2005 November

Newspaper Sales Tax Issue Tabled, GRAMA next challenge

The Tax Reform Task Force voted Wednesday, Nov. 2, to table a proposal that would have extended sales tax to newspapers. In effect, the move to tax newspapers is dead.
With three dissenting votes, the task force will move on without taking any action on removing the sales tax. The only way it could come up during the general session is if a legislator chooses to run a bill.

Members of the committee cited testimony from the public hearings about the reasons for keeping the sales tax exemption. Rep. Rosalind McGee, D-Salt Lake, specifically cited the testimony of Suzanne Dean in Provo and the public service that the Sanpete Messenger provides its community. She said she went home and read the Sanpete Messenger provided by Suzanne and was amazed at the kind of information provided to that community. Rep. Gordon Snow, R-Roosevelt, said that newspapers in his district were vital to serving the public.

UPA should document, for future reference, all of the ways newspapers serve their community. We need to tell our story. I'll put together a questionnaire asking about specific ways you serve your communities including in-kind promotions, donations, leadership in critical needs such as economic development or social issues... We also need to talk about the free things we do publish including eagle scouts, death notices, honor rolls, marriages, etc.

The GRAMA Task Force’s proposals are the next challenge for UPA. Here is an editorial penned by Don Meyers of the Daily Herald:
Since 1992, Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act has protected the public's ability to hold government officials accountable.

The genius behind GRAMA was that it presumed all records, regardless of the medium on which they were recorded, belonged in the public domain. It was up to the government to prove that records needed to be kept out of view.

But there are proposals being discussed on Capitol Hill that would undermine GRAMA's mission. The GRAMA Task Force is considering legislation that would make it easier for government agencies and officials to deprive the public of information that is now in the public domain.

One proposal, crafted in response to the question of whether e-mail is covered under GRAMA, would define government records as those documents prepared in connection with the public business. It would restrict access to documents prepared by officials and their staff as part of the “deliberative process.” In other words, the public would only be entitled to see the final result of a government action and not know how their elected officials made the decision.

Without being able to see those records, it would be hard to know if officials and representatives are acting in the public's interest or if they are helping well-heeled special interests.

The task force is also debating whether to let people ask for records in different forms. For example, if someone asks for a list of all sexual assaults committed in the state, a government official could refuse the request because the information is already contained in a more comprehensive report on crime. In this day and age of digital information, extracting information isn't an undue burden.

Another proposal would allow government to charge different fees for public documents based on who is requesting them or what they intend to use them for. The stated goal is to keep database companies from using public records for profit, but it undermines a principle in GRAMA that the records belong to the public, and that people shouldn't have to explain why they want a record. We already pay for the records, so why should people have to pay again?

There are also plans to declare things such as names and addresses private records. This will make it hard to look up information in the public record, such as real estate holdings. The idea is to protect people from identity theft, but identity thieves are not going to use public records, where there's a trail leading right back to who asked for the information. It's far easier to go sifting through garbage cans than to ask for government records.

Lawmakers are also considering a proposal to allow government records keepers to deny records requests if it is determined that the request is a form of harassment or “unreasonably increases the workload of government.” That is a standard that would allow record keepers to deny requests for myriad political and personal reasons.

The task force is also looking at a proposal to force all open records appeal to go to the state Records Commission. Currently, you may either go to the commission or to court to appeal a denial. By forcing everything through the records commission first, it adds additional delay to receiving a record and either discourage people from seeking the record or making the information next to worthless because it was received too late to be of any use in some cases.

The founding fathers realized that a democratic republic wouldn't succeed without a free flow of information. If the people couldn't find out what their government was doing, they wouldn't be able to carry out their duties and call it into account. GRAMA has helped Utahans fulfill that duty while balancing the basic need for privacy. There is also little, if any, evidence that GRAMA is being abused. If there are abuses, the abuser, not the record, should be punished.

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America’s Community Newspapers Grow, Thrive through Change
COLUMBIA, MO—Community newspapers across America are growing, changing and adapting to meet the challenges and opportunities in their markets, according to an updated study of National Newspaper Association members conducted by Belden Associates of Dallas, TX.

As an example: While only about half of the small newspapers in the country have web sites to complement their print newspaper, two-thirds of those without web sites say they plan to create a companion web site. That suggests that as many as one third of America’s 7,000 community newspapers are considering launching a web site in the next 18 months.

Second, while most community newspapers (69%) publish weekly, the number that publish twice weekly has grown six-fold between 2001 and 2005. The number of community papers that publish on weekends has doubled since 2001. Weekend publication coincides with the growth of weekend-targeted advertising inserts and the increased reading time available to readers on those days.

Third, while the nation’s daily newspapers are increasingly owned by large, publicly held corporations, 70% of community newspapers remain family owned. That’s not to say that community newspapers are not facing some of the consolidation and merger and acquisition fever of the larger papers. Nearly 40% of NNA community newspapers are group owned. Many of those groups, however, are still privately held; not publicly traded shareholder-owned groups.

Separate from the Belden study, but related, NNA records indicate that the number of community newspapers, and the number of readers of community newspapers, has continued to grow during the past 45 years. New newspapers are started every year, and community newspaper readership has nearly tripled.

“Despite stories of readership challenges and continued pressure from shareholders for ever-larger profit margins at large dailies, the community newspaper industry is growing and thriving,” says Jerry Reppert, president of NNA and publisher of the Gazette-Democrat in Anna, IL. “The thousands of community newspapers across America remain the primary source of essential, local news and advertising information for Americans.”

The top issues facing community newspapers, according to NNA members responding to the Belden survey:

• Advertising revenue

• Circulation growth

• Postal rates

• Competition from other media

• Finding good employees

• The Internet

• Newsprint prices

• Community and business development

• Technology

• Staff retention

• Training

NNA addresses all of these concerns through its monthly newspaper, Publishers’ Auxiliary; workshops and roundtables at its annual fall convention and trade show; a dozen committees and task forces; and its new Members-Helping-Members network.

NNA members rank the following public policy issues as most important:
Fair and reasonable Postal rates
Erosion of the First Amendment
Efforts to remove Public Notice from public oversight
Erosion of Freedom of Information, public access to public records
Direct mail competition
Health insurance for small businesses
Tax issues

Unlike the nation’s daily newspapers that deliver their papers via adult or youth carriers, about 64% of NNA community newspapers deliver more than half their papers via the United States Postal Service.

NNA is the only national association representing community newspapers in Washington, DC on these and other public policy issues of concern to community newspapers. NNA’s grass roots Congressional Action Team, along with NNA’s Government Relations Committee and Washington, D.C., staff, has been an effective voice for the industry in addressing these concerns.

Recent examples of this work include the avoidance of $1.55-$3 per sack surcharges for out-of-county newspapers that move through the USPS in sacks; a pending 2.3% reduction in in-county mail rates for community newspapers (the only rate reduction in the upcoming postal rate change); and the avoidance of cumbersome recordkeeping for routine business faxes to customers.

NNA’s annual Government Affairs Conference, held every March in Washington, DC for more than 40 years, is the only meeting of its kind. This one-of-a-kind event puts community newspaper publishers and editors face to face with politicians, newsmakers and top government agencies throughout the capital city.

Thus, it’s no surprise that the top reasons community newspapers join NNA are:

• Postal issues, including fairness in rates

• Publishers’ Auxiliary monthly how-to newspaper

• Lobbying in Washington, DC on issues of importance to community newspapers (such as estate tax, association health plans for small businesses, legitimate faxes for expediting business).

• Education (advertising, newsroom, marketing and promotion, circulation, human resources)

• Revenue growth ideas through sharing of best practices

• Cost cutting ideas available through shared knowledge of technology, mailing rules, etc.

• Libel insurance through NNA’s exclusive program

NNA members rank the following member services as most important:

• NNA’s exclusive libel insurance program

• NNA’s contests and awards

• NNA’s web site

• NNA’s weekly e-newsletter, ePubAux

• The NNA bookstore

The NNA works closely with state press associations across the country; nearly all NNA newspapers (83%) also belong to their state press association.

Established in 1885, the National Newspaper Association is the voice of America¹s community newspapers and the oldest and largest newspaper association in the country. The nation’s community newspapers inform, educate and entertain more than 60 million readers every week.

Belden Associates of Dallas, TX, is the premier custom newspaper research and consulting firm in North America. With more than 65 years experience, working with more than 200 newspapers and related organizations, Belden consultants have built an international reputation for innovative, strategic research. This national study for NNA was conducted in the spring and summer of 2005.

Know Your Customers, Increase Your Sales

by John Foust, Raleigh, NC


Reed, a veteran of ad sales, was talking to me about cold calls. “The key,” he said, “is to know something about each prospect. If I don’t have enough information up front, then I’d better learn fast in that first conversation.

“Think about it. Why in the world should I expect to sell something to somebody without knowing enough about their business to relate what they need to what I sell? That’s going beyond a cold call. That’s putting them in the deep freeze.

“At the start, my goal is to advance the sale, not close the sale. If I go in there trying to convince them to run ads to sell Product A – when what they really want to sell is Product B – I’ll look stupid and out of touch. That would be like a doctor writing a prescription without examining the patient.”

Talking to Reed reminded me of a cold call I received about telephone services. The caller talked so fast that I wondered if her office was on fire and nobody could leave until they reached their sales quota for the day. In glowing terms, she said that her company wanted to revolutionize my business communications with a new system that could handle up to eight lines and 24 telephones. When would I like to hear more about it? Would a morning or afternoon appointment be more convenient?

When she paused to take a breath, I said, “This is a small office. There is no way that I could ever use 24 telephones.”

There was a long pause. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know.”

As we hung up, I couldn’t help but think, “You didn’t know, because you didn’t ask.” I felt sorry for her. She had a one-track selling approach. Her product – as she portrayed it that day – was an eight-line phone system. Seven lines? Forget it. Six or five? No way. She was determined to sell eight.

Years ago, Sir Francis Bacon wrote, “Knowledge is power.” More recently, the Rolling Stones sang, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes...you get what you need.”

That’s right. You can’t always get an immediate sale. But give it a try, and you might get information that can lead to a future sale. If that caller had taken a few moments to learn about my business, she might have found that I was interested in something else her company offered. But we’ll never know, will we? That potential sale is lost forever.

According to Reed, information-gathering is part of the job. “I’ve read dozens of sales manuals,” he said, “and every one of them says it’s important to know your customers. It’s not complicated. It’s just a matter of looking around, asking questions, and paying attention to the answers.

Sales people who follow Reed’s advice will win plenty of customers. And those who don’t?
They might find themselves singing a different Rolling Stones lyric: “I can’t get no satisfaction.”

(c) Copyright 2005 by John Foust. All rights reserved.

John Foust conducts on-site and video training for newspaper advertising departments. His three new video programs are designed to help ad managers conduct in-house training for their sales teams. For information, contact: John Foust, PO Box 97606, Raleigh, NC 27624 USA, E-mail: jfoust@mindspring.com, Phone 919-848-2401.

How much news do you give away for free, on your web site?

Here is a case study:

Box Elder News Journal
A weekly newspaper with a 5000 circulation.
They had a web home page with a few banner ads. This generated very little profit after you take the time to sell and build the ad.
The traffic was driven to the web site by giving away their local news
stories.

In April 2005 they started uploading pdf files to ColorMax/ArcaSearch the archive company for the UPA.
They started giving away only classifieds.
Their home page now: http://www.benewsjournal.com/ Customers can now subscribe to view the entire newspaper online as an exact replica of the pulp version. In addition they get to search the last 3 months archives.

To date they have sold 113 subscriptions, with more being added each week. All subscriptions go toward circulation numbers.

Please call us about offering subscriptions to your newspaper.

Did you know you can also get online access to your digital archives back to August. 2004?

Newspapers In-County Rates Should Decrease in 2006
Postage for in-county newspapers should fall by 2.3% in early 2006 if a recommendation by the United States Postal Rate Commission is accepted this month.

The PRC today issued its formal recommendation on the next round of rate increases, including a two-cent increase in the first-class stamp and an average 5.4% increase on all other postal rates. The recommendation brings new rates a step closer to enactment. The United States Postal Service Governors must either accept or reject the recommendation in total. Action on it and a firm implementation date are expected within days.

The PRC estimates that a 4.5 ounce DDU entered carrier route presorted newspaper rate will fall from 6 cents to 5.8 cents under the new rate.

National Newspaper Association President Jerry Reppert, publisher of the Gazette-Democrat, Anna, IL, hailed the recommendation.

“NNA welcomes this rate relief, and appreciates the opportunity to promote the value of in-county mail to newspaper mailers who may be looking for new delivery options,” Reppert said. “Our members invest deeply in NNA’s postal work, and help the entire industry to maintain stability in postal rates. It is one of the most important things we do.”

Community newspapers enjoyed the only rate reduction among the dozens of individual postal rate classes because of a Congressional mandate limiting the amount of money the Postal Service can recover for overhead costs for in-county mail. Despite the declining rate, in-county mail revenues cover 100 percent of their cost to USPS and will contribute an additional 1.4 percent to postal institutional costs.

NNA Postal Committee Chairman Max Heath, vice president of Landmark Community Newspapers, Inc. said NNA was examining many aspects of newspaper mail. He said improvements in rate and service would be sought.

“NNA will be engaging in intense conversations with the Postal Service, the Board of Governors and Congress in the coming months on the importance of protecting and enhancing newspaper mail. This is the second piece of good news for us from the PRC in less than a week, and we appreciate the Commissioners’ diligence in moving this case forward,” Heath said.

NNA had hoped for a 5.4 percent reduction, as proposed by the Postal Service. But the PRC substituted its own cost methods for the Postal Service’s estimates, which raised the price somewhat. It expects periodicals to produce over $69 million for USPS in the coming year.

NNA leads the successful fight to avert mail surcharges proposed by large magazine publishers
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Postal Rate Commission was praised today by Jerry Reppert, president of the National Newspaper Association and publisher of the Gazette-Democrat, Anna, IL, for turning back a petition by large magazine publishers that would have forced publishers to pay a surcharge for using mail sacks.

The PRC’s denial of a petition by Time Warner and four other large magazine publishers to assess a charge of $1.55 to $3 on periodicals’ mail sacks was welcome news, Reppert said.

“Time Warner’s petition was wrong-headed to begin with,” he said. “First, to allow a group of large magazines to create rate increases for small periodicals is simply unfair. But these particular charges—allegedly justified because sacks cost the Postal Service money in mail processing costs—were particularly onerous, because we have no other choice but the sack.”

Reppert said NNA’s success in helping the Commission to understand the profoundly expensive implications of sack surcharges was another in a long series of battles by NNA on behalf of the smallest mailers.

He said: “My own printing plant uses 175 sacks a week. That is $525 a week and $27,500 a year, if each of those sacks were hit with the maximum surcharge. For most of our members, that extra cost would have cost the paper a reporter’s job, or caused a trimming of pages, which would have cost the community dearly in news and information. This charge would have been awesomely harmful to our industry as well as to our towns.”

Max Heath, vice president of Landmark Community Newspapers, Inc, and chairman of NNA’s Postal Committee, testified against the charges. Doug Crews, executive director of Missouri Press Association, was also an NNA expert witness, discussing the harmful impact.

“As NNA postal chair, I am highly appreciative that the PRC took seriously the concerns of community newspapers about service issues and difficulty of sack elimination in the near term. The PRC found that "efforts to develop a less costly container than the sack should be emphasized...rather than imposing rate penalties on captive users," Heath said.

“Of the 10 PRC findings in this case, the key one was that the existing rate structure for Periodicals does not violate the policies of the Postal Reorganization Act, and sharply higher rates will not be forced upon us by a big-magazine cartel. While other findings may lead to long-term changes, some helpful to newspapers and some questionable, NNA is engaged as a party to future changes through Mailers' Technical Advisory Committee work groups, meetings with top postal management, and future rate case filings. Member concerns are being represented well, and NNA members are getting a high return on their dues money.”

The PRC’s denial of the Time Warner petition likely brings the case to an end, but the impact of the discussion is far from over. As periodicals costs increase in double digits every 2-3 years, the search for solutions that affect newspaper mailers will continue.

Just for Laughs

• Some people say that I'm superficial, but that's just on the surface.

• On one hand, I'm indecisive; but on the other, I'm not.

• If there's one thing I can't stand, it's intolerance.

• The world's full of apathy, but I don't care.

• Perspective is in the eye of the beholder.

• Prejudiced people are all alike.

• What is the probability that something will happen according to the odds?

• Those who judge others will burn in Hell!

• Exaggeration is not all it's cracked up to be.

• Evil is not all bad.

• I'm still not sure if I understand ambiguity.

• Always be on the lookout for conspicuousness (or, It's hard to tell if someone is inconspicuous).

• There's no such thing as nonexistence.

• Cooperation can only be reached if we work together.

• As far as I'm concerned, treachery will sometimes bring loyalty into question.

• He doesn't have much of a reputation, or so I've heard.

• I disagree with unanimity.

• I have my doubts about disbelief.

• Avoid Alliteration. Always.

• Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.

• One should never generalize.

• Avoid cliches like the plague.

• Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.

• Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.

• Profanity sucks.

• I always try to do things in chronological order.

• A Plateau is the highest form of flattery.

• I have a twin brother; he's identical, but I'm not.

• Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

• Death to all fanatics!

• If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you (or, ...then you didn't do it right!)

• If you believe in telekinesis, raise my hands.

• An oral contract isn't worth the paper its written on. -- Sam Goldwyn

• Don't chew [or eat] with your mouth full.

• It's Deja Vu all over again.

• If we do not succeed, we run the risk of failure.

• I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous!

• I always wanted to be a procrastinator!

• Rehab is for quitters!

• To understand recursion, you must first understand recursion.

• If you want people to know where you stand, wear the same socks for two weeks.

• The shortest distance between two points is how far apart they are.

• Don't be redundant by repeating yourself.

• Grammar has gots to be one of the most importantest things ever?

• Some people type so fast that forget to include

• When all is said and done, much more is said than done

• My identity lies in not knowing who I am

• I am becoming increasingly worried that there isn't enough anxiety in my life

• I have this nagging fear that everyone is out to make me paranoid

• Free advice is worth what you paid for it

• Entropy just isn't what it used to be

• I can't define irony;but, I know it when I see it

• I keep telling myself that I am a pathological liar, but I am not sure if I believe it

• Not only am I redundant & superfluous, but I also tend to use more words than necessary

• There are only three kinds of people; people who can count and people who can't

• "No, officer. I do not wish to give up my right to remain silent!!??"

• Reality is a big, nasty, vicious dragon, but I don't believe in dragons.

Life in the Back Shop

by Bob Shaw, Manager Emeritus, The Minnesota Newspaper Association

No better way to reach retired printers than through state association bulletins.

Writing a book about printers is a lousy way to make money, but I didn’t expect to make money. What’s more important is making a record of what weekly printers and publishers went through in those dirty, old, dangerous back shops to create those neatly folded community newspapers. The book, by the way, makes a dandy gift for ancient, retired board members or officers," says Bob Shaw, Manager Emeritus, The Minnesota Newspaper Association.

But I’m thinking of writing another book: this one about typos.

There are thousands of typos around, all the time, every day. Some are hilariously funny, like a recent one here concerning a sweet young thing who hoped to be a professional singer. Over her photo, in 30-point type: “Local Girl Makes First Pubic Appearance.” A repetitive typo, mentioned in my book, was caused by a Linotype operator striking the “l” key instead of the adjacent “d” key. So the stories reported, for example, that the young honeymooning couple “is visiting town for a few lays.” Such typos are accidental: operator hitting wrong key, proofreader asleep.

Good words from Edmund Arnold, well-known typographer, columnist, author: “Bob Shaw has done a fine job of capturing the bittersweet nostalgia of the golden age of printing...a powerful gift for anyone with ink on their fingers.”