Thoughts on changes to The Gazette

As someone who has read The Gazette since childhood, I've seen many changes over the years, some good, some not so good. I'm also well aware of the hard times local news sources have fallen upon, and how they've had to alter the way they do things in order to survive and thrive.

It's for that reason that a few changes The Gazette has made in the past year have bothered me. The first was letting go of columnist Lyz Lenz. She was and still is a vital voice for those who are politically left of center and was a voice for many women that simply cannot be filled by anyone else.

Second, and more recently, was The Gazette's decision, in the name of efficiency, to cease porch delivery of the newspaper for some who don't have a paper box at the end of their drive. I shudder to think how hard it's going to be this winter for many people to find their newspaper in a drifted over drive that hasn't yet been plowed after an overnight snowstorm.

Lastly, it's a shame The Gazette has decided to sell its printing press and outsource its printing operations to a company over two hours away. I'm not sure how this is going to improve delivery efficiency. In times when newspapers are struggling to keep subscribers and entice new ones to survive, I don't see how any of these changes are going to help The Gazette attain that goal.

Lori Morris

Hiawatha