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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 2019)
4A WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 The Observer OUR VIEW Oregon needs open primaries The Independent Party of Oregon, all 124,777 of them, is giving nonaffi liated voters in the state something the two majors refuse to do. It will allow the 948,697 (as of October) nonaffi liated registered voters a chance to have a say in its primary election. More power to them. Oregon’s closed primary system, in which voters may cast ballots only in their political party’s primary, is about what it was when it was adopted in 1904. Republicans may vote in the Republican primary, Democrats in the Democratic one and Independents in theirs. Members of smaller parties, too, hold primaries for their voters, and only nonaffi liated voters are left out of primary elections entirely. Yet nonaffi liated voters make up roughly a third of all registered voters in the state, with more voters than either Democrats or Republi- cans. They will have the option to vote in the Inde- pendent Party primary in 2020, and the party may nominate candidates from other parties if it chooses. The Independents are expected to hold their primary in March, two months before Republi- cans and Democrats hold theirs. Nonaffi liated voters also can register with parties up to 21 days before an election if they so choose, just as party members may switch par- ties until then, though that isn’t a particularly common practice. There’s a better way to handle the problem. Oregon’s two major parties could decide to make Oregon’s primary election open to all com- ers, no matter what their registration, though the national Democratic Party rules still would prevent outsiders from voting for presidential candidates, according to the Portland Tribune. No matter how attractive the idea of an open primary is, nonaffi liated voters only will have .a couple of choices if they hope to have a say in statewide and presidential primaries next year. They can vote with the Independents. Or, they can join one of the two major parties before the primary and switch back afterwards. Each is better than nothing, but neither is better than a fully open primary would be. In a state that puts so much value on participating in elections that it automatically registers voters when they renew their driver’s licenses, that is particularly unfortunate. The news that’s fit to print — and pay for I t didn’t take long. The Observer put up a paywall on its website and the complaint fl ashed across my computer screen: Why does The Observer use Facebook to post links to articles on the newspaper’s website that we can’t read because we do not have a subscription? In short, why isn’t The Observer providing its product for free? It is a good question with an obvi- ous — but not a casual — answer: Our business — our stock and trade — is professionally researching, writing, edit- ing, publishing and delivering news and information. Like any other profession or business, we expect to be remuner- ated for our labor and products. Part of the problem is one of percep- tion. The newspaper industry embraced the free content theme online more than 20 years ago. That was a mistake. Once news consumers could get their news for free, they expected it and, in turn, the effort to produce the news lost perceived value. Generations of newspaper subscrib- ers before the advent of the internet paid for subscriptions. Yes, those newspapers had advertising, but the paper was not free. The easy access the internet provided blinded consumers to FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK PHIL WRIGHT those facts. Producing news isn’t easy and it isn’t cheap. People — reporters, editors, pressmen, delivery drivers, etc. — do not do their work for free. Just like you, they work to receive a paycheck to pay bills and to live. Newspaper employees work hard to produce news and unique local content for their reading audience. They work long hours, withstand criticism and, occasionally, bask in the shadows of triumph. But they don’t do it for free. Nor should they. We believe our news product is a good one. We believe it has value. And we believe that value is worth something. It’s why we share links to our stories on Facebook and other social media — to draw attention to our work. To receive the kind of journalism you expect costs money. If you read local news for free on some websites, you get what you pay for. The Observer is the only news source providing in-depth reporting on La Grande’s warming station, for example, and covering Your views Simpson: We should thank, because greenhouse gas emissions have not ridicule, those working to continued to rise.” address climate crisis Thank you, AOC, for sponsoring the To the Editor: On Dec. 6, I opened The Observer opinion page. This is often the fi rst page I read when the newspaper arrives in our bright orange newspaper box. I was disgusted to see a huge, color, racist ho- mophobic cartoon rudely ridiculing one of our elected members of Congress. Really? I am proud that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, often referred to by her initials, AOC, is an American politician and activist serving as the U.S. House of Representatives. We need her vision and her leadership. And because we adults have not ade- quately stepped up to the climate crisis, the leadership of children are making headlines. The Guardian reported: “The global wave of school strikes for the climate over the past year has ‘achieved nothing,’’ (youth activist Greta Thun- berg recently told activists at the COP 25 UN Climate Summit in Madrid), Green New Deal; thank you, Greta, for challenging all of us to act; and thank you, Eastern Oregon citizens working to address the climate crisis. Join us. Cheryl K. Simpson La Grande Vigil: Trumpers should wear ‘Make Russia Great Again’ hats To the Editor: The impeachment hearings have revealed a gang of cowardly craven apologists for Trump who no longer care about the U.S. Constitution or the criminal conspiracy that is manifest in Trump’s behavior, his crime family and his syndicate of cultist followers. We know Trump solicited help from a foreign government to help his 2020 re-election; we know he attempted to bribe and extort Ukraine to investi- gate political opponents and promote SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Stopped account balances less than $5 will be refunded upon request. Subscription rates per month: By carrier...............................................$11.80 By mail, all other U.S. .............................. $15 A division of cockamamie conspiracy hoaxes; we know he attempted to obstruct the con- gressional committee in the legitimate performance of its duties by blocking testimony from cronies. If Trump were innocent, he would be encouraging his followers to testify. Throughout the hearings, Trumpers moved the goalposts: First there was no quid pro quo, then it was a legitimate pursuit of corruption, then it was all hearsay and speculation. The Trump defense by his cult has collapsed like a house of cards as fi rst one then another witness shreds the arguments. Finally, the entire false narrative that Ukraine was involved in 2016 election misdeeds that serve only Russia has been debunked. The entire Republican Party should now don “Make Russia Great Again” hats. The once proud Republican Party is left cowering amid Trump’s tatters. Trisha Vigil Medford STAFF Phone: SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE NEWSSTAND PRICE: $1.50 You can save up to 34% off the single-copy price with home delivery. Call 541-963-3161 to subscribe. breaking news that matters. Because we believe our product has value, we also believe it is worth paying for. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be in this business in the fi rst place. So, the long and short of it is simple: Walmart does not give its products away for free. Small businesses — such as The Observer — here in Union County don’t give away their products and services for free, either. We ask you to pay for our news prod- uct because it has value. If you believe in the concept of local news and deem the body politic must be well-informed, then we hope you will support it by becoming a subscriber to the printed newspaper and/or a digital subscriber. A monthly digital subscrip- tion to The Observer is less than the price of Netfl ix. Getting home delivery of the paper plus everything we can of- fer online is less than $12 per month. That’s about the cost of a movie ticket and soda and covers a lot more than a couple hours of entertainment. By the way, The Observer and our sister paper the Baker City Herald are getting news apps this holiday season. The mobile app is fast, easy to navigate and provides alerts to keep you in the know. 541-963-3161 An independent newspaper founded in 1896 Toll free (Oregon): 1-800-422-3110 (USPS 299-260) Fax: 541-963-7804 Email: The Observer reserves the right to adjust subscription news@lagrandeobserver.com rates by giving prepaid and mail subscribers 30 days Website: notice. Periodicals postage paid at La Grande, Oregon www.lagrandeobserver.com 97850. Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays Street address: 1406 Fifth St., La Grande (except Dec. 25) by EO Media Group, 1406 Fifth St., La Grande, OR 97850 (USPS 299-260) POSTMASTER COPYRIGHT © 2019 THE OBSERVER Send address changes to: The Observer retains ownership and copyright The Observer, 1406 Fifth St., protection of all staff-prepared news copy, advertising La Grande, OR 97850 copy, photos and news or ad illustrations. They may Periodicals postage paid at: not be reproduced without explicit prior approval. La Grande, Oregon 97850 Publisher........................................Karrine Brogoitti Classifieds ........................................ Devi Mathson Regional circulation director ....................Kelli Craft Home delivery advisor.................Amanda Fredrick Editor .....................................................Phil Wright Customer service rep ......................... Mollie Lynch News clerk....................................Lisa Lester Kelly Advertising representative...............Juli Bloodgood Sports editor .......................................Ronald Bond Advertising representative...................... Amy Horn Reporter................................................Dick Mason Graphic design supervisor................Dorothy Kautz Reporter....................................Sabrina Thompson Graphic design ..............................Cheryl Christian Chris Rush, Regional Publisher
