More evidence of an ailing Cleveland Plain Dealer

In the wake of news that subscriptions to the Cleveland Plain Dealer are off 4.46% in the past six months alone, the Associated Press is reporting further evidence that all is not well at The Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper.

According to the report, The Plain Dealer is axing its Sunday Magazine because of rising expenses.

From the story:

The magazine has been published since the newspaper's first issue appeared June 29, 1919. The last edition will be Dec. 18, The Plain Dealer said in its Wednesday edition.

The magazine is a forum for the newspaper's longer stories, lifestyle question-and-answer columns and other features. The Plain Dealer said it will move some of the magazine's features to other sections of the newspaper and will reassign magazine staff members to other newsroom positions.

Once a feature of most metropolitan newspapers, the glossy Sunday publications have lost advertising support over the years as opportunities for color printing opened in other sections of the paper, Editor Doug Clifton said.

"While we are saddened to see this high-quality section cease publication, we must employ our resources to maximum advantage," he said.

The Plain Dealer, which is owned by Advance Publications Inc., has a circulation of about 370,000 weekdays and 480,000 on Sunday.

Should it be any surprise that a business enterprise that so callously offends thousands upon thousands of law-abiding concealed handgun license-holders in its subscriber area by publishing their names as though they were convicted sex offenders is losing subscribers?

With the financial blood-loss in mind, does it really make good business sense for this newspaper to continue to refuse to publish facts that would gain the respect of paid subscribers in favor of publishing anti-gun rhetoric that earns the newspaper empty awards?

Is this editor more focused on making his newspaper a profitable business, or on promoting his personal crusades?

Thanks to new forms of communication, the public no longer has to pay for and stomach biased news reporting in order to find out what is going on in the world. Newspaper editors that cannot adjust to this reality are going to continue to lose readership. The establishment media has been put on notice.