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Fort Collins
Weekly is a general-interest, magazine-style newspaper serving Fort Collins
and Larimer County. With a focus on in-depth and investigative local reporting,
the Weekly offers its readers an analysis and understanding of local
events that cannot be found elsewhere in the region. Led by a staff of award-winning
journalists and authors, the Weekly is where Fort Collins turns to learn
about and understand the issues that impact the community. ![]() What's Online? Web Presents Many Content Choices
While some publishers have hired web-specific editors and staff, other have added website management to their current staff's to-do list. What's the best strategy for your publication? Here are some approaches publishers are using today:
Magazine Sites Add Wikis Some magazines have added Wiki-style reference pages to their online offerings. Joining user-generated content, blogs and social networking sites, Wikis provide one more avenue for publishers to reach their readers.
Food & Wine's Wiki is essentially a vast guide where people can report on things like their favorite restaurants, cheese shops, or coffee bars across the U.S. In addition, people can nominate destinations for inclusion or find great places for food and wine in other cities. These passionate "foodies" are the perfect audience for this type of information exchange. Users must create a profile to participate in the Wiki. "Big cities no longer have a monopoly on talented chefs and innovative food artisans," said Food & Wine's Editor-in-Chief, Dana Cowin. "This new Wiki site combines our expertise with the discoveries of devoted local foodies to provide an in-depth guide to exciting food around the country, whether in Kansas City or San Francisco." Forbes.com Wiki calls itself an "experiment" and an "early beta" version. They are asking users to help define and improve the Wiki as they use it. Users can add a company or person, find a person, or edit a posting. You don't have to register to use the Wiki. The Forbes.com site includes a disclaimer that they do control the content of the Wiki postings.
The main advantages are that it is easy to use and allows for mass collaborative authoring. There are many
different commercial Wiki systems on the market as well as numerous free software
programs. The most popular Wiki is Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org). Publishers May Lose DTC Drug Ads
For the first quarter of 2007, the Publisher's Information Bureau reported Drugs & Remedies ad spending increased 13.7% over 2006–the largest increase of any major advertising category. Lori Reilly, Vice President for Policy and Research at PhRMA, a pro-industry lobbying group, said the single biggest threat comes from debate over "Prescription Drug User Fee Act" (PDUFA), which is up for renewal in September. PDUFA requires pharmaceutical companies to pay fees to support the FDA review of new drugs. This money allows the FDA to hire more staffers, thus shortening the review process. PDUFA legislation has never included any provisions regarding pharmaceutical advertising in the past. However, Senate members have appended various rules and restrictions on advertising to this year's bill. As of June 2007, a joint House-Senate conference committee is still hammering out the final version. The pharmaceutial companies argue that DTC ads serve to "educate" the public. They acknowledge that DTC ads increase the amount spent on prescription drugs but that early treatment and diagnosis reduces spending on other medical services, such as hospitalization, over time. Of most concern to both advertisers and publishers, the new bill could possibly include a two- to-three-year moratorium on DTC advertising. In addition, civil fines of $150,000–$300,000 may be levied each time a "misleading" drug ad is aired or printed. The bill may also include a "black triangle" warning–similar to cigarette warning ads. According to Reilly,
delays surrounding these extra provisions to the bill may mean that there is a
chance that PDUFA will not be renewed by the deadline of September 30, 2007. Reilly
cautions that the whole pharmaceutical industry will be disrupted, not just its
marketing arm. If PDUFA doesn't pass, she warns, the FDA's funds for drug review
will dry up, new drug approvals will slow, and the FDA won't have funds to approve
drug advertising.
"Coming into the year, marketers are faced with slowing rates of growth in the general economy, in consumer expenditures and in corporate profits," said Jon Swallen, Senior Vice President of Research at TNS. "Against this backdrop, marketers seem to have cautiously pulled in the reins on their early year advertising budgets." The top three advertisers—Procter & Gamble, AT&T, and General Motors (GM)—significantly decreased ad spending in the first quarter. GM slashed ad expenditures the most, reducing spending by 30.9%. In addition, the major ad categories—including telecom, automotive, and travel and tourism—were down by 1.1%. But there were some bright spots. Advertising spending on magazines, Internet, and outdoor advertising saw year-over-year increases compared to 2006. According to the TNS report, magazines were up overall 4.4% with consumer magazines up 7.1% and Spanish-language magazines leading the way with 14.3% growth. However, B2B, Sunday magazines, and local magazines suffered declines. Internet advertising posted a whopping 16.7% increase over 2006. This was slightly lower than the pace for 2006 but still very strong. Outdoor advertising was up by 2.4%. Newspapers took
the biggest hit, with an overall 4.7% loss. National newspapers suffered the largest
losses with a 5.3% decrease. Local newspapers (-4.6%) and Spanish-language newspapers
(-1.9%) followed the downward trend. 121st Georgia
Press Association Annual Convention Association of
Alternative Newsweeklies Annual Convention Montana Newspaper
Association 122nd Annual Convention National Newspaper
Publishers Association National Convention Texas Press Association
128th Summer Convention FPA/FSNA Annual
Convention Mississippi Press
Association Convention AABP Summer Conference Alan Levy, Verified's VP for Marketing and Sales, and James Desser, Chief Operating Officer, will be attending the conference, ready to talk with you about the services and products Verified offers. American Jewish
Press Association Annual Conference International
Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors PBAA 21st Annual
Convention Tennessee Press
Association 138th Annual Summer Convention California Newspaper Publishers
Association 119th Annual Convention Oregon Newspaper Publisher's
Association Summer Publishers Convention Stanford Professional Publishing
Course API Leadership Retreat for
Women Media Executives If
you have an event that you would like to announce, please send your information
to e-newsletter@verifiedaudit.com. ![]() First Quarter Newspaper Print Ads Down, Online Up
Advertising on newspaper websites made up 7.1% of total newspaper ad spending in the first quarter compared with 5.5% for the same period a year ago. "The percentage of ad spending generated by newspaper websites continues to grow as advertisers realize the value of [this] web audience—consumers who have higher household incomes and shop online more frequently than other Internet users," stated NAA President and CEO, John F. Sturm. Advertising expenditures at newspapers and their websites totaled $10.6 billion for the first quarter of 2007, a 4.8% decrease from the same period a year earlier. Spending for print ads in newspapers totaled $9.8 billion, down 6.4% versus the same period a year earlier. Among the major print components in the first quarter:
Within the classified print category in the first quarter:
"Newspapers continue to make aggressive moves to redefine classified advertising through new online partnerships and other approaches that will position them for the future," Sturm concluded. © 2007 MediaPost
Communications. ![]() Ask the Experts Have a question? Need advice? Like to speak your mind? Verified would like to hear from you. Our panel of experts is ready to answer questions on a wide range of topics. Email your questions to e-newsletter@verifiedaudit.com . Each month, Viewpoint will select a few questions from those submitted. We'll give you the latest information, help you find articles and resources, or provide you with necessary strategies and techniques. Speak up! This is your opportunity to be heard. Please send comments and story ideas to e-newsletter@verifiedaudit.com or contact us at: Verified Audit Circulation 900 Larkspur Landing Circle, Suite 295 Larkspur, CA 94939-1758 415.461.6006 415.461.6007 fax |
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