the newspaper business

Somehow Advertising Age started showing up uninvited at my house. I used to be a faithful reader, but it just became so irrelevant to the newspaper business, I quit reading a couple decades ago.

Just a couple issues convinced me I’m still right in my assessment.

Here’s what the Editor-in-Chief Rance Crain wrote in commenting on a moratorium on big pharma consumer advertising:

And we’re going to see ads for diseases we never knew were a problem (restless-leg syndrome, anyone?)

and…

Take Avodart — please. Apparently, some “guys” (as they are always called) have the problem of an enlarged prostate, which forces them to make frequent trips to the bathroom. The ads for the drug show some poor guy interrupting important work, such as making scaled-down versions of planets (to go with a scaled-down prostate, get it?), to rush for the bathroom, to the annoyance of his fellow workers. My take on this problem is if nature wants you to relieve yourself on a frequent basis, maybe it’s not a bad idea.

So I responded:

Dear EIC,

Your ignorant comment about Restless Legs Syndrome “diseases we never knew were a problem” is just foolish. First, it’s not a disease, it’s a condition. It’s real. For you to make light of it just hacks me off. You further back up your ignorance saying “guys” have enlarged prostates (is this news to you? - you are aware that only guys have prostates, right?) Avodart is not needed according to you because if nature wants you to pee a lot, it’s OK. You want nature to run your body? Have a nice day Cancer Boy!
Cancel my free subscription.
(I guess somebody thought since I was in the newspaper business I would be interested in reading what Rupert Murdoch’s top dog, et al think. I don’t.) And since there were at least three other stories in the same issue that I thought were pretty stupid, I don’t need the grief of dealing with such ignorance and stupidity through your thin little journal.

PS: Are you SO important that your email address doesn’t NEED to appear along with your mug shot or column?

Big pharma’s direct to consumer advertising is wasteful and adds to the cost of drugs. It should be curtailed, just like cigarette advertising was curtailed. That’s not my point at all. RLS advertising direct to consumer IS a perfect point since it’s estimate that only 3% of adults have RLS, so why spend millions on advertising.

But Crain should stick to writing about advertising without his lame asides casting aspersions on medical conditions.

Under the terms of the settlement, NAR will repeal its anticompetitive policies and require affiliated multiple listing services (MLSs) to repeal their rules that were based on these policies. NAR will enact a new policy
that guarantees that Internet-based brokerage companies will not be treated differently than traditional brokers. Under the new policy, brokers participating in a NAR-affiliated MLS will not be permitted to withhold
their listings from brokers who serve their customers through virtual office websites (VOWs). In addition, brokers will be able to use VOWs to educate consumers, make referrals, and conduct brokerage services. Such
brokers will not be excluded from MLS membership based on their business model. NAR will report to the Department any allegations of noncompliance.
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/real_estate/index.htm

Myrtle Beach thinks those little ads in the back of the paper use up too much newsprint, so they are dropping them from their editions on Monday and Tuesday.

“the region’s largest classified inventory available anywhere” will be available on MyrtleBeachOnline.com. 

Says the V.P. and Editor Trisha O’Connor.

What? The editor decides to drop advertising?  Those little ads are usually sold for multiple day runs - 7, 14, 30 days, etc. There is some lost revenue in this plan. Unless her classified department is a dud and doesn’t have ANY ads on Monday or Tuesday.

Not hard to believe that an editor doesn’t think those little ads are readership items either. When the rest of the newspaper is very small, the importance of those little ads as readership is multiplied dramatically.

Before I’d kill classified ads in Monday and Tuesday in print, I’d give them away. Unless readership isn’t important to Editor O’Connor.

Ah, convergence. The buzzword that was so hot five years ago and so quickly faded once the newspaper business in South Florida went south. One couldn’t pick up a trade rag, or read a trade blog without reading about Tampa and their “universal news desk” and the fantastic new building that would magically make TV reporters and newspaper reporters mind meld into robo-reporter.

At the same time, dreams of creating a new-style ‘multimedia reporter,’ adept at both television and newspapers, have fallen flat. After three years, only one print reporter regularly produces stories for the TV station, the top-rated in the market.       

But that hasn’t dissuaded the people in the Tribune company.Their PR machine is crowing.

Tribune Company today announced that it will join the broadcast and interactive operations of its Miami television station, WSFL-TV (CW39), with those of its Ft. Lauderdale-based newspaper, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, under a single roof to create a media powerhouse serving readers, viewers and advertisers.  

Thats right… a powerhouse consisting of the CW and the Ft. Lauderdale newspaper is going to take over Miami as the leading news source. 

“This strategy is unprecedented in a major U.S. market,” said Howard Greenberg, Sun-Sentinel president and publisher. “This gives our print, broadcast and interactive operations the opportunity to work together to develop unique content and programming in a variety of areas. Plus, with this combination, there will be no better way for advertisers to reach more people with a consistent message.”  

Blah, blah, interative, blah, blah, reach, blah, blah, excited, blah blah, efficiency…

Straight from the pixels of one of America’s outstanding journalism reviews, WWD.com (Women’s Wear Daily website), comes the news that the Journal will be showing off a prototype magazine next week.

Days from now, the Journal will take prototypes for its upcoming quarterly glossy on the road, making a pitch to the coveted luxury advertiser resting on two major points: that the demographics of the paper are ripe for luxury marketers, and that new editor Tina Gaudoin possesses the experience and contacts to convincingly speak to the high-end audience.

The magazine will be aimed at $300,000+ income households and will debut in September with another issue in December. Plans are for it to go monthly. As Murdoch announced, he wants Dow Jones to compete head-to-head with the NYT.

Does your newspaper have a magazine?

The founder of Monster.com tinkered around and blew a bunch of VC money ($40 million?) on a website for the boomer crowd called Eons.com.

Eons.com is drawing it’s last breath, so now Jeff Taylor is after another bastion of newspapers - obituaries.

He’s entering a crowded field with a rather limited market. Legacy.com has been around a few years and has a very complete online obit package. There are other smaller players but Legacy.com is the market leader by a long shot.

Many funeral homes offer a “memorial website” as an upsell for their services. If Taylor’s obit site wants the information and thinks it will be free, he might have a rude awakening.

• Many newspapers charge for obituaries. The Daily News doesn’t.

• Many newspapers are cutting down on the space for obits by eliminating facts the families would like to have included. The Daily News is more liberal in including these facts than a few years back.

• Many newspapers won’t put in photographs of the deceased. The Daily News will upon request.

If a newspaper is publishing basic “death notices” ie: absolute minimum, and is charging for anything more, an alternative might be attractive to the families/funeral homes.

Once again, an entrepreneur has set his sights on taking away a probable revenue source and for sure readership generator.

Here we go again.

I hope this woman finds a great job, because she practices her craft well. Some may dismiss this a contrived and cliched writing, it certainly sets her apart from the other plain-jane ads before and after hers.

SUPER PR LADY SEEKS PUBLIC RELATIONS POSITION

Rancho Cucamonga (or Virtual), CA

I may look like a mild-mannered mom in the grocery store, but when the nanny comes and I steal away to command central (aka. my home office) I become Super PR Lady! While deadlines are hurled at me, my fingers are flying across my keyboard as I busily write press releases and pitch stories, all the while implementing fresh new PR strategies. These feats of marketing strength are not possible only because I have twelve years of marketing experience and have thrived in both high tech and dot com positions, but because I am a communications professional that strongly believes that building relationships is key to gaining coverage (which under my leadership has helped several companies win clients, reach more customers and increase sales)! As Super PR Lady, I have the experience, passion and drive to manage communications programs that bring results. As a mild mannered regular mom, I need to do it from my office in Rancho Cucamonga. Never fear, I have a cashmere cape and I can fly (travel is acceptable). For super attention to detail, excellent organization skills and demonstrated success managing remotely, please call 909-275-5804 or email juleszunich@aol.com.

Would you accept or reject this ad?

Hello Interested in book Ad with your newspapers and we will be much happy if you can place this Ad I will like you to give the quote of 4 weeks run of the advert below,so that we can move forward. Address : 155 W. Indian School Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85017 PH:6026356096 ADVERT TEXT… PART TIME JOB OFFER AS SALES REPS!!! Work at home,mailing Envelops or typing is the potential to earn $700-$3,000 Usd per-week running your own home business,Suitable for anyone willing to commit 1 Hour 30 Minutes a day.Email desohio24@yahoo.com for more pack information about the terms and the cost involve. Hope to read from you soonest,So that i can proceed with the payment details by forwarding the credit card details to you. Best Regards. Jamila Waga Message-ID:

It’s pretty easy to reject this ad when it came via email. It’s just so poorly written, it has to be a total scam.

We get a lot of these ads - some make in to print. They come on very official looking insertion orders, and per our requirements, payment in advance.

Our advice is to always be very skeptical of work-at-home ads.  But we aren’t going to look over your shoulder and tell you if the ad is bogus.

If an ad comes in, the check is good, and it’s not libelous, it might make it into print.

Be careful out there.

We will be num-chucking our way through the airport security to try and reach Ft. Myers, FL sometime on Turkey Day (if the plane doesn’t crash.)

I really like reading the Snooze Press print edition when we visit. My daughter and SIL are subscribers. Don’t get excited, they are both news junkies.

However, I also am reading a lot via RSS. I’m writing this now, because I’ll probably forget it later. That’s a good thing: then I won’t be aware if I am reading more RSS or more print Snooze Press and we’ll see how things go.

I’ll also get to see my granddog show off.

Newspapers will die if we don’t act to improve the health of the industry, writes Kevin Martin, head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, in an op-ed piece. The FCC “should modify” the rule that bars ownership of both a newspaper and a broadcast outlet in a single market.

There is never discussion about small markets like this one. Meanwhile, WNKY and WBKO have been allowed to double their advertising inventory by becoming affiliated with more networks. WBKO ABC/FOX/CW and WNKY NBC/CBS.

The newspaper owns a radio station, and that was grandfathered in. But if we wanted START a TV station, what choice is there? So locally, who cares what the FCC does, it won’t have an impact here.

 UPDATE: It has been reported that new FCC rules if enacted would only effect top 20 markets.  #20 is Orlando,  so you can see how restrictive this proposal really is.