Dear Oprah,

Have you lost your soul? My mom thinks you have -- and she's your biggest fan.

I simply think you've lost your memory. Let me help you a bit. This was a news report last November:


You even had a Sun-Times guy on your show. (Click here if you need a refresher.)

So what the heck happened Thursday? You let financial guru Suze Orman come on your show and tell your audience to cancel their newspaper subscriptions to save money. Suze was simply trying to help folks save a few bucks, but the long-term impact of her advice is catastrophic.

Let me remind you of your audience: They do what you say. I know. I have a wife, a mother and at least one sister-in-law who follow your every move. My mom has a bookshelf in her house that should be labeled "Oprah's Bookshelf." You wave it; she reads it.

After the Dow and Wal-Mart, you are the No. 3 economic force in America. You so influence the lives of these women that I've been dying for an episode entitled "Mrs. Franko, it's time for you to go back into the workforce" because my chats with my wife are certainly not working.

Do you really want your fans to cancel their newspaper subscriptions? Here's an irony: Had this show aired in October, and your audience listened to this advice, you might not have had a Chicago Sun-Times in November to wave on TV and proclaim "the best paper in the world."

I know you were in a pickle Thursday. Suze is nice and she's tough. When my mom and my wife can't watch you on TV, they watch Suze. For them, Thursday was the equivalent of the Super Bowl. "Ma, bring extra guacamole; Oprah and Suze are on together. And some Bud Light."

But you're tough, too. I saw the episode in which you walloped that author James Frey. Overnight, he went from everywhere to nowhere. With Suze, you wouldn't have had to be that tough. I do not want Suze to disappear like Frey. My mom and wife would not be happy.

They wish you would have stopped Suze and talked about your fondness for newspapers and how in November, you had a newspaper guy on your show.

They would have also liked you to tout:

• the bad guys that newspapers go after when others can't or won't.
• the resource newspapers are for common citizens when they have a concern.
• the family news that is showcased daily, from births to weddings to school honor rolls.
• the daily scrapbook that newspapers are for communities across the country.

I could continue, but instead here's what I ask: Let me and four of my newspaper friends come on your show and put a face on local newspapers.

Others are stepping in to save newspapers. Colleges are creating cooperatives with their local papers to bolster dwindling resources. In Washington, D.C., one senator wants to allow newspapers to obtain nonprofit status. Heck, the French government is even helping to support newspapers. You can help, too.

My dream of coming on your show ends similarly to that car episode you had several years ago. You would jump up and down on the stage proclaiming:

"You get a paper...

'And you get a newspaper...

"And you get a newspaper...

"And you get a newspaper..."

And communities across America would continue to be served by the one industry that has stayed by them longer than cars, computers and daily talk show hosts.

Your friend and fan,

Todd Franko
Editor
The Vindicator
Youngstown, Ohio

(A version of this letter appeared on The Vindicator's Web site.)