[NEohioPAL]letter to Alex Machaskee, President & Publisher of the Plain Dealer

Tue Nov 15 04:54:04 PST 2005

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Dear Mr. Machaskee,

I own and administer an online performing arts news service for the  
Northeast Ohio region that has 4,500 subscribers.  

You may or may not be aware that there is a groundswell of  discontent and 
anger in the theater community over the Plain Dealer's recent  decision to 
eliminate the audition notices in the Friday Magazine.  

There have been many letters written to Mark Norman and John Kappes  
appealing for reconsideration.  Some of those letters were cc'ed to the  Northeast 
Ohio Performing Arts list.  Those letters are available for your  viewing in the 
NEohioPAL archive in the 11/7 and 11/14 links: 
_http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/pipermail/neohiopal/_ (http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/pipermail/neohiopal/)  

Hardly  a week goes by that there isn't an article in the financial press 
decrying  the ominous plight of the newspaper industry throughout the country.   
Circulation is dropping.   Ad revenue is down.  They're losing  money. Their 
stock prices are suffering.  Newsroom personnel are being laid  off.   
Knight-Ridder is for sale.  Mergers and acquisitions are  in the offing.  With the 
advent of the internet, newspapers are struggling  to "re-invent" themselves. 

With all this going on, the largest newspaper  in NE Ohio, the Plain Dealer - 
has now made a decision to  alienate thousands of readers and customers.   
The decision  has the potential to further reduce readership and circulation, 
thus compounding  an already precarious situation - and your bottom line.  

Is that a sound business practice?

Do you think it is  prudent to ignore customer wants and needs?

I urge you to reinstate the audition notices to the Plain  Dealer.

Warm Regards,

Fred Sternfeld

_http://www.fredsternfeld.com_ (http://www.fredsternfeld.com/) 
216-360-0708-home
216-496-6087-cell

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<DIV><STRONG>Dear Mr. Machaskee,</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>I own and administer an online performing arts news service for=
 the=20
Northeast Ohio region that has 4,500 subscribers.  </STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>You may or may not be aware that there is a groundswell of=20
discontent and anger in the theater community over the Plain Dealer's recent=
=20
decision to eliminate the audition notices in the Friday Magazine. =20
</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>There have been many letters written to Mark Norman and John Ka=
ppes=20
appealing for reconsideration.  Some of those letters were cc'ed to the=
=20
Northeast Ohio Performing Arts list.  Those letters are available for y=
our=20
viewing in the NEohioPAL archive in the 11/7 and 11/14 links: <A=20
href=3D"http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/pipermail/neohiopal/">http://lists.fr=
edsternfeld.com/pipermail/neohiopal/</A> </STRONG><BR><BR><STRONG>Hardl=
y=20
a week goes by that there isn't an article in the financial press decry=
ing=20
the ominous plight of the newspaper industry throughout the country. =20
Circulation is dropping.   Ad revenue is down.  They're losin=
g=20
money. Their stock prices are suffering.  Newsroom personnel are being=20=
laid=20
off.   Knight-Ridder is for sale.  Mergers and acquisitions a=
re=20
in the offing.  With the advent of the internet, newspapers are struggl=
ing=20
to "re-invent" themselves. <BR><BR>With all this going on, the largest newsp=
aper=20
in NE Ohio, the Plain Dealer - has now made a decision to=20
alienate thousands of readers and customers.   The decis=
ion=20
has the potential to further reduce readership and circulation, thus compoun=
ding=20
an already precarious situation - and your bottom line.  </STRONG></DIV=
>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Is that a sound business practice?<BR><BR>Do you think it=20=
is=20
prudent to ignore customer wants and needs?</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>I urge you to reinstate the audition notices to the Plain=20
Dealer.</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Warm Regards,</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=3D0 face=3D"Edwardian Script ITC" size=3D7 PTSIZE=3D"36"=20
FAMILY=3D"SCRIPT"><B>Fred Sternfeld</FONT><FONT lang=3D0 face=3DArial color=
=3D#000000=20
size=3D3 PTSIZE=3D"12" FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF"></B><BR><A=20
href=3D"http://www.fredsternfeld.com/">http://www.fredsternfeld.com</A><BR>2=
16-360-0708-home<BR>216-496-6087-cell</FONT></DIV></FONT></FONT></FONT></FON=
T></FONT></FONT></BODY></HTML>

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