Small newspapers not getting it on magazine inserts

 As Louis DeJoy kills the joy in newspaper Mudville with the ever-continuing rate hikes (mixed with the ever-continuing kowtowing to Amazon), newspapers that deliver by mail (which includes some small five-day dailies these days as well as non-dailies) need to be rethinking their bromance with magazine inserts.

NOT tabs on newsprint.

Magazines on the gloss.

First, with newsprint cost issues, magazine stock, even cheaper, is on the rise.

Second, and to the point of this post, magazine stock, even the flimsier stuff, definitely weighs more than newsprint.

Those of us editors with some advertising experience, or GMs or small-town publishers, already know there's an issue as to whether or not magazine ads primarily poach from newspaper ads, anyway.

But, those quarterly neighborhood magazines often more than double the cost of the newspaper into which they're inserted.

And, are the ads paying for that?

Take my beloved nearest CNHI paper.

Its "holidays" quarterly issue of a month ago was 32 pages and just over 25 percent adhole.  Not sure how much net profit that returned.

And, the editorial side, the printing turnaround time was slow enough that a "coming" event mentioned in a feature interview had already happened.

The Texas Observer needs more of your money

 They're looking for $317K by the end of the year.

To that end, they've finally gotten smart enough to add two donor levels to their original Javascript screen of "supporter" at a paltry $11.87/yr and "advocate" at $48, which is higher than it originally was. "Defender" is at $71.88 and "muckraker" at $131.88. (I have no idea why these are the exact amounts, but it sounds like they could still learn something from NPR/PBS type fundraising.)

Speaking of?

If they get money, it will be "your" money, not mine." They still don't move the needle much on most their stories, and, while Counterpunch may not accept ads, The Nation does, and they're a local of The Nation, not Counterpunch. (Plus, NPR/PBS have "sponsors" if not ads.)

(Update, March 29, 2024: In fact, The Nation now has a Javascript screen, like many newspapers, saying: We see you have an ad-blocker on. Please disable it to continue reading our articles.)

And, more weirdly? On this donations page, the donation amounts do not align with what's on the Javascript. So, Observer, next time you write something about education, include yourself.

Back to the no-ads schtick. I discussed that and more this spring. Speaking of Counterpunch and the Nation, this time, it's both vs. the Observer, whether an articles-limit paywall (The Nation) or a premium section (Counterpunch), vs neither at the Observer.

Speaking of The Nation and Counterpunch in another way?

The Texas Trib has made the Observer as currently focused semi-irrelevant in my point of view. At one time, to look at the political alignment of national magazines, the Observer was Texas' version of, say, The New Republic or Mother Jones. Now? Though the Trib isn't that far out there, it is close enough to that at times, and is also perceived that way.

The Observer needs to more explicitly make itself Texas' version of at least The Nation, if not a Counterpunch or Alternet. (As well as getting a clue about a paywall, ads or both.)

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Update, Aug. 10, 2024: I don't even get their Javascript "please become a member" screen now with various membership price listings. That's after clicking to read more than half a dozen stories.

Moahr puzzles at CHNI!

Or, at least, at my local CNHI installment.

Wonder why?

Were people bitching about the amount of Texas Trib content? Bitching about seeing three days worth of comics at one time because it hasn't gotten a clue about not doing that and overvaluing its fishwrap at $1.25 Tuesday and $1.75 Saturday, higher than places like Bowie and Decatur which still have more than fishwrap?

Were they bitching about all those Alabama ads (without knowing why they're there)?

In any case, moahr puzzles, as teased on the banner of the Dec. 9 issue, is "the answer."

And, having seen the first new installment, it's apparently to keep from running more and more of those CHNI corporate-wide prebuilt pages, though the Dec. 12 Register still has one of those, plus this new full page of puzzles for four pages of puzzles or puzzles/comics. Add in it still having one of those other prebuilt pages, and that's five pages of birdcage filler on a 10-pager. 

Update, May 7: The prices are now $1.50/$2.00. And, the Tuesday puzzle may be hit and miss. The current Tuesday issue had two of the prebuilt infographic pages.

NOT the answer? Nobody biting on the "get paid to write sports for us" ongoing house ad ZERO basketball coverage during the non-district season (and who knows after that)? Going on five weeks since the start of hoops at the 4A level and nope, still nothing.

With an editor AND a staff writer (and, AFAIK, pages built at a pagination hub), they could do better.

Back to the header, though. What they need is FEWER puzzles, as well as more editorial content. And, of course, more ads.

As for CNHI in general? I remember when the Snooze touted "moahr puzzles" as "the answer four-plus years ago. Shock me that CNHI is that far behind the curve.

Texas Press Association giving away the store

 One again, it's time to criticize (not just critique, but criticize) the TPA, specifically, its Texas Press Service.

I presume no newspaper editor in the state is dumb enough to run the news release TPS sent out Nov. 30, because it DIRECTLY UNDERCUTS this thing called "advertising."

I'm just going to give the header, subhead and first two graphs in the quote:

T-Mobile Bringing New Stores and More 5G to Texas

The Un-carrier opened 18 new retail stores and expanded 5G network coverage and capacity

BELLEVUE, Wash. — November 30, 2023 — T-Mobile continues to ramp up its presence in Texas with the opening of 18 new retail stores across the state in 2023 and the planned opening of more than a dozen additional stores now through 2024. The new stores have created about 120 new jobs for the state.

“Opening even more stores in Texas continues to be a great way for T-Mobile to build relationships with our customers,” said John Stevens, Vice President for T-Mobile’s Small Markets & Rural Areas. “This is especially true in smaller and more rural communities where we’re opening doors for the very first time. Our strategy of meeting wireless consumers where they live, work, and play helps us to establish closer connections with them while also enabling us to tap into the local workforce. We just couldn’t be more excited about our growth here in Texas and look forward to continuing to make a positive impact across the state.”

Yes, TPA via TPS wants member newspapers to think about giving T-Mobile free advertising.

As I said above, presumably no editor worth his salt runs a word of this. But, a pink-slime, non-politicized version like CherryRoad's Sherman Dumpacrap might say, "Hey, there's no paper in Bonham and we can make this Bonham news!" (Bonham is one of those new stores.) Or Marlon Hanson's Focus Daily News running it, as it looks to be ever more a dumpster fire. (Will have a post all about it next month.)