Good Job, Statesman-Journal

The only consolation to this, which stems from THIS:

24-247:SALEM AREA MASS TRANS DIST L.O.T.$0.49 PER $1,000
YES .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .      15,639   47.42
NO  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .      17,338   52.58

24-248:CITY SALEM G.O.B. FOR STREET/BRIDGES $99,800,000
YES .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .      11,342   54.83
NO  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .       9,343   45.17

is knowing that the Statesman-Journal's attitude in opposing the transit levy (24-247) --- the belief that you can have something for nothing --- is the same attitude that will doom the Statesman-Journal in the end, as Craigslist devours its classifieds revenue and readers find an ever-thinner paper with ever-less content increasingly optional.

When people stop caring enough about their community to allow a vital service to be gradually destroyed, they certainly see no need to support institutions like newspapers, the benefits of which are much more subtle and difficult to appreciate.

And (unlike with transit) there's a host of great alternatives to the Statesman-Journal, many of which are free, fast, and full of fantastically diverse perspectives and insights (unlike the Statesman-Journal).

So, Statesman-Journal, Pyrrhic victory is yours. You win this round, but have only hastened your own demise.