I don’t ever like to see anyone lose their jobs; if I did, I’d call the president of my company and tell them our entire marketing department is a useless POS and should probably just be gotten rid of, so at least when I’m doing marketing that isn’t my job I won’t be muttering to myself about it being marketing’s job. But I digress..
The Hartford Courant reported that it is cutting 100 jobs:
The cuts include about 30 writing, editing and news support positions, bringing the news staff to 135, down from 235 at the start of 2008. With the layoffs, the newspaper will no longer have a reporter assigned to Washington, D.C.
Most employees affected are being notified this week, said Stephen D. Carver, publisher and chief executive officer. The layoffs are mostly at The Courant, but some are at subsidiaries New Mass Media, which comprises the chain of Advocate weeklies, and Valu Mail, the direct-mail business owned by The Courant.
I haven’t had the greatest respect for Courant news staff in the past, mostly because I’ve sat at the same meetings as their reporters, watched them walk out half way through, and then write a story that in no way resembled the meeting I’d seen. Still, the oldest running newspaper in the country happens to be Hartford’s only daily of note, and there would be a huge vacuum without it. (Besides, who is going to charge grieving families hundreds of dollars to place an Obit if the Courant goes belly up? A-holes.)
I have to say, though, I’d love to see this be the demise of Valu Mail. What a useless piece of crap that thing is! Even my coupon obsessed-grandmother doesn’t find much to like within the Valu Mail. Honestly, the thing shows up in my mailbox and goes directly into the recycling bin because I don’t need six coupons for different dry-cleaners, 14 coupons for oil changes, three coupons for restaurants I would never go to, and 150 coupons for other crap I don’t even care enough about to mention.
I can’t even remember to use coupons I actually take the time to clip for razor blades and Bayer aspirin. I’m supposed to shuffle throughh 200 useless coupons, 1/3 of which are for Chinese buffets? I don’t think so. Here’s a thought Courant, maybe you should try selling ad space in your papers to the companies who buy into Valu Mail, rather than sending us that boldly marked envelop that screams “Dump me in the recycling bin before you get inside!”?
Interesting stuff….but ValuMail does not come in an envelope
LOL
LOL Dumb Ass
Get your products straight before you write about them
OH…and it is spelled ” ValuMail” – - would be a good idea if you are going to bash a business, learn how to spell it first
there is no space….
You crack me up….
This much passion about an envelope and a an extra space can only mean one thing…
Shut-in!
At least correct your spelling errors and refer to the correct product.
When you agree to stop using smiley faces and “LOL” to express yourself, I’ll agree to give a shit about what crappy, environmentally disastrous coupon rag is going out of business enough to research it.
P.S. The Courant spelled it Valu Mail too…you should write to them.
Please provide a link to the Courant article that spells ValuMail wrong.
See that cut and pasted excerpt from a Courant article and the link directly preceding it?
Also, this may just be semantics, but I’m not sure and extra space counts as a spelling error. That’s really more of a typo, isn’t it? Perhaps we should take a vote.
In the meantime, thanks for helping our stats!
Even bad publicity is good publicity, and I guess you just thanked me for that? Meanwhile, you have a bunch of people in the industry laughing their asses off at a “reporter” who is reporting on the wrong product.
Maybe it was your objective to write an article about the wrong product, spark interest and gain stats. That speaks a lot about you. Does it make you feel proud?
Good luck with your website and your future in reporting, drinking, drawing or whatever you like to do with your spare time.
It’s funny that you think what we do here is reporting.
No one is sure what you are doing. Is it an attempt at comedy? Because most of your feedback seems to be from people who are either (a) offended or (b) correcting you.
I moved away from CT two years ago and I can hear your “jokes” bombing all the way from here.
Angry people write comments? Shocking.
Did I say angry? No, I said “offended”, as in your lack of humor and tact has offended people. There is a difference.
We’ll take either one.
CT misses you!!!!
HA! this exchange has to be one of my favorites.
Well??? Where is ValuMail going? I don’t think they have gone anywhere, have they?
Oh no, another increase in your google ratings
Is anyone else as baffled by the controversy this story seems to have stirred up? It’s about a coupon book.
ValuMail is not a Coupon Book – you still are talking like a drunk blogger.
Always make sure you know your facts before you speak, write or respond to a comment.
Or – continue to write about products that belong to different business – either way is fine with me, as we all continue to get a laugh out of this.
Maybe your next article will be about a microchip company making farm fresh cheese.
maybe “the young people of CT “need to get a little more educated?
We are drunk bloggers…so you’ve hit that nail on the head, buddy. I had at least three or four beers before I even got to work today. But in case you missed the point, I will reiterate: No one cares about Valu Mail, except, apparently for you.
As for young (or old) David, I think you’ve got things backward here. We’re a bit over-educated around these parts, and that’s exactly why we apparently have no idea what ValuMail is; coupons are for the illiterate.
And considering the name of this mysterious publication is spelled different ways on its own website, along with a typo or two, and plenty of unnecessary capitalization (along with a claim that all consumer households receive it, which is obviously not true since I don’t get it…as evidenced by the fact that I thought it was an envelope full of coupons) I don’t think our drunk blogging is its biggest problem.
http://cf.ctnow.com/valumail/index.html
Passss the whiskeeeyyyy….
Are there coupons for booze?
I live in a neighborhood where the folks could use all the coupons they can get…I haven’t seen ValuMail/Valu Mail gracing my place either…or maybe I have and it’s just made it to the recycling pile too quickly cause it’s worthless?
Doesn’t matter to me who is right or wrong, but you state, “coupons are for the illiterate.” Now I do think the, “young people of CT “need to get a little more educated.”
Doesn’t a person first off have to be able to read to understand a coupon?
and do you have any clue about one of the main aspects to the online world of retail? Coupons, coupons, coupons. There are promotions, coupons, coupon codes with just about everything you buy online. If you are calling the majority of the users of online retail sites who use coupons “illiterate,” then not sure what to tell you. Maybe that family who saves $20 a week on groceries using food coupons are also illiterate?
This website will better help you understand the coupon industry. Who knows, maybe you will use one and save some money, or maybe you are to smart to save money.
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/article/Thrifty/Using_Grocery_Coupons_Effectively_To_Save_Money
and I like the “drunk blogger” comments
Sarcasm is lost on you.
here here. people take stuff too seriously. sarcasm = fun…especially when people don’t get it and get all riled up.
so i hunted down a valu mail thingy recently. not a darn one was helpful. it made me sad since literate or not, i do love coupons and saving money.
Agreed, valu mail has worthless coupons.
http://www.bradsdeals.com/ is great for online specials.