The Non-Credible Shrinking Oklahoman

It is always sad news when rich, monopoly companies announce layoffs and cutbacks in typical cutthroat, inhumane rhetoric.

Then there are the questions. Why not try different business strategies? Why not allow employees to transfer to other jobs? Why not do everything you can to offer jobs and provide at least some financial security in America’s communities, especially in these difficult economic times?

Regular, hard-working people suffer. The rich, who have seen their wealth grow astronomically in recent years, protect their rising income and put their greed before their country and local communities. It is un-American, un-democratic, but it has always worked that way.

Yet the recent announcement by The Oklahoman that it was offering early retirement to more than 100 employees and laying off another 150 employees is actually good news for the state. We Okies are watching the unraveling—year by year—of the largest propaganda machine the right-wing has in one of the reddest of red states, and that is really something to cheer about. In the end, this right-wing collapse will create more economic development and jobs here than any other singular event anyone can possibly perceive. Unfortunately, it may take some time.

One can even hope the mega-wealthy Gaylord family, which principally owns and operates the newspaper, will sell The Oklahoman soon. (That is Christy Gaylord Everest pictured to the right. She is the chief officer of the company.) I bet those Gaylords do not want to mess with any stinking business that might actually take work and ingenuity. I mean, whew, what a hassle.

David Thompson, publisher of The Oklahoman, recently announced that 102 employees will be offered early retirement and 150 more will be laid off starting in October.

In his statement, Thompson talked about how “painful” it all was for him, but it was needed to “right-size” costs. So, see, it is a downsize to right-size. Now we understand. We can only hope that Thompson and the Gaylords are doing okay as they deal with all the pain of the perfectly understandable need to right-size themselves.

Thompson, like other newspaper publishers across the country, is primarily blaming the Internet. More and more people are turning away from hard-copy newspapers and getting their information from the Internet. Ad revenues are down. Circulation is down. The cost of printing and transportation is a factor as well.

But one can’t help but wonder if The Oklahoman and other declining newspapers ever asked the simple question: How do we appeal to people who actually enjoy reading? The Oklahoman, in particular, long ago gave up on open-minded, intelligent readers who read in different forms, from the Internet to books to magazines to newspapers. Many of these people are liberals. I have argued in the past the newspaper industry is failing because, among many reasons, it is trying to appease or appeal to people—primarily population segments within the right-wing—who simply do not like to read. When you operate a business based on a read/write framework, you need to appeal to people whom like to read and write.

The Oklahoman is noted for having a notorious right-wing bias. The newspaper’s leadership knows this. Did Everest or Thompson or anyone else in the newspaper consider expanding its editorial page and news columns to include liberal commentary and information that appeals to moderates and liberals? Did they consider adding a prominent local, liberal columnist? Did they consider a “surge” of their own by hiring more reporters to do in-depth and longer pieces that would appeal to people who like to read?

It seems to me that most newspapers in this country are doing everything they can to alienate readers not attract them.

But, in the end, the decline of The Oklahoman and the rise of Newsok.com, its companion Web site, is good news for the state. Certainly, Newsok.com is a monopoly in its own right, but for now the Internet is still a place for free expression. When people view Newsok.com, they are only one click away from getting a different perspective from thousands of serious and popular news and political blogs and Web sites in the state and throughout the country. Unless right-wingers gain control of the Internet, Newsok.com will never have the political influence once held by The Oklahoman.

The Oklahoman and Newok.com will no longer be the gatekeepers for new business and new initiatives in Oklahoma. You will not have to advertise through them to get a business going here, and, perhaps in the future, you will not have to adhere to rigid, narrow-minded conservative philosophy—promoted by the newspaper—to get a position of leadership in the state. As Oklahoma becomes known throughout the country and world as more mainstream and less politically radical, business investment will increase and more people will move here.

My heart goes out to those people who will suffer because of the layoffs, but the future of Oklahoma becomes brighter each time we learn of the newspaper’s continued demise.