ViewPoint
July / August 2020

This Month's Features:

Verified Would Like to Welcome...
USPS Delivery Crisis May Hit Publishing and Advertising Industry Hard
Salt Lake Tribune is Finding Success as a Nonprofit
Events Calendar
Cutting Print: Making It Work When Publishing Days Must Go
Revised Guidelines for Age of Source Extends to 4 Years

Verified Would Like to Welcome...

Florida Sun
Sun Review Publications
Florida Sun is a publication targeted to, but not limited to an African American audience. The paper features news stories unique to the Black experience in America, and profiles individuals in feature stories. The newspaper also contains commentary on current issues, entertainment, health, auto, travel, fashion and business.

Offshore
Endeavor Business Media
Offshore is a B2B brand intended for professionals in the offshore oil & gas and renewable energy industries. The brand content and editorial scope of the publication includes geology, geophysics, drilling, completion, engineering, construction, pipelines, subsea and production operations. The content of every issue is also available to subscribers globally via the online digital version.

Underhood Services
Babcox
Underhood Services serves repair shops that primarily service and repair under-the-hood systems. The expanding amount of knowledge and capital needed to keep up with technological advances has led these shop owners to concentrate on underhood systems, while also offering preventive maintenance services on most major vehicle systems. Everything under the hoods of cars and light trucks is addressed, including electronics, cooling systems, air conditioning, emissions controls, fuel systems, ignition, internal engine repair and electronic/charging systems.

Snow Business
Snow & Ice Management Association, Inc.
Snow Business is the official publication of the Snow & Ice Management Association. Snow Business services snow and ice professionals who service retail, commercial, industrial and residential sectors.

USPS Delivery Crisis May Hit
Publishing and Advertising Industry Hard

by Jennifer Armor

In 1788, George Washington wrote:

"I entertain an high idea of the utility of periodical Publications: insomuch that I could heartily desire, copies of...Magazines, as well as common Gazettes, might spread through every city, town and village in America. I consider such easy vehicles of knowledge, more happily calculated than any other, to preserve the liberty, stimulate the industry and meliorate the morals of an enlightened and free People."

Magazines and newspapers rely on the United States Postal Service (USPS) for delivery and enjoy significant discounts if they qualify for certain mail categories. Advertising materials like store weekly flyers, coupons and catalogs are delivered via direct mail.

The National Newspaper Association (NNA) issued a statement to support Congressional action for the USPS. They made clear that they typically prefer to leave the USPS decisions to the professionals. "However, right now, our nation is deeply depending upon the mail. Particularly in areas served by community newspapers, we are hearing alarming reports from our subscribers. Our readers need the information we are sending them. They also need their prescriptions, election ballots and other important mail," said Matt Adelman, NNA President and publisher of the Douglas (Wyoming) Budget.

Postal delays couldn't appear at a worse moment for media. According to Adweek, Q2 advertising for publishers is down 25–30% year over year, with some publishers reporting even higher. As the country fights the COVID-19 pandemic, massive unemployment and a weak economic forecast, there is scant optimism that revenue for the second half of 2020 will be substantially better.

Chuck Champion, President and CEO of the California News Publishers Association, said, "We have been monitoring the situation and are concerned with claims that proposed new procedures will impact delivery times of critical information including newspapers. Many of our members use USPS to deliver their news products, which of course includes vital community news."

By current USPS mail delivery standards, Bound Printed Matter should be delivered in 2–8 days and direct mail in 3–10 days.

Salt Lake Tribune is Finding Success as a Nonprofit

The Utah-based Salt Lake Tribune has undergone a remarkable transformation in its business operations during the past year, becoming the first U.S. daily newspaper to officially move from for-profit to nonprofit status. It also established an endowment fund.

The Tribune has since launched individual and major gifts programs and has now received more than 3,000 individual gifts this year, according to Tribune Editor, Jennifer Napier-Pearce.

READ MORE

Events Calendar

IFPA 2020 Virtual Event
September 11 – 12, 2020
https://www.ifpa.com/events

NAHP 2020 Conference / Virtually Everyone
September 21 – 25, 2020
https://nahp.org/nahpcon/

AANovation 2020
September 23 – 25, 2020
https://aan.org/aan/announcing-aanovation-2020/

NNA's 134th Annual Convention and Tradeshow
October 1 – 3, 2020
https://nna.formstack.com/forms/nnaconvention

ACT 10 Experience Welcomes MPA's IMAG 2020 Change is the Only Constant
October 5 – 7, 2020
http://maginnovation.org/act-registration/

CRMA 2020 Fall Publisher Roundtable
October 14 – 15, 2020
https://citymag.org/crma_events/2020-fall-publishers-rountable/

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

Cutting Print: Making It Work When Publishing Days Must Go

When a large U.S. newspaper cuts print publication days or curtails home delivery, headlines may scream media apocalypse.

But for years, newspapers here and there across the country – little noticed beyond their home markets – have gradually scaled back print publishing. Papers of all sizes have considered it. Some are considering it right now.

Reducing print days is often about cutting costs for immediate financial survival. A better approach is to make planned, proactive decisions about downscaling print as a step toward a long-term digital future. | READ MORE

Revised Guidelines for Age of Source Extends to 4 Years

As coronavirus cases continue to rise, many employees have yet to return to the office. To meet this challenge faced by publishers in renewing subscriptions, VAC is allowing aging to extend to 4 years.

VAC is extending the age of source from 3+ years to 4 years effective June 30, 2020. The 4 year exception can only be applied to these four sources:

• Direct Request
• Request from Recipient's Company
• Association/Group/Directory Lists
• Other Sources (Not Requested)

As before, VAC continues to allow publishers to opt out of reporting aging on their audit reports.

If the publisher chooses to report 4 years, it will be footnoted on the report.

Please contact Verified's staff with any questions or concerns regarding your audit reports.

Please send comments and story ideas to
e-newsletter@verifiedaudit.com or contact us at:

Verified Audit Circulation
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San Rafael, CA 94901-2993
415.461.6006
415.461.6007 fax

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