Yearly Archives: 2006

Jeff Lawrence (pictured) could care less that some law enforcement officials think escort ads are a front for prostitution. According to a recent piece in E&P, the president of Boston's Weekly Dig decided to remove the ads from his paper because he thought they were attracting too many 50-year-old white male suburbanites. "It's no different than if we started running ads for Geritol or Depends adult diapers," Lawrence tells E&P. "In terms of attracting readers, content is one thing, but the advertisements, too, are huge part of determining whether your readers are going to respond to your paper." Lawrence says the Dig also is considering whether to drop a couple of other categories that may not belong in the paper. "Advertisers like that you're protecting your demographic," he says, "They say, 'You're willing to give up revenue to stay on mission -- that's fantastic.'"