taught so as to teach what it means to market and distribute newspapers. 

5. Newspapers could increase the circulation numbers by selling both print AND digital copies. But those receiving print copies would get them free.  The method now is to treat customers like shit unless they USE the digital copies. That is NOT SUPPLY and DEMAND capitalism. That is fascist rule from supply side economics.  That is NOT capitalism. 

Recently, I contacted a newspaper publisher which was advertising its need to get delivery people. I am too old to do door-to-door, even by car. But I suggested, since this newspaper was from out of town and only one store was carrying it, I would be willing to diver to stores in western Broome and eastern Tioga Counties so as to deliver to those stores.  Having more newspapers in a store CAN attract customers, especially those who are being screwed by not getting home delivery, or having a really lousy home delivery.  The newspaper is at a store at a neighboring county and stores in this county have mentioned how they would love to have this newspaper available for their customers, but cannot get it.  Smart and intelligent people would say this, recognizing that, even though they don’t make a profit from the newspapers, the store has a good means for expanding their own customer base – with newspaper availability.  Smart people at the supermarket which is part of a chain which bought out another chain.  To date, I have had no “call back” from this newspaper.

Ben Franklin had a newspaper. He even promoted the building of libraries, as did Thomas Jefferson. Today, many librarians have been axed, in the name of high-paid lawyers and accountants – bean counters – who remain. Personal injury and workman’s comp lawyers are lousy and need to consider taking on an issue such as this. But no. They are too damn lazy to do this, as they milk customers and U.S. taxpayer money from the court system. Meanwhile, we have a politicized U.S. Supreme Court in this polarized society which has been decimated by nationalized newspapers which do not cover local areas properly.  Ben Franklin did.  Thomas Jefferson started the Library of Congress and sent the Marine Corps to Tripoli to counter pirates from a Muslim government which had deposed a much more humanitarian Muslim leader.  “… to the shores of Tripoli.”  Besides those soldiers who fought in Europe during World War I & II, as well as the many who fought in the Pacific, I honor them on this 4th of July. I can only hope that their sacrifices will not be town down by nationalistic fat pigs and younger common folk who don’t even acknowledge what they have today because of promotion of being individualistic fat pigs, snots, and spoiled brats. They should listen to my grandparents and parents talk about the Great Depression and those wars, and all with which our society had to suffer.  The GODDAMN Bible thumpers and their ideas that the only part of the Bible important to them is “an eye for an eye,” even after Jesus Christ taught us we should NOT follow those things. However, these GODDAMN Bible thumpers ignore the fact that parts of the Bible tell us to “honor thy father and thy mother.”  Honor those who came before us and left us with good along with the bad. Examine the good, you bastard SOBs.