ViewPoint
Volume 4 | Number 3 | March 2008

Thank you for being a loyal reader of ViewPoint, Verified's e-newsletter. As we progress through the new year, Verified is asking its clients to help define their greatest challenges for the year ahead.

Please complete our short, three-question survey that will take no more than five minutes of your time. Your feedback is invaluable to us and we look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Click here to take the 3-question survey!

Survey questions:
1) What do you think are the three biggest challenges facing publishers in 2008?
2) What are the most significant trends in publishing at this time?
3) What do you think is the most valuable attributes that publications can provide that other media cannot?

The results of this survey will be published in a future issue of ViewPoint.

African Americans Increasingly Important for Advertisers

As the U.S. becomes increasingly diverse, ethnic markets present new and valuable opportunities for advertisers. With a population of 39 million, now more than ever African Americans are crucial to our consumer economy.

According to the 2007 Selig Center for Economic Growth's report titled The Multicultural Economy – Minority Buying Power in the New Century, "The buying power data...and the differences in spending by race and/or ethnicity suggest that as the US consumer market becomes more diverse, advertising, products and media must be tailored to each market segment."

Looking at the numbers, the African-American market is extremely lucrative. The Selig Center projects that the U.S. buying power of African Americans will increase from $318 billion in 1990 to $1.1 trillion in 2012. In addition, the African-American population is growing faster than the total population (27%), is younger (31.2 years), is becoming more educated, is increasingly setting cultural trends and is widespread instead of concentrated in a few markets like other ethnic groups.

The Survey of Business Owners by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2002 showed that the number of firms owned by African Americans increased by 45% between 1997 and 2002. This is about four and a half times faster than the 10% increase for all U.S. businesses.

The spending habits of African Americans as a group are not the same as other ethnic consumers. They tend to spend more on certain products such as phone services, utilities, apparel, footwear and groceries than other groups. In addition, African Americans prefer to shop in person rather than online.

Less than 1% of U.S. advertising dollars are spent using African-American media. Many advertisers think they can reach African Americans via mainstream media and may think advertising in African-American media is ineffective. Advertisers tend to rely on images of African Americans in the mainstream media to reach them instead.

Jeff Burns, former Vice President of the Johnson Publishing Company, which publishes Ebony magazine, said, "Reaching is not selling. By and large, media buyers do not sit down and think of black media and may refuse to address the fact the black consumer has the wherewithal to purchase their products." He adds, "But black media is a direct invitation from the marketer to the consumer to purchase."

Cynthia Perkins-Roberts, VP at Cable Advertising Bureau, said that African-American print media is a major source of information for the community. Credibility is given to African-American print media because it is from "our perspective." According to Perkins-Roberts, African-American newspapers are trusted more than mainstream media—80% trust newspapers and 87% trust magazines.

Vernon Whitmore, Publisher of The Globe, a free weekly newspaper in Oakland, California, said, "The black press offers insights into African-American society, culture, and history. It acts as a voice of the community and offers key signs of the buying trends." In addition, Whitmore said, "African Americans trust news from black media more than general media. They are very brand loyal. That loyalty extends to advertising as well."

Many advertisers need to be educated as to the value of ethnic media. Perkins-Roberts said, "One of the most frustrating marketing practices is underestimating the relevance of Black media. Since it's a given that more Black Americans are using general market media today, it's no wonder that the primary strategy for many marketers is to reach these consumers through general market media vehicles. Like the general market, Black Americans use a wide variety of media, but unlike the general market, they embrace Black media."

According to the 2005 report from the State of the Media, getting hard numbers on ethnic media is difficult. Print media is rarely audited and most of the information is only anecdotal.

As America's ethnic communities continue to grow and their publications multiply, measurement is increasingly important to attract national and regional advertisers. Ethnic media is mostly owned by small, locally owned companies.

One of the things that makes circulation auditing so difficult for some companies is that their bookkeeping and records haven't been done according to the practices of mainstream publishing. In addition to providing metrics, auditing can help publishers to change their records so that auditing becomes more affordable.

Eleanor Boswell-Raine, Associate Publisher of The Globe, said that auditing was an essential part of the business plan when Whitmore was thinking about launching The Globe. They wanted to start out with a reputation being an audited newspaper. "We are actively delivering this message to sister papers up and down the coast," said Boswell-Raine.

According to Whitmore, the African-American press has to work even harder. "Whatever it takes to make us credible and reliable, we have to do it."

Verified in the News

Verified Audit Circulation has received the attention of several major trade publications and newsletters recently.

You can see articles in Folio:, Circulation Management, The Circulator, DMNews, New American Media, National Mail Order Association, and Ink, as well as in many blogs.

Circulation Management
Auditing Show Dailies, January 2008

Paid Online Papers Still Viable?

Media Planners Want More Online Circ Data

Verified Offers Free Web Traffic Verification

Providing Verifiable 3rd-Party Cir Data Can Increase Chances of Closing More Ad Sales

Folio:
Media Planners Want More Online Circ Data

MediaPost
Study: Asian Americans Under-served by Advertisers

DMNews
Free dailies are reaching younger, urban market

Association of Free Community Newspapers
VAC Announces New Newspaper Qualification
and Reporting Standards Effective January 1, 2008

AsianWire
Asian Americans Are Good for Advertisers So Why Aren't Advertisers Listening?

New America Media
Asian Americans Are Good for Advertisers – So Where are the Advertisers?

National Mail Order Association
How to Purchase Print Advertising Wisely

In addition, over the next few months we will be doing presentations at the National Association of Hispanic Publishers Conference in Atlanta, the Circulation Management Conference & Tradeshow in Chicago, and the Cal-West Circulation Managers Association conference in Sacramento.

If you have any questions, please call Verified at 415-461-6006.

Events Calendar

Newspaper Association of America Annual Convention and NEXPO
April 12 – 15, 2008
Washington DC Convention Center, Washington, DC
www.naa.org

4th Annual Marketing to Women Conference
April 16 – 17, 2008
Old Mill Inn & Spa, Toronto, ON
www.opendialog.com

The min Day Summit: Maximizing Your Magazine Brand in a Digital World
April 14, 2008
Grand Hyatt, New York, NY
www.minonline.com

26th Annual National Association of Hispanic Publishers Conference and Expo
April 16 – 19, 2008
Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
www.nahp.org

34th Annual Association of Alternate Postal Systems Conference
April 19 – 23, 2008
Westin Cancun Resort, Cancun, Mexico
www.aapsinc.org

New Communications Forum 2008
April 22 – 25, 2008
The Vineyard Creek Inn & Spa, Sonoma, CA
www.newcommforum.com

Cal Western Circulation Managers' Association 89th Sales Conference
April 23 – 25, 2008
Holiday Inn Capitol Plaza, Sacramento, CA
www.cscma.com
Verified will be presenting at this event.

Association of Free Community Newspaper Annual Conference and Trade Show
April 24 – 26, 2008
Westin Mission Hills, Rancho Mirage, CA
www.afcp.org

Association of Directory Publishers 2008 Annual Convention
April 24 – 26, 208
Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa, Orlando, FL
www.adp.org
Alan Levy, VP of Marketing & Sales will be attending this event. If you would like to meet with Alan, please call 415-461-6006, ext. 213 or email him at alevy@verifiedaudit.com.

Western Publications Association 2008 Publishing Conference
April 30 – May 2, 2008
Westin Hotel at Los Angeles Airport, Los Angeles, CA
www.wpa-online.org

National Magazine Awards
May 1, 2008
Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York, NY
www.magazine.org

Canadian Community Newspaper Association Annual Convention
May 2 – 3, 2008
Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, Toronto, ON
www.ccna.ca

If you have an event that you would like to announce, please
send your information to e-newsletter@verifiedaudit.com.

Two-Thirds of Americans Dissatisfied
with the Quality of Journalism

A new WeMedia/Zogby Interactive poll shows that 67% of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news. In addition, the survey found that while almost 70% of Americans think journalism is important to the quality of life in their communities, two-thirds are not satisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities.

The online survey documented the shift away from traditional sources of news, such as newspapers and TV, to the Internet, most dramatically among so-called digital natives, people under 30 years old.

• 48% of the survey respondents said their primary source of news and information is the Internet, an increase from the 40% who said the same a year ago. Younger adults were most likely to name the Internet as their top source
• 55% of those age 18 to 29 say they get most of their news and information online, compared to 35% of those age 65 and older
• 38% of these seniors said they get most of their news from television.
• Overall, 29% said television is their main source of news, while 11% turn to radio and 10% to newspapers for most of their news and information
• 7% of those age 18 to 29 said they get most of their news from newspapers
• 17% of those age 65 and older list newspapers as their top source of news and information

According to the study, websites are regarded as a more important source of news and information than traditional media outlets:

• 86% of Americans said Web sites were an important source of news, with more than half (56%) who view these sites as "very important." 77% view television, 74% radio, and 70% newspapers as "important" sources of news
• 38% say the same about blogs

Andrew Nachison, co-founder of iFOCOS, said "...we have documented a crisis in American journalism that is far more serious than the industry's business challenges... Americans recognize the value of journalism for their communities, and they are unsatisfied with what they see. While the U.S. news industry... frets about its future, Americans are dismayed by its present..."

The survey finds the Internet not only outweighs television, radio, and newspapers as the most frequently used and important source for news and information, but websites were also cited as more trustworthy than more traditional media sources by 32% of the respondents.

Although 64% of Americans are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism overall satisfaction with journalism has increased to 35% from 27% who said the same in 2007:

• 87% believe professional journalism has a vital role to play in journalism's future, although 77% see citizen journalism and 59% see blogging as significant in journalism's future
• 1% of Americans consider blogs their most trusted source of news, or their primary source of news
• 75% believe the Internet has had a positive impact on the overall quality of journalism
• 69% believe media companies are becoming too large and powerful to allow for competition

© 2008 MediaPost Communications

Tips & Techniques – Circulation
Analysis by ZIP/Postal Code

Verified's Audit Reports and Publisher's Statements include a Circulation Analysis by ZIP/Postal Code. This report must be completed annually, or twice a year if you would like updated figures on the semi-annual Publisher's Statement. The analysis is a breakdown of the total distribution for one representative issue. The analysis offers a geographic "snapshot" of your circulation to help advertisers better understand your distribution area.

Only the ZIP/Postal Codes where there is a distribution of 25 copies or more (aggregate) need to be included in the analysis. For example, if you distribute only 15 copies Target (bulk) in a ZIP/Postal Code but 22 Free Carrier Copies, it should be included in the analysis because the total distribution is 37 copies. You need to total all types of distribution when determining if a ZIP/Postal Code should be included.

To create your Circulation Analysis by ZIP/Postal Code, first sort your distribution list by ZIP/Postal Code. Enter the number of copies distributed within each code in the Wizard.

Use the same method for calculating the total copies in each ZIP/Postal Code for all other types of distribution as well.

The analysis is based on gross distribution only. The total copies distributed in all ZIP/Postal Codes should match the total gross circulation for the corresponding day on the Quarterly Printing and Distribution report. ZIP/Postal Codes where less than 25 copies are distributed are classified as Miscellaneous. In general, miscellaneous copies cannot exceed 10% of the total distribution.

If your publication is distributed across a large geographic area (states or provinces) a different analysis is available. Please contact us to discuss the alternative reporting methods.

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