Humor
Dope Writer Award To Statesman
April 3, 2009 
In what has to be the ultimate in spin doctoring and obfuscation (“clouding the meaning” for non-library types) the Daily Paper had this message to readers on page one of the printed editon Friday:
“Effective Monday, April 6, we will no longer be able to offer re-delivery of missed papers within the metro area…” How can you RE-deliver something that was NEVER DELIVERED?
What the folks at the ailing daily were trying to say was, “If we don’t deliver a paper that you have pre-paid to have delivered, don’t waste your time calling the circulation department because we don’t care.”
Our sympathy for the staff continues. It has to be rough working at a place willing to tell customers to “get screwed.”
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Apr 3, 2009, 12:57 pm
The only reason we get the Statesman is for the Sunday ads. It’s been years since I’ve cared about it. By the time it hits the doorstep, I already know virtually everything local and certainly everything national that it reports. Newspapers are dead.
Apr 3, 2009, 1:26 pm
Since the Idaho Statesman doesn’t report real news, why should they have real customer service?
Maybe the MiStakesman should go ‘all the way’ and publish their 95% Rueters / Associated Press content in a new micro format that nobody can actually see. If the paper was printed on a grain of rice it would surely save them lots of money, be easier to recycle, and not waste our time flipping through pages mostly filled with advertisements.
Apr 3, 2009, 2:11 pm
How about delivering it the next day. Or they could issue a credit. Wall Street Journal is often hit and miss on the delivery and they simply put it with the next days delivery.
Apr 3, 2009, 2:34 pm
The Statesman must be getting like the Post Office, which when you purchase a $5.00 ish stamp to get mail to Casper WY in 2-3 days instead of the usual 5 days (Casper’s a 10 hour drive) it then takes 8 days. EIGHT days to get from Boise to Casper!! And all the manager at the PO says is we’re only human, mistakes are made and we’re the best PO in the world. In other words, we could care less how competent we are. Great, the US has a better Post Office than Zimbabwe. Yippee
Apr 3, 2009, 3:19 pm
“It has to be rough working at a place willing to tell customers to “get screwed.””
Yeah; they used to treat only their employees that way.
Apr 3, 2009, 8:58 pm
I also thought this was stupid but the papers have been out of touch with readers for years.
Apr 4, 2009, 5:15 pm
Dave,
Glad to see another “dope” award. This one was certainly well-deserved.
Apr 5, 2009, 9:17 pm
If it were not for all the legal notices on foreclosures and the obits there would be nothing but ads anyway. If you notice the majority of the articles are reprints from somewhere other than the Statesman. Time to start taking the Nampa Press trip – maybe they will start covering Boise – would be more than we get now.
Apr 9, 2009, 1:20 pm
It’s Thursday, April 9 & my Statesman wasn’t delivered today. Wow, how very coincidental that no paper appears the week they institute a new “no service” policy.
I called and was offered the “link” to their e-edition, or an e-mailed coupon to go pick up my own copy at Albertson’s, or a 1 day credit. I’m still steaming mad that they think offering me a coupon to go out & pick up my own copy is a solution to their distribution problems. Won’t be long before they won’t need to worry about deliveries any more because there won’t be any subscribers.
Apr 10, 2009, 12:45 pm
JoJo you may have gotten your paper just about the time you were digging into your 5th item on the ToDo list at work. Thanks for nothing, eh!? For me no paper before 6:30 is the same as no paper. I hate to kick someone when they’re down but let me go put on a stouter pair of boots! McClatchy has taken a small and tough opportunity and utterly wasted and ruined it.
Apr 23, 2009, 11:01 am
The Statesmen deserves another “Dope” award for their collusion with the Boise State University Athletic Department! It is my opinion that BSU and the Idaho Statesmen have worked together for years covering up any story that might be less than flattering for the Broncos.
I have been a proud Bronco fan for as long as I can remember. Part of that pride came from the deep respect I had for Gene Bleymaier and his ethics. Now it appears that Mr. Bleymaier’s ethics may be in question. The University, Mr. Bleymaier, and Head Track Coach Mike Maynard are being sued for discrimination by a former assistant track coach. Being sued isn’t a conviction and I am confident that the truth will come out in the end. However, my concern is the fact that this story has been essentially shut out of the main stream media. The Idaho Statesmen reported the lawsuit on September 30, 2008 with a brief statement. There has been no investigation or subsequent stories.
My concern for the lack of reporting was peaked when I read an article from the Boise State University newspaper The Arbiter. The Arbiter has been publishing a series of investigative articles on the lawsuit and its claims. The Idaho Statesmen is being “scooped” by the school newspaper! The third article in this installment entitled OFF TRACK was published today. I encourage anyone who is interested in keeping the honesty and integrity in Bronco Country to visit arbiteronline.com and read the articles. Don’t miss out on the comments…some of them are priceless!
Hats off to the real investigative reporter Mary Albl, the Arbiter’s Sports Editor!
Go Broncos!