$418 for 13 weeks, so $1,600 for the year??? Dude sorry but that is crazy.
Paying that for a paper that is shrinking by the day where most pages are huge ads and “pooled” articles from other sources.
Not to mention their far left editorial board and lack of any real investigative journalism.
Unfortunately local, true unbiased journalism has died. Now we are left with online click bait headlines where the only thing that matters is clicks and not accuracy, editing and substance.
clt highly recommends using a CM library card to view any observer articles
I pay $1/week for the NY Times digital subscription. They have real, investigative reporting and great opinion pages. Of course, they don’t follow 49er athletics or the University in general, but neither does the hometown paper. I subscribed to the O digital edition when Hunter was covering us. He did a great job. But 16.99 is too much to pay even if you were covering our School. I get much more value out of my Times subscription. When I lived in Charlotte I took the print edition for years and looked forward to getting it every morning. I even searched it out when vacationing at the beach. Without Charlotte 49er coverage the Observer has no value for me. We have been ignored for too many years.
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Times have certainly changed. Twenty some years ago when I worked in an office I would buy the Asheville-Citizen Times, The Charlotte Observer and the USA Today every morning before I went in.
I can’t remember the last time I bought a paper
clt still gets The Economist, that is it
I certainly appreciate Langston coming to this site and engaging its members; a brutally honest, frank conversation with differing points of view is always something to value. I noticed an uptick in Niners coverage with football last fall, I credited Hunter with a lot of that honestly, but I’ve not subscribed to the Observer for a while for a variety of reasons…admittedly, it had nothing to do with or without coverage of the Niners.
Having said that, I personally hope the conversation continues, it’s an important one. Bridges are man-made, burned or not, and repair is always possible.
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This is one post I found in 10 seconds. The #1 recruit in the country is potentially coming to Charlotte, and the Charlotte fans have to inform the Charlotte Observer about it?
10 more seconds, I found this from Wertz in Feb '22…
I thought we were playing at the highest level. (And, yes, I do get the implication.)
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Dickie V was here more than once, IIRC. Most of what you say is accurate, MOST. …Charlotte media should ALWAYS cover the hometown team regardless of on court/field success. That is basic stuff.
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10 more seconds…took 10 years for a Charlotte Observer writer to make it to the local schools stadium? Would this happen with the Hornets or Panthers?
I noticed this when I saw it a while back as well. Tells us all we need to know right there. A Clt Observer SPORTS writer, no less.
As the home town team, playing the highest level of college athletics, coverage of the Niners should be like covering any other home team (Hornets, Panthers, Knights, Checkers, etc.). In addition, due to the educational impact to the region and the charlotte economy, coverage of all other things UNC Charlotte should be covered. The O and their staff should be championing the university in all capacities because what is good for UNC Charlotte is good for the city is good for the O. The failure of the O to realize that dynamic has brought us to where we are.
-No Med school
-No Law school
-The city leaders making a push for amazon with CPCC in the pitch but not the research university in town
-Failure of past university leadership in both sports and academics
-The funding discrepancies for years compared to other system schools
-The lack of support from the greater Charlotte community
-Rule changes like new Chancellors and future conference realignment being forced to go through thru BoG and the impact of those decisions on UNC Charlotte and why the UNC influenced BoG should have any say in Charlotte… or any other system schools future
-One of the nations top soccer programs is on campus
-The story of Aaron Fearne
-The story of Woodward and Chastain
-The story of Langan
-Where facilities expansion current is in planning and funding
-The impact of future Realignment on Charlotte
-The impact of NIL and Portal
-The motorsports program
There is a massive Chapel Hill slant in this city and instead of calling out this slant the Observer has historically joined in. Sorenson being one of the only ones that stood up for us in the past. Those are examples of stories and investigative opportunities if you have the balls. It isn’t just game coverage - it is telling the story of UNC Charlotte. We are a part of this community. Chapel Hill isn’t, State isn’t, App isn’t. We are. We are a business and employee generator. We have a massive campus with future Charlotte residents. We have globally known professors and research happening. None of that would be known by going to the city’s most known media outlet.
Most of us got so tired of waiting on the O to give us answers or to do their journalistic duty - we have found our news through other channels to the point the O became and after thought. Go hit back for us. Be a voice for us instead of against us. Do those things consistently and we will come back, but it takes more than just a few months of game coverage.
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Reading this thread has brought me to one conclusion - The Observer needs us now more than we need them. Oh how times have changed since being talked down to by that dick Persinger.
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Man do I wish Over40 was here for this.
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That’s so pathetic. I’d be ashamed to even tweet that.
Bottom line: unless stuff that relates in any way to NINER sports gets s#!7 loads of clicks on line, we’re just doomed to being ignored by the o. Regardless of what we foolishly pay for the physical paper, what else we say here or what we accomplish on the courts and fields. Period. End of story. 
I agree with this and I commend you for trying to mend fences. But as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, it’s going to take some time to repair the distrust. I’d even venture to say that some people that have been fans since prior to 2000 will never come back.
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Langston thanks for being curious enough to inquire. I respect that about you, I genuinely do. Please take my feedback as nothing more than my answer to a simple yet loaded question.
Most of how I feel has already been stated. As an out of town Niner. I drive hours right by ACC games to come watch the Niners regularly (football always, basketball some, baseball on occasion). I have zero attachment to other teams including the Panthers, Hornets or ACC. I graduated from Charlotte in the mid 90s. I bought the Charlotte Observer (paper version) so many times to follow the Niners and found absolutely nothing. I mean zilch, nada, nothing. I saw the same ACC shit that I could have found in a Triangle or Triad newspaper. You go to a place multiple times and get disappointed each time by the condescending service and product that I am not looking for…I don’t typically go back. Same applies here. I look elsewhere.
I promise this, if you prove to me that I will get my money’s worth I will buy multiple subscriptions and give them to Niner friends to click on the articles if that is what counts. But I don’t think that will happen so I will spend my money on supporting Niner sports. The O is on life support and by the way so is the mighty ACC that the city STUPIDLY spent money to steal from Greensboro?? THE local major university in Charlotte would make a logical place to look for help if I am the O. Time and effort would be a good starting point.
I wish you well Langston and hope you find the feedback you are looking for. Thanks for caring enough to come here and being much more respectful than some of your Observer predecessors.
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Over40 was a great dude.
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And he hated the Observer.
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