Free State Wyoming Forum
Free State Wyoming (FSW) Promotional => Marketing and Media Coverage of Free State Wyoming (FSW) => Topic started by: Paul Bonneau on May 02, 2006, 09:21:17 AM
-
I noticed there is a Keene Free Press. (http://www.keenefreepress.com/mambo/) I contacted the editor, Kat Dillon, and she pointed me to a discussion about starting your own pro-freedom newspaper. (http://www.strike-the-root.com/cgi-local/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=freedom;action=display;num=1142595247) She also promises to be a good source of information for startups.
I have been interested in this lately because the Cody Enterprise is so statist, and because I've heard so many people in the area complain about it. I've had an idea there is a market opportunity there, so I'm thinking about starting up a weekly newsletter, both print and website.
If there are any Cody area folks on board here who might be interested in this, let me know. And let's talk about getting some newsletters and newspapers going elsewhere, too.
Does anyone know of any open source software that can put together a newletter pdf file and files that printers can use to print a newsletter? I have to ask Kat what she's using...
-
Hey Paul,
glad you brought this up. I am interested in the same type of thing. She mentioned on that forum post that she uses MS word even though there is probably something better. She says they print 5,000 copies which only costs about $375. That seems amazingly low compared to what I would think. I guess printing on newsprint is a lot cheaper than normal printing. I've been using abiword for windows as opposed to openoffice or microsoft word. It's open source. You should be able to find a PDF distiller that lets you print from any program to a PDF file.
-
She mentioned on that forum post that she uses MS word even though there is probably something better.?
Every newspaper I've worked for or around since 1988 used Adobe Pagemaker, which is pretty painless and simple enough that even sports writers can use it. Last I noticed, they're up to around Version 7.0 now:
http://www.adobe.com/products/tips/pagemaker.html
She says they print 5,000 copies which only costs about $375.? That seems amazingly low compared to what I would think.? I guess printing on newsprint is a lot cheaper than normal printing.?
It is if you've got a web-fed press or printer. They're getting large-format digital printers developed for graphic and cartographic work that offer very interesting possibilities for a local newspaper; particularly one in a tabloid format. HP offers their web/roll fed HP Indigo Press W3200 http://www.printingtalk.com/news/hew/hew100.html and I think Kodak has something similar. I'm certainly no expert or RKI on the printing end of the newspaper biz, but I did take a look at some of the equipment available to get a storefront newspaper [usually a giveaway *shopper* tab] or localized magazine off the ground; real estate and auto dealerships are all over the things. A couple of us had the bright idea of setting up a small-town daily paper in a town of but 700 folks, then selling it off to a chain in a couple of years after the inevitable Editor & Publisher and WSJ stories about the smallest town in the USA with a daily rag.
The REAL trick would be to have one coincidental with an online version newspaper, with more frequent updates and editions. And if the customer wants 10 extra copies of the edition with the pic of little Johnny winning the spelling bee on Page One, it's as easy to crank out even that short a press run.
Newsprint costs have more than doubled over the last decade or so, but a northern Wyoming-based outfit might get a reasonably localized deal from Alberta Newsprint http://www.albertanewsprint.com/ And my old boss is now running a weekly rag in Texas; I bet he knows where the best deal on newsprint can be found.
FYI, Bismarck, ND and Casper are Lee chain newspapers. Take a good look at what they're doing *the old way* too...both right, and wrong.
-
I have been working on this idea for a few years now, with the thought of starting a small local newspaper of the opinions and ads variety. I have limited journalism experience in college newspaper writing and mid-market broadcast news, but that was a long time ago.
In spite of the dire state of traditional newspapers, small local niche papers have taken off. I often find new and very targeted papers popping up everywhere I go. Of course, I always get a copy for my archives. I don't know how financially profitable these papers are, but people must have some reason to keep starting and publishing them.
I see several decisions to be made about how to build such a newspaper:
internet only, printed only, or a combination
published daily, weekly, monthly, ad hoc
editorial only versus news and editorial
local only versus local and state/national
direct competition with existing paper or exploiting a niche
advertiser supported versus paid subscription
distributed by mail, paper carrier, local public places
I found a couple of newspaper trade groups. The American Newspaper Association is 'exclusive', too exclusive for even traditional Wyoming papers. The National Newspaper Association is much more open. They accept as members even occasional and online-only newspapapers. Annual dues could be just a few hundred dollars. Best of all, this association seems like the standard trade group for Wyoming's traditional newspapers. Join the NNA and watch the incumbent players bite their tongue because it is harder to bad-mouth a member of the same association that 'legitimizes' themselves.
I haven't researched the Wyoming Press Association, but understand they are active in press freedom and open government meetings work.
I have thought that entry could be pretty easy. Perhaps just an online paper for a while, then start printing a small run and distributing in local stores. Sell ads, start distributing by mail, print in color.
In terms of working with like-minded Wyoming newspapers, I noticed Wyoming's traditional newspapers have a consortium for reprinting each others' classified ads. Perhaps we could also share editorial and print other areas' local news when it has a broader interest.
The difference between a blog and a newspaper is a matter of how many hands are involved. A newspaper does not just cover one person's interests, polishes the writing more than a blog, and has an organizational consistency to it. Unfortunately, that means the one-person newspaper doesn't seem viable.
If you don't have a mega-budget to hire a dozen people to produce the paper, what can you do? Perhaps you can find someone who wants to edit or fact check or layout the paper. Believe it or not, not everyone wants to write but would still want to contribute. As a bonus, the writer may need to be local, but the rest of the staff can be anywhere. Five different newspaper can share an editor. Stuck in Colofornia for a few more years? Why not accept fact-checking assignments. It is a way to join in and contribute without even being here. As more of a community project than a business venture, the staff can even self-finance.
Here are the job functions I have thought of:
publisher
editor
writer
fact-checker
layout
display ad sales
classified ad sales
computer support
Remember that the newspapermen say "Whose bread I eat his song I sing." Watch out for your integrity. If you just do this for money you will end up another sell-out and then a fail-out. If you have better reasons you may also make a living.
I don't know if all this makes sense or not. I really don't know much about newspapers, and welcome all efforts to educate me on the subject. If we discuss this we can probably figure things out better than any of us could on our own.
If you are going to be at the Jam, I will bring my collection of newspapers and maybe we can talk about how this could work.
Paul
-
She mentioned on that forum post that she uses MS word even though there is probably something better.
Every newspaper I've worked for or around since 1988 used Adobe Pagemaker, which is pretty painless and simple enough that even sports writers can use it. Last I noticed, they're up to around Version 7.0 now:
http://www.adobe.com/products/tips/pagemaker.html
MS Word will do in a pinch, but is strongly not recommended. Its limitations are legion. MS Publisher is even worse. Though it has fewer layout limitations, its compatibility is extremely limited. Publisher is best left to the garage-sale-flyer publishing folks. :-\
Pagemaker is an old standard, but most printers, magazines, and newspapers are using Quark these days (often in combination with Illustrator). For the record, most of the folks I've talked with use Quark because that's what the company has, and they hate it. I've never used it and can't personally say anything either good or bad about it (though the most common complaint I hear concerns its inability to paginate). At my company, we use FreeHand which is something of a combination of Pagemaker/Quark/Illustrator in that it can do multiple pages, page lay-outs, and drawing for those who can draw (I can't).
Virtually any printer from your own desktop to the biggest publishers will take a pdf file. They may (or may not) need you to run your pdf files through Distiller first, but if they do, they'll provide you with the settings. Most softwares will convert their own native files to pdf (either via a "save as" or an "export as" or a "print as" function). Beware the pdf settings ? they do matter! And if you can't control the settings via your software, you need better software (seriously ? the settings are far too important not to be able to manipulate).
If you're just playing around, anything that'll typeset will work. Your home printer, if it's halfway decent, will print out a good enough master for reproduction; a pdf file can be e-mailed to a printer.
If you truly want a professional publication, it's going to cost you the money to get professional quality software. My own recommendations for the serious publisher:
Page layout/typesetting: FreeHand
Graphics/photo work/line drawing: FreeHand or Illustrator; and PhotoShop
Art service (we're very fond of Clipart.com, and at under $200 a year, it's a real bargain)
and
Web publishing: Dreamweaver
These programs aren't cheap, but they're very, very good. Y
ou'll also need a good editor/proofreader and a good designer (anybody with a computer can "publish;" to make it look good takes a designer) irrespective of your reporters, your "theme" (if any), and etc. And the gods know if you're buying this kind of software and paying an editor, you're going to need sales reps! :D
Good luck! I think it would be a helluva thing for some FSW folks to get into the newspaper biz in WY!
And for the record ? if there's a serious effort undertaken, I'd like to submit my r?sum?. 8)
-
This starts to get overwhelming. :P I feel I can write, fact check (with a little training), maybe one or two other things, but I don't have much background on running it as a real business. I was thinking small, something like a little newsletter, and maybe growing and getting more professional as I got things under control. But I don't know...
Definitely, let's talk about this at the Jam. Maybe we could have a consortium of newsletters and small papers, and share the talent. That way each little paper wouldn't need a full staff, just a circulation person and an editor, or something along those lines.
I think it's pretty important. No matter how resistant the people are to statism, the constant beat of government cheerleading from the regular media wears people down. The latest hobbyhorse for the Cody Enterprise? A county tax hike. >:(
-
I see several decisions to be made about how to build such a newspaper:
[*my opinions in brackets & surrounded by asterisks*]
internet only, printed only, or a combination
[*combo* If only to archive the back issues on the net, keeping the geneologists digging
through obits out of the library/morgue]
published daily, weekly, monthly, ad hoc
[*the market will decide. but twice-weekly plus a weekend edition might be a good start. Special
editions if called for, extra print runs *BULLDOG EDITION* if called for- think elections and 09/11]
editorial only versus news and editorial
[*editorials, columns and letters in reply and guest editorials belomg on the editorial page. They'll
also get more readership if they're next to or between the comics and the classifiedads.*]
local only versus local and state/national
[*local, county, local, regional, local, state, local, national, local and world. In that order.*]
direct competition with existing paper or exploiting a niche
[*VERY rarely do two newspapers directly compete with each other, though fights for
advertiser dollars are not uncommon. There are exceptions; I was a syndicated columnist for a
small town [pop. 3,378] newspaper that was the smallest town in the country with two
competing daily newspapers...next door to each other. When the dust settled, we'd won, and
the other folks packed up shop and moved out of town. It got pretty dirty a couple of times.*]
advertiser supported versus paid subscription
[*The cover price of most smalltown dailies does NOT cover production costs.*]
distributed by mail, paper carrier, local public places
*You'll want that fourth-class rate mailing permit. Consider the effect of really lousy weather
on carrier delivery and think internet. Direct sales at gas stations/restaurants/groceries are a winner
for morning papers, less so for PM dailies.
I found a couple of newspaper trade groups. The American Newspaper Association is 'exclusive',
too exclusive for even traditional Wyoming papers. The National Newspaper Association is much
more open. They accept as members even occasional and online-only newspapapers. Annual
dues could be just a few hundred dollars. Best of all, this association seems like the standard
trade group for Wyoming's traditional newspapers. Join the NNA and watch the incumbent
players bite their tongue because it is harder to bad-mouth a member of the same association
that 'legitimizes' themselves.
I haven't researched the Wyoming Press Association, but understand they are active in
press freedom and open government meetings work.
[*You'll want to consider joining the Associated Press, too [it really is technically an association]
and probably APME, too. NPPA for your photogs, and IRE for some staff. Wyoming Press Assn
[WyoPress] info here: [urlhttp://www.wyopress.org/[/url] Press association deals can help the
classified ad dept out, too. Oh, and you'll want to subscribe to Editor & Publisher
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/index.jsp[/url and probably to Columbia Journalism Review [url]http://www.cjr.org/
I have thought that entry could be pretty easy. Perhaps just an online paper for a while, then start printing a small run and distributing in local stores. Sell ads, start distributing by mail, print in color.
In terms of working with like-minded Wyoming newspapers, I noticed Wyoming's traditional newspapers have a consortium for reprinting each others' classified ads. Perhaps we could also share editorial and print other areas' local news when it has a broader interest.
The difference between a blog and a newspaper is a matter of how many hands are involved. A newspaper does not just cover one person's interests, polishes the writing more than a blog, and has an organizational consistency to it. Unfortunately, that means the one-person newspaper doesn't seem viable.
[*Some weeklies are pretty close to a one-man shop. And I can think of several papers that are family operations. But you've got the generalities down pretty good.*]
If you don't have a mega-budget to hire a dozen people to produce the paper, what can you do? Perhaps you can find someone who wants to edit or fact check or layout the paper. Believe it or not, not everyone wants to write but would still want to contribute. As a bonus, the writer may? need to be local, but the rest of the staff can be anywhere. Five different newspaper can share an editor. Stuck in Colofornia for a few more years? Why not accept fact-checking assignments. It is a way to join in and contribute without even being here. As more of a community project than a business venture, the staff can even self-finance.
Here are the job functions I have thought of:
publisher
editor
writer
fact-checker
layout
display ad sales
classified ad sales
computer support
[*printer/pressman- maybe obsolete*]
[*secretary/front desk/phones op*]
[*librarian/clipper/morgue*]
[*circulation manager]
[*circ runner*]
[*ad manager/runner*]
[*photogs*]
[*interns/cubs*]
[*stringers and freelancers*]
[*correspondents and columnists*]
[*the darkroom tech and linotype ops I once worked with are probably obsolete, and maybe
a couple of others too.*].
Remember that the newspapermen say "Whose bread I eat his song I sing." Watch out for your integrity. If you just do this for money you will end up another sell-out and then a fail-out. If you have better reasons you may also make a living.
Not the way we put it at the rags I worked on, but true. But not as true as Freedom of the Press belongs to the man who owns one. Oh, and You're only as good as your last story. One of my former editors was really fond of that oine.
I don't know if all this makes sense or not. I really don't know much about newspapers, and welcome all efforts to educate me on the subject. If we discuss this we can probably figure things out better than any of us could on our own.
Indiana University Journalism School, 1970-'72 [Ernie Pyle College of Newspaper Knowledge]
Chicago Daily News, 1970-'78, Photo Stringer and Special Projects Photog
Knox County Daily News [IN]1988-91 photog and Hiatt Newspapers syndicated columnist [Along The Way]
[1992 Beidler Award for Desert Shield/Storm/Sabre columns coverage]
Bitey Magazine, San Francisco [OJ Simpson trial coverage & followup investigative reporting]
World Net Daily 1997-2004 [stringer and Mid-South WND specxial projects investigator; Contributing Editor WND Dispatches Magazine.
among a few other things....
If you are going to be at the Jam, I will bring my collection of newspapers and maybe we can talk about how this could work.
Paul
That will only work for those of us who can read. Someone will have to help me with the big words.
-
If there are any Cody area folks on board here who might be interested in this, let me know. And let's talk about getting some newsletters and newspapers going elsewhere, too.
I'm not going to be in Cody---Will be living east of Casper.? Would be glad to help in anyway--proofing, raising money, subscriptions, advertising, finding business that will sell/distribute, manning a phone(this is what I did for the last 4 years in our business ;D)..................don't think the writing aspect would be what I want to do.? ?
I will be getting Adode Acrobat Writer hopefully soon---would this be useful?
Brandy
-
Archy, I feel honored that you took my post seriously. Thank you. As I wrote, I am not an expert but with you and other professionals such as Lady Liberty working with us, we can go farther faster.
Mr. Bonneau, thank you for getting this discussion started. Apparently several of us have been thinking about the power of the press. I didn?t mean to discourage the project, only that if it is to be more than an occasional printed blog, it will require some organization. I will contribute my skills to any newspaper you all start. Perhaps we could make it a goal to start small, amateurish and online and grow from there. That would work for me.
I read a book by Dan Gillmor called _We the Media_ which shows his vision of small, participative journalism. He was a technology writer for the San Jose Mercury until he quit to work on ?citizen journalism?. Of course he also has a blog.
For another free paper along the line of the Keene Free Press, check out The Free Liberal. Don?t be fooled by the name. This paper aims largely libertarian ideas at college students, and they sort of, er? defined the word ?liberal? a bit differently than usual. (Features cartoons by Russmo.)
I plan to subscribe by mail to the KFP; I?ll try to get some issues to bring to the Jam.
Paul
-
I'm going to comment on archy's answers to Paul's questions/suggestions (you guys might call me PaulB to distinguish the Pauls when needed ;) )
internet only, printed only, or a combination
[*combo* If only to archive the back issues on the net, keeping the geneologists digging
through obits out of the library/morgue]
I concur. Website should be a simple archive of pdf's, and for people who for whatever reason don't want a print copy. If we have excess web talent we can spice it up, but that's a lower priority.
published daily, weekly, monthly, ad hoc
[*the market will decide. but twice-weekly plus a weekend edition might be a good start. Special
editions if called for, extra print runs *BULLDOG EDITION* if called for- think elections and 09/11]
I lean toward weekly. Much (in my case) would be commentary/correction/de-euphemization of articles in the twice-weekly Cody Enterprise. Too much more would make it a job, too much less would not be timely enough.
editorial only versus news and editorial
[*editorials, columns and letters in reply and guest editorials belomg on the editorial page. They'll
also get more readership if they're next to or between the comics and the classifiedads.*]
Again concur. I suspect in the beginning it will be more commentary. Later as things develop, and we get a real "reporter" we can go into actual news. Also early on we will start covering city council meetings and such.
local only versus local and state/national
[*local, county, local, regional, local, state, local, national, local and world. In that order.*]
Local and county get top billing, state (particularly, state government) next. Nothing above that. No room, no time, etc.
direct competition with existing paper or exploiting a niche
[*VERY rarely do two newspapers directly compete with each other, though fights for
advertiser dollars are not uncommon. There are exceptions; I was a syndicated columnist for a
small town [pop. 3,378] newspaper that was the smallest town in the country with two
competing daily newspapers...next door to each other. When the dust settled, we'd won, and
the other folks packed up shop and moved out of town. It got pretty dirty a couple of times.*]
To me this is the main reason for being. People have to get some other source of information. The Cody Enterprise is selling a world-view, and everything has to conform to that world-view. That is a crock. That such competition is rare, really only means that the old Media don't want to mess up the common world-view they are selling: morning and evening papers in the same city are selling the identical worldview. We won't be that way.
advertiser supported versus paid subscription
[*The cover price of most smalltown dailies does NOT cover production costs.*]
Well, there are certainly easier ways to make a buck. :D This will be a labor of love. We will certainly try to get ads and hope they help pay most expenses. I think the paper should be free on the news stand, free on the web site of course, and a subscription should just cover the cost of postage and maybe a bit extra for production, but the cost to subscribers should be kept low.
distributed by mail, paper carrier, local public places
*You'll want that fourth-class rate mailing permit. Consider the effect of really lousy weather
on carrier delivery and think internet. Direct sales at gas stations/restaurants/groceries are a winner
for morning papers, less so for PM dailies.
Sounds good to me, but I know squat about it. And my Dad was a circulation director in several major dailies! :-[
I'd lean against joining the established news associations, which makes it easier for us to whack the competitors. We should be guerilla media, not establishment.
Here are the job functions I have thought of:
publisher
editor
writer
fact-checker
layout
display ad sales
classified ad sales
computer support
[*printer/pressman- maybe obsolete*]
[*secretary/front desk/phones op*]
[*librarian/clipper/morgue*]
[*circulation manager]
[*circ runner*]
[*ad manager/runner*]
[*photogs*]
[*interns/cubs*]
[*stringers and freelancers*]
[*correspondents and columnists*]
[*the darkroom tech and linotype ops I once worked with are probably obsolete, and maybe
a couple of others too.*].
I'd hope at least some of these can be shared among our family of pro-freedom micro-papers.
-
I find myself in complete agreement with PaulB, as usual. Let me know when we start.
Also, I will style my name as 'PaulWy'. If I could change my handle, I would.
PaulWy
-
Quote : " (you guys might call me PaulB to distinguish the Pauls when needed )"
Or Buffalo Paul Cody ;D
Miles
-
Also, I will style my name as 'PaulWy'. If I could change my handle, I would.
PaulWy
You should be able to change your displayed name. Click the button above that says Profile. On the left hand side there should be an option called Account Related Settings, click that. Second field down in the body of the page should be Name: This is the displayed name that people will see.. Change this field to whatever you want it to be and scroll down till you see the Change Profile button. Click this button. Voila! Your displayed name is changed. Your login name will remain the same. And in actuallity, you can change your login name if you really want to but the forum will reset your password and email it to the address on record.
-
Administrator, Thanks for the help! My displayed name is now 'PaulWy'. Sorry for the bad initial choice, and the confusion the change will cause.
-
No confusion. Forum makes the change retroactive. ;D So, all your previous posts say PaulWy
-
No confusion. Forum makes the change retroactive.? ;D? So, all your previous posts say PaulWy
So, we could ALL change our names to Paul? If we really wanted to....
-
Later as things develop, and we get a real "reporter" we can go into actual news. Also early on we will start covering city council meetings and such.
You are invited to read a piece of mine from the WorldNetDaily magazine and decide whether it's *real reporting* or not, though I despise being called a *reporter*- and *editor* is worse. And don't blame me for the title they hung on it; an editor did that.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=16782
By the way: the derivation of my screenname *archy* can be found at the following link; it is my tribute to a very wise man, who once said:
Upon entering the newspaper business all the troubles of my earlier years disappeared
as if by magic, and I have lived the contented, peaceful, unworried life of the average
newspaper man ever since.[/i]
More about Donald Robert Perry Marquis and archy here: http://www.donmarquis.org/
http://www.donmarquis.org/
-
Crook County has a few papers. Hullet, Moorcroft, and Sundance all have their own paper. Sundance being the biggest (and relatively) the best. Next biggest "local" paper is the Gillette paper and then the Casper Star.
If you wanted to start a paper, Pine Haven would be an excellent place to start! It doesn't have it's own paper yet, it's one of the fastest growing towns in CC AND it's one of the most affluent. Several new businesses have recently started and would be ideal for advertisement revenue. It is also a very heavily visited recreational spot (Keyhole).
I would also be very interested in writing a science column!
-
I noticed that the masthead of the Moorcroft Leader proclaims that it serves Moorcroft _and_ Pine Haven. Humph...
Not to tip my hand (I can't keep a secret so no one should ever think I can), but I am thinking of a tri-county newspaper declared to serve Campbell, Crook and Weston counties (get it, _CCW_). It would only serve about ten thousand households, and since everything from the western edge of Campbell county to the eastern edge of Rapid City seems to be considered one market, I think people would accept it. Of course, this paper would need at least one reporter/phtographer local to each community.
PaulWy
-
I was driving up to Sundance today, and grabbed a few newspapers on the way up, and my first thought was that even here, even in small towns like Lusk, they are still liberal rags. My first thought after that was that this was an opportunity for someone. I had a couple thoughts on the way that I'll throw out here, just in case they are any help.
Any newspaper should have real news, and be as objective about the facts as possible, with editorial content clearly labeled as such. That does not mean it can't have a free market, small government slant, but it has to provide real news. People won't read a propaganda paper, but they will read something that provides them real value, even if a little propaganda is mixed in.
The paper should be sold, not free. Every city I've lived in has had its alternative free paper. Everybody picks one up, but I don't think most people actually read them. People don't value what they get for nothing. In addition, this provides solid circulation numbers for real advertisers. Worse, with the type of ads the free papers attract, they become known as the place to look if you want to hire a stripper or call-girl, but not much else. Nobody thinks twice about the fifty cents or a dollar the paper costs, it's the symbolism of having to open the wallet or dig for change and pay something that makes them committed to actually reading it.
A regional paper might be more useful than a city paper. I get the feeling that people out here are interested in more than just what happens in their city. For instance, many things in Newcastle might be of interest to people in Sundance, and happenings in Gilette probably affect people all over that corner of the state.
I have an unofficial motto: "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing for profit". That's not as crass as it sounds, and of course it does not apply to everything. But if you believe in the free market, one of the implications of that is the belief that the market is a source of discipline and also a feedback mechanism to assure you that you are providing real value to your customers. If you do it for free, or only as a "labor of love", you might not find out that you're doing it wrong until it's too late. In addition, if it is something valuable to people, your profit allows you to spend more time and resources providing as much value as you possibly can.
Take this for what it's worth, I'm no expert. And if I ever do get out here, will you hire me to do some writing?
--Kyle Bennett
-
I think you have to take the population size into account. Here in NC the Rhinoceros Times & Creative Loafing has had success in their own niches, and they cater to only one city, but the size of the cities here are quite polulated, comparatively. They are however, free. They thrive only off of ads placed.
-
Kylben, absoluetly; sole reliance on advertising income is tricky: ads may be pulled at any time, should sponsors disagree with a publication's contents. Depending on the sucess, the quality of advertising backing can have an enormous affect on the publication.
It's also important to keep in mind who your target audience is; most free weeklies are aimed at bargin hunters, being ad- heavy, as in the Buyer's Guide in Stevens Point, Wis., where cash- strapped folks seek rummage sale ads, food basket distribution points and foreclosure auctions. The Portage County Gazette, on the other hand, targets the rural community, discusses the winner of the squash contest and costs $.50, thereby oft- attracting the elder population in the community.
Any publication that does not charge, either per piece or subscription, usually attracts a less informed individual, and less settled and more sullied reader. A publication's attracted audience, rather than it's intended audience, directly reflects the publication itself and all those working for it.?
I'd certainly hope our core message of freedom doesn't get lost in the politics of quarreling: this happens all too oft in the business!
-
I used to work at a radio station in Texas that put out a half legal size newsletter 5 days a week, mostly as an advertising vehicle.
I wound up the editor and distribution manager by default because there wasn't anyone else who wanted to carry on with one of the owner's pet project. Since I was signing on the station and doing the live morning newscast, I got drafted.
After getting the automation programmed and the cartridges loaded in the carosels, I'd do the news, then using a leading local story, type the copy onto a legal size master which would then be photocopied back to back, cut in half (to double the copies), and then distribute them by leaving copies in several local coffee shops, restaurants, etc.
The small boxed ads on the left and right margins brought in a remarkable amount of revenue, more than paying for all production costs.
This might work to start, could tie in with the radio network I've proposed elsewhere on this forum.
-
As a reporter at the down-the-road Thermopolis Independent Record I'm a bit shamed to admit I've not read the Enterprise with any regularity. But I've been doing newspapers for awhile now, as well as radio, and would like to help any way I can.
-
So, did you guys ever start your own small weekly newspaper?
-
Nick and Candice De Laat started one in Gillette to take on the long established pinko newspaper. $1 per week. No internet version. http://www.campbellcountyobserver.net/ (http://www.campbellcountyobserver.net/)
-
Nick and Candice De Laat started one in Gillette to take on the long established pinko newspaper. $1 per week. No internet version. http://www.campbellcountyobserver.net/ (http://www.campbellcountyobserver.net/)
A surprisingly good little paper, actually. I'm subscribed, even though I don't live there. Wish they'd broaden their efforts to more than Campbell county and hope they will eventually. If those from other areas help support them, maybe they will.
-
I wish Nick good luck, and I've bought the paper to support him. Wow, though -- it is *very* pro-gov't as far as local gov't. And all it reports on is local news (motto on the masthead: if it doesn't have to do with Campbell County, we don't care!). So, that means as a practical matter it's pro-gov't, period. It just prints out full articles that are like regurgitated (or perhaps just word-for-word copied) press releases from various branches of the local goon bestiary. Let's all conserve water like the Official Bureau for Water Control has decreed and let them helpfully explain in excruciating detail how to comply. Let's all cheer this or that event that the Bureau for Mind-Bogglingly Useless Tax Parasitism put together for our benefit. Yeah, thanks, let's all do that. Not.
Glenn Wood's editorials are generally decent, though.
-
I wish Nick good luck, and I've bought the paper to support him. Wow, though -- it is *very* pro-gov't as far as local gov't.
Yes, I've been quite disappointed to see it go that way. The first few were not. I learned of the paper because one of their reporters wrote to me and asked for information about FIJA. She wrote a pretty good article about it in one of the very early issues.
The limit to Campbell county makes it difficult, but anyone who lives there might consider writing a regular column for them on some liberty subjects. They keep asking for writers and material. I did offer... but since I live here... oh well.
-
Nick says he doesn't want columns to have "opinions", though, just facts and to just be positive. Well, I'll try to think if I can come up with something to write about that would be good. It's a hopeful development to have a second paper, I just wish the paper was biased in a libertarian direction.
-
It's easy to be critical of somebody else when you don't have it all on the line. Nick quit his good paying job so he could devote full time to making his weekly newspaper a commercial success. He needs it to succeed so he can feed his family and pay his mortgage. It's amazing how the real potential for losing it all sharpens one's senses to act in a manner that will maximize one's chance of success.
If you want a hard-core libertarian newspaper that covers the state - go start one!
-
It's easy to be critical of somebody else when you don't have it all on the line.
Absolutely, very easy for both of us to comment, pro or con, about something someone else is doing. I am aware of Nick's story and situation. I like Nick. I wish him all the best. I'm just being honest about his paper's editorial policy. Better to be honest than to just say "this is an awesome, perfect, pro-liberty paper!!!!" and then the other users of this forum believe this and act on it and then they find out I was lying.
-
An even better new paper!
Liberty's Torch
http://www.libertystorch.us/index.asp
Website is a bit lame, but he's working on it!
Send comments or articles to:
Brad Harrington
307.316.7632
editor@libertystorch.us
-
An even better new paper!
Liberty's Torch
http://www.libertystorch.us/index.asp
I strongly disagree. The Campbell County Observer is a full service weekly newspaper that costs $1. It covers all of the local stories, has a complete police blotter, fire incident log, covers ALL the kids sports, and has two pages of comics, crosswords, etc. In addition, it has a one or two page Public Pulse section with Glenn Woods writing a weekly opinion piece and several other lively columns and letters to the editor. A really nice touch is the back page which has one or two in depth articles about the history of Campbell County and Wyoming. It is an excellent newspaper!
Liberty's Torch - biweekly, free and nothing but hard core libertarian opinion. I'm not sure why anyone reads more than one issue because it's basically the same every issue.
I know both Nick and Brad. I wish both of them success. But the comparison between the two papers couldn't be more stark.
-
Gosh Don, you must work AWFULLY hard keeping your blanket so wet.
The Campbell paper is ALL about Campbell and is meaningless to anyone else. I subscribed for the first year and quit reading it after the first few issues. Had nothing to do with my life.
-
Gosh Don, you must work AWFULLY hard keeping your blanket so wet.
The Campbell paper is ALL about Campbell and is meaningless to anyone else. I subscribed for the first year and quit reading it after the first few issues. Had nothing to do with my life.
That doesn't make the newspaper inferior to Liberty's Torch, which is what you said. The Campbell County Observer is a fine newspaper, as is the Des Moines Register. The fact that they don't cover a locale in which you are interested in doesn't make them inferior - it just makes them irrelevant to you.
Liberty's Torch is actually more similar to a blog or a web site than it is to a newspaper - it is mostly just editorials. Except for the fact that it is printed on newsprint, it doesn't really resemble what I consider to be a "newspaper".
-
Didn't use the words "inferior" or "superior." I said better. Those are all subjective words. If the Gillette paper seems better to you, that's wonderful! I happen to like Liberty's Torch better, for lots of reasons. If you don't, more power to you as well. I suspect we can all make up our own minds.
-
That doesn't make the newspaper inferior to Liberty's Torch, which is what you said. The Campbell County Observer is a fine newspaper, as is the Des Moines Register.
There's no reason to insult the Liberty's Torch by associating it with the Des Moines Registar.
Unless you think the Liberty's Torch is also a left wing rag pushing a one world government agenda every day like the Registar? :)
-
Liberty's Torch is actually more similar to a blog or a web site than it is to a newspaper - it is mostly just editorials. Except for the fact that it is printed on newsprint, it doesn't really resemble what I consider to be a "newspaper".
Hey Don:
Remind me to slap you next time I see you. LOL... ;D
Yeah, we were light on news for the first few issues... But, as we grew, that changed. By the time Barbie and I were pumping 20+ pages I think we more resembled what you might have called a "newspaper." <huge grin>
Shucks, I even interviewed YOU for Issue 14. BUT, your comment date was prior to that, so... I forgive you. <huger grin>
Brad
-
I saw this link on survivalblog. It sticks in my mind it is a project started by Rawles' son. It is a way to get free press credentials for anyone who wants them, in order to have a truly free press.
http://cfapa.org/
-
I saw this link on survivalblog. It sticks in my mind it is a project started by Rawles' son. It is a way to get free press credentials for anyone who wants them, in order to have a truly free press.
http://cfapa.org/
Good idea, thanks.