Jackson Jambalaya

Each day with coffee in hand I walk to the end of my drive way to get the CL that has become so "thin" with fewer pages and reading it well that is done in only a few minutes. Maybe my walk to the end of the driveway is coming to an end!

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Anything to make a buck.
And, nobody cares about beiing informed . They want their beliefs reinforced so they can feel good about themselves. They want someone to hate so they can feel superior. They want to be entertained with fictional stories because non-fiction is so often boring.
And, beauty is truth instead of the other way around.
25% of our children live in poverty.
Thank God for Romania that has 25% of their children living in poverty. We're dropping like a rock in education and health care but we're still rich and religious and that's all that matters, right? The Saudis know that.

Maybe Chokwe will be the second coming of Ann Landers if his bid for Jackson's Chief Warlord doesn't work out. Big Kenny could be the next Lewis Grizzard....a new avenue for getting their message to the streets.

The sad part is that it will probably work, and JJ is a great example of why. There are thousands of people in the C/L's market who fancy themselves as writers. Just check the blogs and letters to the editor if you don't believe me. They may go through a few before they find one who will do it every week - coming up with a meaningful column every week probably isn't as easy as it sounds - but they'll fill a lot of virtual space and people will read the new columnists' work.

I wonder if the columnist will have to pay the fee to read their own stuff?

Or if the CL graciously kicks in the online-fee aa payment will the CL 1099 then columnist for the benefit?

I can't imagine many people who could produce columns worth reading doing so for free. This is really sad.

Just out of curiosity -- has anyone called the C-L to cancel a subscription and been asked why they are cancelling? Wondering what kind of feedback the C-L gets from people who cancel, and if it matters to them.

What are those C-L operators told to say to people who cancel because they've gotten rid of too much local talent and the paper has gone to crap?

How bad is it? Word on the street is that just a few years ago the single copy circulation was handled by as many as 12 contractors. With circulation dropping like a rock profit is gone for the contractors. The single copy (stores-racks) will now be handled by as few as 6 contractors for the entire metro area.

For home delivery they have closed all but one of the 4 distro centers they built just a few years ago.

A lot of papers are having problems but this one seems to know only how to implode.

Trust me if Grace is gone that is a big deal!

This was the end of my CL readership for me. I'm 23, journalism grad, straight A's. They wouldn't even email me back for an internship and now they are soliciting columnists to work for FREE. SOME NERVE! I think Ann coulter should just have 4 whole pages and the rest should be USA today.

its gasping and dying. I give it two years to continue publishing as a daily newspaper.

It has no use as an internet publication because of sites like this one that have more, and more accurate, information reported.

the prove you're not a robot is very difficult to read. please find another way.

All those folks needed to be kicked to the curve. They were driving the ship when it went off course and started sinking.

Ditto the robot comment

Newspapers are dying all over the country. The CL is no different. I don't read the CL so I have nothing to complain about.

Heard this morning from a neighbor that Puckett, Inc. is leaving Hwy 80in Jackson for a brand new facility in Flowood. Can't blame them at all. Who would want to go to Hwy 80 in Jackson for anything?

I cancelled years ago when they fired Orley Hood. Haven't missed it one whit. C-L is only fit for lining bird cages and wrapping fish.

I'm a little worried about the Sun Herald, too. For the last several days, SH has not published an editorial by its Editorial Board. This is the longest stretch of this that I remember, so I am wondering what, if anything is going on. Local news coverage is still good, by the way.

I think Kingfish should "apply" for the free spot(s). Let's see how quickly he gets censored/booted for shining light on the truth!

Who the hell "wraps" fish? It's OK to catch one, release one, skin one, clean one, eat one and give one away.....but nobody 'wraps' a damned fish!

You're giving us a clue to your closely held secret identity, Shadowfax. Of course people used to wrap fish in newspaper. I can't tell you how many times I did it myself. Catch fish, lay out the newspaper, clean fish, take the part you're going to eat and put it into the skillet or the freezer, wrap up the carcass in the newspaper and take it to the garbage can. The C/L is still a valid fish wrap.

I've wrapped many a d****ed fish. But I am a geezer (just proud to be still hanging around).

If I read the column correctly though, it said they were looking for contributors to CL.com. That's a bit different isn't it? they want folks that are tech savvy and come with a social network. I'm not sure I see the problem with that. Not at all suggesting that there isn't much to complain about - but I'm not sure that this is one of them.

These are usually young people, talking to young people. the .com user is different from the print user, right? at least that's what research would suggest. Maybe I'm missing the point here.

1:41 gets right to the core of the issue. Obviously everyone else here doesn't have a clue that this is indeed part of a grand strategy.

Don't worry, the CL will soon be using "volunteers" ready to love their marketing labor for free.

C-L is only doing what the JFP has done since its inception. Suck free content outta wannabes though I doubt the C-L will blow as much smoke up their asses as Ladd does her interns'.

The only, and I mean this sincerely, reason I still subscribe is because the paper makes good pee-pee pads for my dog when I am away and much cheaper than the pads at Petsmart.

I predict they'll shortly follow the lead of the New Orleans Times-Picayune and cut down to twice weekly - Sunday and Wednesday, probably. That way, at least, they can still claim to be "better" than the Northside Sun. Since I cancelled my subscription years ago, I for one won't notice the change.

They haven't hit rock bottom yet, KF. Can't get any worse? Just wait and see.

The CL has gotten so weak. who fired who though..Gannett made the decision for cutbacks, no? So why in the F.U.C.K do they expect anyone to pay for a measly printed blog?? The paper is so skimpy and they make no guarantees that your paper will even be delivered anymore……try calling and complaining. As a college graduate with a degree in Journalism...Clarion Ledger, you can "suck it"

Now we can find out what local rappers, felons, and/or community organizers think about current events every day, instead of having to wait a week for the JFP.

The Sun Herald and the Daily Journal in tupelo are still good newspapers. Even the Democrat in Natchez is better than ours. Maybe one of them can become the statewide paper.

CL has so little to print it has to print a recap a 1/2 page of all the week's stories you have already ready read- that was old news the first time you read it -now it is ancient history and a big waste of your subscription dollar ! I can only say thank goodness that shill David Hampton is gone- it appeared to me almost half his articles were on defending and raising money to keep the public schools viable - no matter that their record for teaching and retaining children was dismal - leaving so many other Jackson problems without a voice. I know papers are going thru alot with all the costs involved and people getting their product free online. I have long felt there is much wisdom in the common man and enjoy letters from thoughtful writers . The Sun Herald use to have a column called Sound Off where people could put in their two cents anonymously and it really got down to the nuts and bolts of what was bothering people. I am a one with a degree in journalism but don't think that gives people anything but some mechanics . Being able to analyze the news is another talent entirely. I wish the new managers well in trying to get adjusted here. As for as the heavy duty editor Grace leaving- imagine the money that will save them . Think Gannett is for sure trying to get lean and mean. Letting all the senior employees go is smart business for companies watching their bottom line.

With the advent of plug-in 'lectric freezers and Ziplocks, thinking people put fish bones (carcass?) in a ziplock and then the outside freezer. On garbage day, put it on the street and it thaws about the time the truck comes buy.

It's better to be 'kicked to the curve (sic)' than to be stuck behind it.

R.I.P. clarion ledger.... the only reason I waste $18 a month on it is so the wife can read the obits..just this morning the latest "legend" (evers) took up a lot of the space.. a topic only a handful of people care about anyway....i guess these endless "offerings" are designed to appease someone? do you think this target group even read the paper anyway? probably not..

Sorry, but C-L has not hit rock bottom. That is coming fast, however. Employees were treated yesterday to a two page memo that says a "new subscription model" is coming by the end of 2012. There will no longer be a home delivery option, rather a "singular product -- our content." This will be delivered online, through smartphones and and targeting tablets, which the memo says is the wave of the future. "along with our subscription model change, there is a corresponding change to our pricing approach (read that price increase). We believe the new subscription options and prices will more appropriately reflect the value of our content and the value consumers ascribe to that content -- across platforms -- in the communities we serve."

So, they believe the value of the content is worth a price increase? Not hardly.

And as for print -- they really don't want you to get a physical newspaper and you are going to pay dearly for it. "Prices will vary based on frequency of delivery of the print edition, ranging from none (digital-only) to Monday-Sunday.

This is where the C-L hits rock bottom.

This;

Analysis: In scare for newspapers, digital ad growth stalls

"There is no word yet on if he still hides under the sheets when he hears the name 'Barbara Blackmon'." Thanks, KF, made me laugh outloud.

@ 3:58-pick up Jackson Free Press instead. That's what my sister does to supplement her pee-pads for her 2 little dogs, and there's no cost.

FYI, KF. Last week, man knocked on my door at the house. Wanted to sign me up for free newspaper, I would just pay for the delivery charge. Asked him what paper. He said CL. Told him no thanks. He then asked if I would like a free Sunday paper, I'd just pay the delivery charge. Said no thanks again. Last attempt was--don't you want the so-n-so paper that has the sale ads and coupons? Everybody wants coupons. Said no thanks a third time.

I almost choked when I got my automatic yearly billing for 198.00They can screw up more in one issue than most did in a year of issues. Spelling in obits is terrible, they have the name spelled one way in the headline on the obit and another in the rest of it. And anyone who is involved with a funeral home can tell you what an obit costs, it isn't cheap. These ads that have one full sheet of paper and then a 3rd of a sheet on them are not easy to read if you are sitting in your chair. I have to remove all of those before I can read the rest of the paper. The wonderful people who wrote columns are now gone. I don't even look at the page that Bobby Cleveland used to write, it isn't the same. The cartoons that are in there now, if they don't have Marshall Ramsey's name on them I just skip over them. On some Sundays I get 5 or 6 of an ad, I don't need 5 of WalGreens, 5 of CVS and 5 of RiteAid. When I questioned the carrier, they said "this is the way that they are sent to us". And I have one of the best carriers, my paper is always double wrapped to keep from getting wet and it is up in my driveway. Why can't the people who work at the paper be as good as the carrier?

I've been thinking the entire week...

New from the C/L....

Kangaroo Court!!!

Nah, I don't have the time and there is only one Kingfish!

I just answered the door, some nice fellow asking me to subscribe to the c-l. I told him as a former, mis-treated, layed off, fired, former employee he was barking up the wrong tree. THEN he tells me I could save a few jobs by taking his offer (which already changed 3 times). The line of pressure about saving jobs continued until I asked him what happens to those great prices and jobs after the paywall goes up Jan 13. The look on his face was priceless! What paywall, was his response.

I tried to explain to him no jobs we going to be saved. Finally he gave up, shoulders slumped and walked to my neighbors door. Poor guy bought their crap hook, line and sinker.

So, the concensus is that Jackson would be better off without a daily newspaper? Is that what y'all want?