I've been a subscriber to the Detroit Free Press for close to 30 years and am about this close to calling it a day. They were a Knight Ridder paper, bought by Gannett in 2005. Although they were slipping downhill before Gannett came along, it's a headlong rush to the abyss now.

In the last few years, the paper has gotten smaller and smaller. 95% of what is left is wire service crap that I've read either on the internet or in another local paper I get.

The Freep used to have their own book critic-gone. They used to have their own TV critic-gone. They had a movie critic-gone. They had a garden writer-gone. Local columnists-almost all gone. We still have Mitch Albom, but for how long? Even the comics section has shrunk, and that's really the only component of the paper that cannot be found on the Internet.

Just this morning, the Monday business "section" has morphed into a single column, with instructions to see their website for actual business news. Please explain why this is a good thing if you want to sell newspapers!

Right before the Fourth of July holiday, the food page had a small article about watermelons and how this is the best time to buy them locally. I was perplexed, as the season here is August, until I read the "Dallas Morning News" byline. For God's sake, can't you even PRETEND to review this stuff??

So why, I ask, does someone think that annoying me to the point of cancellation is going to improve the health of the paper? Is this going to gain new, more youthful subscribers?

I can read the paper in 20 minutes flat now. I guess that's good...less time looking at the ads.