No, it's not getting better yet

The headline on Alan Mutter's blog says it all: "Newspaper ad sales head to 25-year low"

LA Times attacks its own image*

The Los Angeles Times has, once again, sold an ad that's designed to look like a real story. Charles Apple, LAO

*Update: The five members of the County Board of Supervisors signed a letter to Tribune Co. chairman Sam Zell to protest the ad.

Pay with your publicity

The rise of social media could make pay walls for news sites unnecessary, according to Felix Salmon, who argues that advertisers will pay more if they can target their ads to consumers with Twitter or Facebook accounts than consumers who merely subscribe to the site.

From his post:

The fact is that if I sign in to a free site using my Twitter login, I’m actually more valuable to advertisers than if I paid to enter that site. That’s because the list of people I follow on Twitter says a huge amount about me, and a smart media-buying organization can target ads at me which are much more narrowly focused than if all they knew about me was that I was paying to read the Times.

He goes on to say news sites would be smarter to let readers register through their existing social-media accounts, rather than use their own registration systems:

At that point, they’re not “useless tourists” any more: they’re highly valuable and targetable news consumers. And the question of whether or not they’re paying for their news becomes much less important to advertisers. And, therefore, to publishers as well.

The success of such a system depends on whether news sites draw a large enough crowd that advertisers actually do find the information useful. The New York Times probably does, but are there enough Twitter users in Pasadena to make this registration system profitable to the Pasadena Star-News?

(Found via Recovering Journalist)

A less perfect Union-Tribune

In the anything for a buck age, the San Diego Union-Tribune turned back time - and dropped the "Union" from its name - as part of a promotional wraparound advertisement for Wells Fargo Bank. Clever.

Turns out, they turned the clock back a little too far. From San Diego Citybeat:

The ad is made to looks like an old-timey edition from April 30, 1852, suggesting what the newspaper might’ve looked like before the San Diego Tribune merged with the San Diego Union. ...

How’s this for an anachronism: The San Diego Tribune wasn’t founded until 1895.

Is accuracy an anachronism, too?

Airing the newz

Local television news is largely devoid of news in the first place. Now, KCBS has come up with a way to present non-news as news and get paid for it.

According to Jim Rainey at the LA Times, the station has begun running paid ads from the City of Hope Medical Center but presenting them with logos and branding that makes the ads look like they're a part of the newscast.

Rainey writes:

In other words, the line between editorial and advertising had been obscured again — with the hospital getting a nice chance to showcase a couple of its top people in a format that looked like news but was actually paid advertising.

Rainey says the blurry lines are nothing new to television news and its advertising plans:

When TV advertising managers go out to sell 30-second spots to potential clients, they sometimes offer a valuable added incentive: a news story. Buy an ad and suddenly you and your company can make the real news.

They call it "added value" advertising. The advertiser gets the "added value" of seeing its company flattered on programs that, at least nominally, are supposed to feature the most important events of the day. It's easy, it's synergistic, it's win-win … at least for the television station and the advertiser.

It's Wonderland, Russ

Los Angeles Times editor Russ Stanton let it be known that he opposed Friday's takeover ad, which featured a mock front page with a giant picture of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter alongside recent Times' articles, but said he got overruled by the suits.

From the New York Times:

The top editor of The Times, Russ Stanton, and several of his deputies vigorously opposed the ad before it was published, but they were overruled by the paper’s business executives, according to people with direct knowledge of the dispute, who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Mr. Stanton said only, “Obviously, it was not my decision.”

John Conroy, a spokesman for The Times, said, “Stretching the boundaries was what we were going for.” He said Eddy W. Hartenstein, the publisher and chief executive, and other executives would not comment.

Conroy goes on to say the paper wants website advertising to set the tone for the way ads are presented in the newspaper, rather than have the newspaper set the standard.

Asked to comment, Geneva Overholser, director of USC's school of journalism, seemed resigned to the new world order: "This isn’t newspapering as it used to be, but that can’t be the determinant any more." At least one reporter, who spoke confidentially, accepted the move as a necessary, money-making evil.

MediaNews memo to staff

MediaNews Group executives Dean Singleton and Jody Lodovic sent a year-end memo to staff last week. The execs touted a few achievements...

Such as being less bad on the advertising side:

While advertising revenue has been severely challenged, your performance has been near the top of the industry throughout 2009. For the three-month period ended September, for example, your advertising revenue declined 24% as compared to the industry decline of 28.2%.

And staying out of bankruptcy court:

We have been working closely with our banks to restructure our debt and position MediaNews Group to execute its strategies and lead our newspapers into a positive future. Yes, we believe newspapers have a bright future! We are near agreement on the terms of a restructuring plan which we expect will be completed toward the end of the first quarter of 2010. Upon completion, MediaNews expects to have a manageable level of debt, and we look forward to working with each of you to take your newspapers into a changing but exciting future.

They offered some praise of the shrunken newsrooms as well:

While we, like others, have had no choice but to trim news staffs, we have tried to consolidate infrastructure to preserve reporting staff when possible. And with hard work and creativity, your newsrooms have re-invented themselves and continue to do excellent journalism.

But what staffers wanted to hear about was anything to do with future layoffs, hiring freezes or furloughs. On that front, the executives offered positive thinking but few reassurances:

As we near the end of 2009, you may have questions regarding annual reviews, 401(k) contributions, health care benefits, and future furloughs, etc. While it is our hope and desire to reinstate Company-wide salary reviews and 401(k) contributions as soon as possible and avoid future furloughs, it is premature to make those decisions.

The full memo is here.

The bottom line

The search for silver linings has already started in response to yesterday's announcement that the Dallas Morning News would have section editors report to sales managers and sales managers oversee content.

In analyzing the "business/news integration" scheme, Berkeley journalism professor Alan Mutter writes that "maybe - just maybe - this isn't such a bad idea." He goes on:

Instead of the advertising people infecting news coverage, maybe – just maybe – the creative energy and constructive skepticism of the newsroom will rub off on the ad guys, who sorely need all the help they can get.

Even if this were true, which I don't think it is, the first flaw is having the sales staff in charge of the journalists. If the Dallas Morning News switched this dynamic around, maybe there would be less to worry about. Maybe.

But there are better ways to "integrate" the news and business sides of a news organization without inviting corrupting forces into the newsroom. Management at the Dallas Morning News wants to cast all of this as a tension between advertisements and stories, and so they say that stories will not be written for or about advertisers. But the problem isn't so much what gets covered, it's what doesn't get covered - and that's much harder to measure.

What beats don't fit the integration plan? Which reporters don't get the resources to pursue certain lines of inquiry? Which story ideas get the stink eye from ad manager? I doubt that the outside advertisers will be the ones bringing pressure to bear, it's going to be the sales managers inside the paper. They are going to test what coverage draws in readers or ad money, and they will in turn make sure that the newsroom resources - and the niche products - are targeted in that direction.

All of which makes me wonder: If business is so bad you have to compromise fundamental principles, what exactly is it that you're trying to save?

This blog brought to you by...

Bloggers who plug products on their blog or provide product reviews in exchange for free swag will have to report what they're up to under new rules laid down by the Federal Trade Commission.

From the New York Times:

The F.T.C. said that beginning on Dec. 1, bloggers who review products must disclose any connection with advertisers, including, in most cases, the receipt of free products and whether or not they were paid in any way by advertisers, as occurs frequently. The new rules also take aim at celebrities, who will now need to disclose any ties to companies, should they promote products on a talk show or on Twitter. A second major change, which was not aimed specifically at bloggers or social media, was to eliminate the ability of advertisers to gush about results that differ from what is typical — for instance, from a weight loss supplement.

For bloggers who review products, this means that the days of an unimpeded flow of giveaways may be over. More broadly, the move suggests that the government is intent on bringing to bear on the Internet the same sorts of regulations that have governed other forms of media, like television or print.

“It crushes the idea that the Internet is separate from the kinds of concerns that have been attached to previous media,” said Clay Shirky, a professor at New York University.

The story does not say what constitutes full disclosure. Time will tell if the tougher rules will send advertising dollars back to legitimate news sites.

Four today

1. The camera always adds a few pounds... PolitiFact

2. The profit in shame... Time

3. Newspapers go upside putting ad revenue ahead of circulation... The Wrap

4. "The Rush To Be Wrong"...Jamie McIntyre

Tweet, tweet. Who's there? Advertising

Generally I try to avoid knowing what Perez Hilton is up to, but he appears to be on the vanguard of a new advertising scheme that sends readers to advertisers through the casual use of a hashtag. Instead of learning more about the Iranian election (i.e., #iranelection), Hilton wants readers to learn more about Gap.

Of course, there are questions of ethical questions when someone who's not portraying themselves as a spokesman for a product is actually a paid spokesman for a product. We'll see if there's any Twitter backlash to the hashtag ads.

Ralphs pulls ads

Today's report on LA Observed that Ralphs had pulled its ad inserts from the Los Angeles Times reminded me that I'd received an email a week or so ago from a knowledgeable source who said he'd heard the grocery chain planned to cease advertising altogether in the Times and all LANG newspapers beginning in September. I haven't confirmed this, but was told Ralphs would rather advertise directly through the mail.

If true, this would represent a big blow to the newspapers' already beleaguered bottom lines. In addition to big drops in classified ads and losses from cutbacks in retail and auto spending, the past year has seen a few major advertisers, including Gottschalks and Circuit City, shutter their doors forever.

Dim bulbs

They warned us back in March that advertisements on newspaper sites would get more annoying to get our attention. Yesterday, the New York Times and BMW had a doozy, with an ad that turned down the lights on the computer screen. When readers investigated the cause of the disruption, they discovered, unfortunately, a BMW ad.

The two companies seem thrilled with the results. Some readers offered a different assessment. From MediaPost Publications:

"BMW was looking for a new, never-been-done-before idea to launch their new Advanced Diesel Online Technology online," explained Times spokesperson Stacy Green. "What we developed was a unique and never-before-done execution on our site." ...

But if Twitter is any barometer of public reaction to the effort, annoyance and anger trumped awe and appreciation. "Big thumbs down to @nytimes for running a BMW ad which darkens the screen, with no apparent/easy way to disable the ad," complained lx69 in one tweet. "That BMW ad on the NYTimes.com home page? Super-annoying," wrote lseward, in another.

Expect more and worse to come.

(via Nieman Lab)

Citizen advertising reps

Should bloggers sell ads on their web pages, rather than rely on passive tools such as GoogleAdsense that throw up ads based on keyword searches? Drew Grant at ASSME asks a few people the question and gets a few answers. The best:

...our own boss Aaron Gell chimes in: What writer/bloggers will quickly find out if they begin selling their own ads is not simply how hard ad teams work it but how much shit they eat and (thankfully) protect editors from. While it’s probably true that bloggers without any scruples whatsoever are now in a position to cash in by pimping out their reputations to the highest bidders I can’t see how it doesn’t instantly pervert truth, honest discourse and all we hold dear.

In the blurry world of new media it might seem that all bloggers are alike, but the question requires a good deal more nuance given the relationships bloggers have - quasi-independent with a fellowship? on the Gawker payroll while freelance blogging for a startup nonprofit? - and the content they create.

Even in the case of news sites the lines are getting blurred - often intentionally - with opinion driving what is covered and how. Rachel Sklar, who works for Dan Abrams' Mediaite, says transparency is enough when it comes to ad sales. For a more traditional journalist, transparency is a cop out - negotiating an ad sale with an institution you cover is wrong even if you confess it all to your readers.

Blood sucking

Today's print edition of the Los Angeles Times is wrapped in a faux front page, complete with Times masthead, that's actually an ad for the HBO show "First Blood." (via Romenesko)

Pimp my paper

People might be unwilling to pay for journalism, but sex still sells. So when Craigslist gave up erotic ads last month (the same Craigslist blamed for stealing classifieds from newspapers), revenue-starved alternative weeklies made their move.

Wired magazine reports:

After the [Craigslist] announced last month under pressure that it would no longer publish erotic ads, sales of erotic ads in local alternative weekly newspapers have soared, according to the Washington City Paper.

The paper reports its own sales of adult ads was up 38 percent in the first week of May as criticism against Craigslist was heating up, compared to the same time last year. Minneapolis’ City Pages says its adult ad sales have almost doubled. And SF Weekly in San Francisco had 160 adult ads the week before Craigslist’s policy went into affect but clocked in with 910 ads last week.

So how much does an ad offering to, say, "put you to bed backdoor" cost?

An adult-services ad in the Washington City Paper starts at $150 per week. The Chicago Reader charges $50 for online-only ads; $100 for online and print. Craigslist, by contrast, charged only $5 until it was forced to implement its manual monitoring of ads. It now charges $10 for ads placed in its adult category.

Buyouts and wage cuts in Syracuse

The Syracuse Post-Standard, which is part of the Newhouse chain, is offering a generous buyout plan to eligible employees and cutting the wages for everyone who stays at the paper. From the paper's own story:

Editor and Publisher Stephen A. Rogers, who announced the measures in staff meetings, offered a buyout of a year's pay to employees with at least seven years of full-time experience. For all remaining employees, pay will be reduced July 1 through the end of the year by a range of 5 to 12 percent, depending on pay levels. Highest-salaried people will get the steepest cuts. In addition, all employees will begin to contribute 25 percent of their health care coverage costs.

The cuts come on the heels of 10 days of involuntary furlough announced last month.

Lopez addresses Soloist ad

In today's Los Angeles Times, columnist Steve Lopez briefly addresses the criticism of the paper's Sunday advertorial promoting Lopez's movie "The Soloist":

In case you're wondering, I'm here at the request of the Japanese distributor of the movie "The Soloist," and to meet with the publishers of a certain book by the same name. I'm not going to say much more about that, given the flap over the Sunday movie promotion in The Times that drew some complaints from readers and colleagues.

For the record, I wish it had looked a little less like a news section, and would have said so if I'd seen it before publication. On the other hand, ad revenue pays for the journalism we do, and I thought the section was a fair summary of how the filmmakers got to know my friend Mr. Nathaniel Anthony Ayers and were inspired by him, as I have been.

Four in the evening

Chicago Tribune to cut 20 percent of its newsroom staff (Chicago Business)

Hyperlocal sites ready to bloom - just add content. (NYT)

On the bright side, the stock is a steal. (WSJ)

LA Times executive editor no fan of advertorials. (The Wrap)

The pushdown

The Silicon Alley Insider previews some of the ugly ads the New York Times and other big publishers plan to annoy us with. They look a lot like the annoying ads you see on other websites - big ads taking up a third of the screen, pushdown ads that unfurl from the top of the screen, etc.