Tuesday, March 07, 2006

St. Pete Times reaches out to Seminole Heights

1. Wait by your mailboxes! A direct mail offer is being mailed to all Seminole Heights residents this week for a special subscription offer to the St. Pete Times.

2. At the next meeting of the Southeast Seminole Heights Civic Association on March 21, the Speaker will Susan Thurston, City Times Editor from St Petersburg Times.

3. Susan Thurston has written a letter to Randy Baron. A well researched letter.

"If it happens in Old Seminole Heights, it happens in the City Times, the weekly section of the St. Petersburg Times. that's our mindset when it comes to covering your community. . . I write you this letter to reiterate the St. Pete Times commitment to Seminole Heights, past present and future. in light of the Tampa Tribunes' decision to end it's Central Tampa section, I'd like to emphasize you have a great alternative in us. . . We at the Times live and breathe our community, which has and will continue to include Seminole Heights." In the letter where the . . . is she outlined the coverage the Times has done of Seminole Heights by Michael Canning, Sherry Day, Elizabeth Bettendorf and that several writers and freelancers live in Seminole Heights including Mike and Shannon Van Sickler. Reporter Sandra Amrhein had her wedding reception at Viva La Frida.

4. There are some other things going on regarding the Times that I will share after the SE Sem Hts. Civic Association meeting

5. Susan and I have not made up our mind yet, whether we will continue with the Trib or not. Depends on what the Trib does and further interaction with the Times.

6. Interesting enough the Trib has made several recent misteps. Yanks the Central Tampa edition from us. Changes the TV guide and pisses off the entire TV Guide reading public, resulting in a written apology from the paper. Suggests in an editorial that we need a memorial to those of the military killed in the Irag and Afganistan wars, when one exists at Joe Chillura Park. (Also see the Sticks of Fire comments)
(However they did note today the made and error but pointed out that is is not much of a memorial. I agree with them)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the St. Pete Times is a superior newspaper, anyway. The Times is the largest independently owned newspaper in the US - it's not governed by a large media conglomerate but by the Poynter Institute, a not-for-profit that promotes high ethics and professional development for journalists who come to their campus from all over the country. The Trib is owned by Media General.

The Trib makes decisions solely based on revenue - the Times cares a great deal about revenue, too, of course, but they are in a better position because they aren't under pressure by a corporate headquarters located in another city.

Did you know the Trib has never endorsed a Democratic candidate for President? They've either endorsed the Republican or they've obstained, as they did last year. Not that I expect them to endorse a DEM, but I'd hope that they would be open-minded, instead of going with the party candidate every time.

I really enjoy the St. Pete Times, and suggest you give them a try. You probably won't go back to the Trib.

Anonymous said...

i love the st pete times but about six months ago i subscribed and never oncedid i recieve a city times or any neighborhood section.
i called, wrote letters, sent e mails with no response at all.
90 percent of the time i found my paper in the neighbors yard. good luck