My letter on newspaper delivery

I emailed the following letter tonight to the manager of Absolute Distribution, Inc., the company that delivers the New York Times:

Dear Mr. Mooney,

My knowledge of the newspaper business comes from reading newspapers, studying them, and contributing to them.  For years I have been buying three dailies:  the New York Times, the Allentown Morning Call, and the Lehighton Times News.  Most newspaper readers I know expect to read their paper daily.  

I now learn with great disappointment that Absolute Distribution, Inc., will cease delivery of papers on Mondays.  I know that daily papers have fallen on hard times.  I know that fewer and fewer people read them.  I also know that hedge fund operators and holding companies have been deliberately firing reporters and distributors in order to hollow out and then liquidate newspapers around the country.  I also know that one of the reasons American democratic values have fallen on hard times is because of the decline of newspapers and the rise of irresponsible social media.

It is plain to me that one way to hurry along the demise of newspapers is to make delivery sporadic or non-existent.  I urge you to go back to a seven-day a week schedule.  I also urge you to question the employee who delivers papers to Sunny’s Express Mart in Kresgeville.  He or she is definitely not doing the job.  This week, for example, out of the six days so far, the New York Times has been delivered one time, and this was a historic week.

I will be happy to discuss this matter further with you.  I believe we both have a common interest in a thriving newspaper business.

Sincerely,

Dr. Roy Christman