And, on a Thursday, not a Monday paper (if Belo is still publishing the Snooze in print seven days a week).
Yes, you read that right — a 10 percent adhole on its March 25 issue, a week ago. That's on Belo's normal 34-page run on Thursdays. And, as usually with papers of any size, it counts obits as part of the adhole.
They only had one-quarter page of obits. Still, a full page would have pushed the ad margin to, what? A whopping 12.5 percent?
With no other papers left besides the stable in Dallas, and with the digital marketing division now theoretically walled off, the "Rock of Truth" has truth to worry about far beyond A.H. Belo's Confederate past.
And yes, I know today's date, and no, this is no joke.
The big question is, since investors forced the hiving off of the digital marketing division, how long before somebody either forces a sale or else swoops in? With all the other papers they sold in the past, Belo probably still has some cash reserves that would make it a tempting takeover target.
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