Monday, October 11, 2010

Davis County Clipper Changes Distribution Days

The Davis County Clipper (Bountiful, UT) changed its distribution days from weekly Thursdays, to twice weekly with distribution on Wednesdays and Sundays.  This change took effect the week of September 15th, 2010. 

The Clipper also discontinued its TMC Product, This Week in Davis (TWID) on September 9th, 2010.  The Clipper is a paid publication with approximately 11,000 copies sold each edition.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Stephens Media Purchases Lincoln County Record

Stephens Media Group, a Nevada based newspaper group that owns the Las Vegas Review Journal, has purchased the Lincoln County Record, per Editor & Publisher.  The Lincoln County Record is a paid weekly, distributed to roughly 2,000 households on Thursdays in Lincoln County, Nevada.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

US Post Office Creates 'Droop' Standard - Impacts Newspaper Delivery Costs

The USPS will be implementing new standards effective Sunday October 3rd that will charge newspapers more if the paper droops more than 3 inches. This cost change is in place because a droopy paper cannot be placed into an automatic sorter and must be sorted by hand.

Per an AP Newstory, the post office will place the paper on a counter with a flat edge, with half of the item hanging from the edge. If it droops more than 3 inches, it fails. This means there would be no bulk discount. The impact of this would be moving the mailing costs from 5.9 cents per paper to 9.9 cents.

The AP also reports that one good way around this problem may be for a paper to use a stiff insert to keep the paper from drooping.

"Maybe you can use (a stiff) insert. If it's an advertising insert, it pays for itself. If it's not, it just makes the paper heavier and costs more to mail anyway," said Tres Williams of the Arkansas Press Association.
The net impact on the cost is a 68% increase for those mailed editions.  There are some possibilities that some discounts will still be available, and some creative solutions may come into place to reduce those costs, but expectations are that there will indeed to increased costs for those papers primarily mailed.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Gilmer County Journal

The Gilmer County Journal opened on December 4th, 2009.  The publication was to be free for three months, and then after that time would be sold at newstands.  The paper carried local news, announcements, and classified advertising.

The publication apparently did not have a long life as it reportedly shutdown in August 2010.