The Arizona Repulsive
Written: Mar 12 '00 (Updated Mar 13 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good package stuffing for eBay shipping, cartoonist Benson, local sports coverage, online versions
Cons: Expensive packaging for shipping, mostly wire service articles, panders to commercial interests, predictably conservative, too many ads, very provincial for a metro paper
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| janesbit1's Full Review: Arizona Republic |
About every six months I get a phone call from an Arizona Republic solicitor, who offers me a "free" weekday subscription as long as I pay for the Sunday edition. When they ask me if I ever read the paper, I usually let them know that I do read it occasionally, but this is rare. They seem incredulous when I inform them that I almost never read their Sunday paper-I guess I'm not a "normal" Phoenician who will leisurely prop up his feet to watch sports on TV and read the Sunday cartoons sans original Peanuts cartoons. That generally ends the conversation. I should be due another call in April, but I still feel the same way about the Republic.
Who wants to pay $2.50 for a ton of classified ads, inserts, and generic articles? It might be transformed into package padding for eBay items I need to ship out, but I can get cheaper material from re-cycled e-commerce shipments. That said, I do admit that I have bought a few copies of the paper over the past 23 years that I've lived in Arizona.
Some Plusses
So I don't give the impression that the Arizona Republic is worthless, this Phoenix paper does have a few redeeming characteristics. At least, if you're an Arizona resident it does. The local sports section provides some closer views of the players and coaches of the Phoenix area teams than you'll find in other dailies. For example, yesterday's (3/11/2000) Sports pages had detailed articles about the Suns' Tom Gugliotta's damaged knee, background on ASU basketball star Eddie House, and a feature on the Diamondback's winter fitness workouts. Of course, all these articles would be totally irrelevant and boring to a non-Arizona fan, but do not fear. The paper will supply the scores and standings faithfully on the inner pages of the sports section.
The other major asset that the Republic has is political cartoonist Steve Benson. His cartoons sometimes cut against the straight, predictable conservative opinions that we are sure to see from the editorial staff.
Occasionally the Republic has some worthy feature articles about various places and people in the state. I remember reading some well-researched articles on the Navajo reservation and lifestyle a few months ago. Many of these articles are written by stringers and free lance writers, so we can never count on a steady diet of them.
The paper does provide some valuable community service, as it lists various clubs and activities, and has special features on certain days. You can count on the Saturday paper to supply locations for open houses and religious organization meetings and a syndicated column by the hilarious car talk guys, and on Monday you can read user friendly computer information.
One of the biggest plusses for the paper doesn't come in printed form. It comes in its online version(s) that contain most of the local stories, and links to entertainment, sports, and other sections. This site began at http://www.azcentral.com and I understand that this site will remain as a community site. I especially appreciate the movie links they provide, as it tells me all the theater times around the valley for any day of the week! Additionally, the Republic very quietly has been working on an online version of the paper. Very quietly I say since there are not yet promoting this site, but you can get a view at http://www.arizonarepublic.com/
Minuses
You can often tell much about the quality of a newspaper by the amount of local articles in the paper. Using the 3/11/2000 paper as an example, the Republic starts out fairly promising on the front page since 5 of the 7 major articles are written by Republic staff writers. After that page, the paper becomes largely a collage of cut and pasted articles off the news wires - the only exceptions being some polling place information for the Democratic primary taking place on that day.
It's no secret that a newspaper is in the business to make a profit, but the Arizona Republic clubs you over the head with it. The paper generally panders to the commercial interests of the paper, so you will be shocked if they ever uncover any major corruption in Phoenix. If they ever do, that in itself will be the biggest news story-and reporters can rush to cover the inside story of how a revolutionary reporter bucked the system to become an actual whistle blower. I'm not expecting this story any time soon, based on many years of scanning generic article after article of the paper many of us jokingly refer to as the "Arizona Repulsive."
Those who want to read interesting local stories with a different twist, should pick up a free copy of the Phoenix New Times instead. They are often over the top and a little too zealous in pursuing controversial stories with an effort to uncover hypocrisy and corruption, but this free rag has done far more to make public officials and businessmen accountable than its commercial rival.
If you don't want to work too hard to notice the commercial emphasis of the Republic, all you have to do is count. In yesterday's front section of the Arizona Republic 22 of its 30 pages are commercial advertising. The whole paper has several sections, and if I were to remove the sections that are classified and commercial advertising, I would be left with about 40% of the paper. After skimming a couple of the sections that are left, I'd estimate that about half of the remaining sections are pure advertising. Thus, we seem to be operating on the 80 - 20 rule, meaning that only 20% of the Arizona Republic is actual news articles and writing.
The editorial slant of the paper matches its constituency, so we have a paper that is more predictably conservative than the Chicago Tribune. There will be occasional lapses where the paper will surprise you with a libertarian slant; after all, we are the state that was home to Barry Goldwater. But for the most part, you can predict what the paper will have to say about various issues without reading.
While I mention editorials, I am reminded of the most ridiculous excuse for movie reviews I've ever encountered in a major newspaper. Bob Fenster's reviews are almost laughable! He continually rates very commercial fare highly and hates anything that has artistic merit. One recent example, is the movie The Messenger. I was looking forward to the story of Joan of Arc and hadn't read any of the reviews coming out, thinking that I would go non judgmentally. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I happened across Fenster's online raving review of the film.
My heart instantly sank, for Fenster is definitely consistent. Every movie he hates, I love and vice versa. When I saw his effusive positive review, I began to scan other reputable film critics' reviews of the film-and this only confirmed my suspicions. I never saw The Messenger that day, and I'm not sure that I'll even watch the video since the Republic's film critic recommended it so highly. I see this as further evidence that the Arizona Republic panders to its constituency instead of striving to educate and speak to higher standards.
Additionally, the name itself is a misnomer. The paper occasionally covers the Arizona territory, but it operates under valley mentality. Don't expect a lot of coverage if you live in Tucson, Prescott, Flagstaff, the Navajo and Hopi reservations, or any other "remote" location. To the Republic's way of thinking "all roads lead to Phoenix." Other regions are usually relegated to second rate locations in the paper if they get a mention at all.
Overall
In general, there's not a whole lot to the local paper that you can't get elsewhere. I'm far more likely to buy a print version of The USA Today than I am the Republic. The only times I'll splurge and buy either the .50 daily paper or 2.50 Sunday edition is if I know that a historic local sports event will be covered - like the Diamondbacks winning the NL Western division last year, or if I hear that an interesting feature article by a noteworthy free lance writer is in print. Instead, I'd recommend checking out the free online versions-the local articles are highlighted there, you can get all the entertainment locations and times, and you can even get Benson's cartoons. All with hardly any advertising!
I'll be disappointing the Republic subscription solicitor once again this April. "Nope, I almost never even read the Sunday paper."
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
janesbit1
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 - Top 200 |
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Member: John Nesbit
Location: Phoenix, Az.
Reviews written: 295
Trusted by: 281 members
About Me:
Watching movies and baseball, now reviewing at oldschoolreviews.com
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