Star content changes
My wife and I are very unhappy about the changes showing in the paper. Several of our favorite cartoons are missing, as are the familiar crossword puzzles that are not too difficult.
One of the cartoons we like, Pickles, was there, but so small that it was difficult to read.
We don’t want to spend more time looking at the computer. Would much rather sit at the table in the morning with coffee, read the paper and discuss the contents. We have been subscribers since 2004, but these changes, along with others made earlier, make us think about stopping our subscription. Hope you will reconsider.
We read the paper every day and like the editorials and reader opinions. Seems like more advertising than formerly, but that is OK if it keeps the paper going. Sunday editions are especially enjoyable and maybe it would be best for us to limit our subscription to Sunday in order to save some money. We will consider doing that in the future.
People are also reading…
Other cartoons we liked were Lola, Crankshaft, Grand Avenue, Bizarro, Dilbert and Rubes.
The Sunday paper has several sections that we like including the Parade Magazine that we read every week.
Roger Oravetz
Green Valley
A poor decision
It is with regret that I am canceling my subscription to the Star. It was a poor decision to eliminate some of the good comics — Mutts, Adam, Lola—and replace them with stale ones: Peanuts (died decades ago — let it rest in peace); Garfield (boring version of Get Fuzzy); and For Better or Worse, which I grew up on but I will now die before Grandfather in the script does.
Sadly, the most likely reason for your poor choices is, once again, money. But my price continues to go up while the paper goes down.
Michael Wheeler
Northwest side
Three strikes and you’re out
Strike No. 1. My daily paper, which has become more liberal, doesn’t come until late morning or early afternoon. Hard to find carriers ... I get that. Plus, sports results are a day late as usual.
Strike No. 2. The editorial page is now one full page comprised of harsh, hate-filled letters of which I can hardly stand to read. The comic section is now only one half page in lettering which is too small. Who doesn’t like to end news on a good note like Mutts provided (no longer there).
Strike No. 3. Not sure when the next bone-headed decision will be made, but when it comes my subscription will be cancelled.
Nancy Short
Foothills
End of an era
My parents were civil employees of the federal government during WWII. They worked in a weather observation station in Cochise. Every day my dad would walk into the desert along the railroad tract to pick up his daily paper after it was thrown from the passing train. That is how long I have experienced having the newspaper in my home. I have now lived through the era of the printed press because I am choosing to let my subscription to the Arizona Daily Star run out. The “suits” of the corporation that owns the Star have decided that us old folks don’t deserve our puzzles and comics any more. It’s a very sad day for me. I will be saving the money I have been willing to shell out. I promise not to spend it all in one place, but I will be using some of it to buy puzzle books. Color me blue.
Judi Witter
Foothills
Check out e-edition
I have seen a few letters here complaining about the reduced number of comics in the print Star. Maybe it’s time for folks to start viewing the e-edition, which is very good and can be read as easily as (or easier than) the print. I’m an old guy myself, so I understand the nostalgia for the print edition, but with your subscription you get free access to the e-edition, including one or more full pages of color comics, every day. It reads best on my (Kindle) Fire tablet, but would work as well on any tablet or laptop. One of the Star’s reasons likely is to save some paper by trimming the comics/puzzles page. My only criticism is that I don’t see evidence that they did any advance questionnaire to get reactions. Electronic access is the future, and I have no piles of old papers to recycle!
Jeffrey St. Clair
North side
Slowly moving towards canceling
Every day it hits me in the face. The news is so bad that I slowly force myself to read it. Every week your corporate news style is slowly getting worse, with more wire service stories and less local sourcing. Then to blast the comics and features to ruin and try to explain it in corporatese makes it even worse. Then to reduce the size of what’s left in is, you know, an insult. I am not canceling yet ... just slowly moving that way.
Paul Mercer
Oro Valley
Paper’s challenges
As a veteran consumer of humor and thought-provoking topics, and caricature, I am one of the few, I guess, who really appreciates the newer comics formats in your great newspaper.
I subscribe, for a modest monthly fee to your online version. By now all of us must be aware of the challenges of papers just staying in business, let alone keeping this fussy citizen pleased with his paper.
Well, I rush to the “funnies” with a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. There on my laptop is humor, all the philosophy necessary for the “good life” and quite a bit of sporting happenings. The rest of the day is now better by far than being without my paper. ... keep those funnies as they are please.
Hector Lovemore
Oracle
Please bring them back!
I am in my sixth decade and have had a ritual of reading the morning paper, starting with the comics, for my entire reading life. One of the most delightful perks of moving to Southern Arizona last year was the Star’s comics and puzzles; it was the best version I have ever seen, across three states and two countries. I am so pained by the new format that I am having trouble justifying the monthly delivery cost, which was a bit much before but I considered it worth it. The change seems so petty, so trivial, clearly a seriously cheap batch of content. It should be combined with cutting the delivery cost in half, or it has sadly become not worth it.
Scott Stewart
Vail
Accept the changes
People, don’t you get it. Print is dying. I understand the need to make changes to continue having a printed newspaper at all. As print is now less relevant, the Star is desperately trying to hang on under restrictive corporate control. More money, less content, yes. I’m not happy about it either. But I want my printed paper realizing it comes at a high price. So you want print to continue, subscribe. Expensive, yes. The more we hang in, the better chance we have of keeping it. Cancellations ensure its death so let’s get on board, deal with it, accept it’s costly and subscribe.
Lori Surina
East side
Don’t readers get a vote?
As a decades-long subscriber to the Star, I must add my comments to those already published. The revised offering of comics is appalling, shameful and not worth the price of admission! I do certainly agree with those who say the changes will mainly affect your older audience who want the familiar, printed comics, TV schedule, and puzzles. The paper is for your customers’ enjoyment, not your convenience. Grrr! Don’t hold your breath for a subscription renewal.
Gloria Fenner
Downtown
Missing the crosswords
What happened to the two daily crossword puzzles? After reading the news, my next delight is working on the two puzzles. I’m quite disappointed that they are no longer printed and I’ll bet I’m not alone in missing them.
Lynn Malo
Foothills
Comic losses
The new comics page is terrible. Not only did you delete most of the wonderful, fun-loving comics that have made generations smile and laugh but you have added The Argyle Sweater which is distasteful. In this troubled world of today you have taken away something joyful. Shame on you.
Victoria Palmer
West side
Ill-advised changes
Bring back the former format, on the comics/puzzle pages! Keep the comics that were there, and restore the Cryptoquips and the two crosswords. These changes (improvements?) are ill-advised.
Vade Henderson
West side
Lee’s misguided changes
I thought Lee Enterprises valued the print edition of the Arizona Daily Star, but it’s clear they’re going to sacrifice it to maximize profits. Any plan to only publish a digital edition is misguided.
Bookstore sales are increasing for paper and e-books. Paper books are still the most popular format and publishers have learned that it’s not an either-or decision for readers.
I’ve been reading the Arizona Daily Star for 20 years. Sometimes I clip local news articles for future reference because they disappear online within a few days. On Fridays, I pull the TV schedule for professional and college sports and circle must-see games for weekend viewing — go Cats!
There are ways to maximize profits without obliterating the product. I hope that Lee Enterprises protects the integrity of the Arizona Daily Star, and continues publishing the print edition without making changes that upset their customers.
Karen O’Hara
Midtown
Another disappointed customer
Briefly, as a 50-year subscriber, I add my voice to the many disappointed readers who are very unhappy with the recent changes in the Arizona Daily Star. I will not cancel my subscription because of my strong belief in the value of local journalism. However, I hope that the instigators of the recent changes will heed the voices of their unhappy subscribers.
Charles Sanner
Foothills
Comics fallout
Your cost-cutting decision to drastically reduce the comic section is ill-advised and will probably cost you more in lost subscriptions. The local paper is a supplement to local and national broadcast news and needs to provide readers with a variety of information and humor. Cutting the comics has reduced your credibility in providing a balanced and viable product.
Donna Leaver
East side
Who made decision?
I have been a print subscriber for years and was very dismayed to read about the change in comics and puzzles to be eliminated. What “brain trust” decided that this new format was better for us readers? Oh right, we could look at the online version to see what was eliminated. I also read the caveat in the Sunday edition of Sept. 18, apologizing for the Sunday comics that we would normally see would change as of Sept. 25. That will be a single page printed on both sides. Why wasn’t the liberal comic strip Doonesbury eliminated? It was recently brought back for publication. All of the comics that are “left” are miniaturized, but not Doonesbury.
I have subscribed to a newspaper for 60 years, but may adjust my budget to save that money spent on subscribing. If it were not for Jim Click, Ashley Furniture and Sam Levitz you would not have enough revenue to print a daily paper.
Dick Perkins
East side
Pages no longer fun
As a longtime subscriber to the Arizona Daily Star, I am very disappointed about your decision to change the comics and the crossword puzzle formats. I have been enjoying reading the comics and working on the crossword puzzles. My joy comes from reading the newspaper, not from a laptop, pad or phone. I am sad to see the changes you made with fewer comics and only one crossword puzzle. I do not want to make the decision to unsubscribe from the paper.
Please reconsider.
Denise Ariew
Foothills
Changes to the print edition
It’s apparent that the recent changes to the comics and puzzles are universally despised. What in the world were you people thinking when you shrank the comics into unreadability? When you dropped some beloved features in favor of stuff that nobody asked for? You are a business that just declared that your readers’ wishes don’t matter; not only did you fail to poll them, but you didn’t even ask yourselves why they are customers in the first place!
It’s time to admit the error. Restore the missing comics, crosswords, Cryptoquip, Sudoku and Kenken, and reset the layout to make the comics readable once again. Then make a genuine effort to understand your customers before making more changes that upset their daily routines and rituals. There’s time to salvage this mess, but you have to act fast before losing readership.
Jerrod Mason
Green Valley
Changes to comics
I am very unhappy with what the Star has done to the comics page. Your existing comics section was already too small, and now you’ve made it even smaller (literally because now it’s so small you can barely read it). You have removed two of the best comics, Mutts and Marmaduke, and most of the ones that are there now I don’t like, like Doonesbury. I hope you will reconsider and bring back all the comics, and even add some more. If you feel a need to cut somewhere to make room in the paper, try cutting out some of the articles, and stories about U of A sports. This may come as a shock to you, but a lot of your readers could care less about that.
Edward McKeon
West side
Done with print
I am very disappointed that the Arizona Daily Star chose to change the newspaper. I always looked forward to the daily Cryptoquip. It was challenging and fun. I canceled my home delivery and am only reading the paper online.
Sonja Wiley
Green Valley
Reconsider decision
Due to the changes that you have made we will not be renewing our subscription.
Please reconsider your decision.
James Reynolds
Green Valley
The comics disaster
Not only do I not have the joy of Cryptoquiz as I sit in the garden watching birds, I can’t even find it on the online version. And then the comics — where is Bizarro? Gone from print and online. I do not want to do puzzles online or read comics online, but you made it so I can’t even find my favorites there.
Rebecca Orozco
Bisbee
Wrong direction
Once again the Star has continued to disappoint. First, you enlarge the font; the headlines on the front page are so large that you would think World War III had started, but it is actually something far less serious. It cheapens the appearance of the paper and devalues, rather than increases, the importance of the stories. Now, you remove half of the comics and some of the puzzles and replace it with a horoscope! This is becoming more like a tabloid, and I think these changes have been a big mistake.
Gail Lively
West side
Where’s Mutts?
I’ve been a subscriber for years and what you did recently to the comics/puzzle page has me outraged! I get news online or TV/radio more timely than the paper can deliver it. So I kept up my subscription because I loved the puzzle/comics page.
It had two crossword puzzles that challenged me that I could do and some great comics, the best being “Mutts”- a subtle, spiritual, sweet, political, caring message in the form of a simple exchange between beloved pets. Now it has one puzzle that is too hard for me to do, few comics, one rude/not funny (Crabgrass) and a few old no longer funny ones.
And why is the print for the TV section now so much smaller and hard to read?
Clearly you don’t get who your subscribers are.
Saving money? Not this way. Sorry, I’m not re-subscribing come October.
Jackie Weiss
Northwest side
Comic fiasco
I surrender! I’m giving up. I can’t fight it any longer. For the past two years, every time we have received a notice of a rate increase for our Daily Star subscription (and that seems to be happening more and more often) my husband has insisted that we drop our subscription and just read the news online as all modern folks are doing. The only argument I have been able to make to resist his suggestion is that I might be able to read the news online, but I can’t get my daily dose of humor (comic pages) or my daily intellectual challenge (cryptogram) online. I don’t understand how it’s necessary to publish at least four pages of sports every day and yet not be able to accommodate even one full page of readable (and current) comics. Anyway, I have given up. My husband says to thank whoever is responsible for the new content — it’s going to save us a lot of money.
Lou Terry
Green Valley
Cost-saving moves
In what appears to be a cost-saving move, the Daily Star has (in several ways) drastically reduced its comic strip offerings. For that same reason the Star doesn’t offer its subscribers a magnifying glass now necessary to read the strips. The next cost-saving move will be to eliminate the comics entirely based upon the argument that no one is reading them.
Ben Tuchi
Northwest side
Puzzles/comics changes
Have you ever done business with a product or service company that says to you: “In order to better serve you, blah blah blah”? You quickly learn that something is about to change that is not to your liking! I’ve read the several newsprint complaints you all have submitted and feel compelled to say: “Quit complaining and do something!” Now, if you really want to make an impact, you must quit your print subscription. When the many advertisers see a significant drop in print subscriptions, they will choose to negotiate lower advertising rates that will impact the bottom line revenue of the publisher. I’m sure you’ve noticed that the percentage of total print content has been increasingly consumed by advertisers, or maybe better described as the ever decreasing amount of “news” content, puzzles and comics. The advertisers have a much more powerful influence than do individuals.
Bill Kexel
Sahuarita
Why subscribe?
I subscribe to the Arizona Daily Star for two reasons: the local news and the puzzles on the comics pages. The national news that you print is generally two days late and largely incomplete. Many people get their national news from other sources these days, so there is no reason to subscribe to your paper for that. I used to thoroughly enjoy sitting down to do the two crosswords, the two sudokus and the scramble every day. Now that has all been cut by half, as have the comics. You are heavy on sports coverage, but have taken away a major source of enjoyment for the rest of us. There’s not much reason to continue to subscribe.
Helen Mitchell
Oro Valley
Puzzled about the puzzles
I, too, am unhappy about the change in comics page and removal of the Cryptoquip. Today I found there was no crossword puzzle in the Caliente. What’s next? The New York Times in the Sunday paper?
Peg Hartman
Foothills
Loss of respect
I moved here in 1981 and have been getting the paper since. I have watched you try to save this paper every day since then. You moved the printing to Phoenix and we lost the late game scores. You have raised the price so much that a lot of families can’t afford to buy it. I wish to thank Jim Click and Sam Levitz, D&H Air, Bank of America for ads to help offset you expenses. It still does not satisfy my wants for the old paper. As a result, I’m strongly thinking about helping you to bury it by cancelling my subscription. I can get my news on my cell phone, TV and laptop. I will miss the comics because I refuse to pay to see what they are asking to see them!
Donald Baker
Northeast side
Why change the crossword puzzle?
As a major part of my daily routine, every morning for many years, I have enjoyed completing the Arizona Daily Star’s crossword puzzle. The recent change to the LA Crossword Puzzle has been very disturbing, and I have quit doing the puzzles. The previous versions were great and the difficulty was average; the new puzzles are way too difficult for most of us. Change for change’s sake is not always a good thing. In this case it wasn’t. I can understand trying to cut costs, but this puzzle takes up more space than is required, and I can’t imagine it costs less to you. Why the change? Please return to the previous crossword puzzles, or I will have to consider another publication.
Gene Casagrande
Northwest side
Bring back Cryptoquip
Please! I would love to see the Cryptoquip puzzle returned to the newspaper. I always looked forward to the challenge of solving it. Thank you!
Teresa Bruner
Foothills
Not meeting our wants
Please put the comics and puzzles back. You are charging me quite a bit a month for delivery and I looked forward to the daily sudoko puzzles and the comics.
I don’t want to go online, that’s why I have it delivered. You are not meeting the needs or wants of your subscribers.
Diane Goedecke
Oro Valley
