Ann Hinch’s excellent article on Gannett’s decision to launch so-called alternative weeklies in Lansing, Mich., and Boise, Idaho, should have said that I know of only one verified case in which the local Gannett paper, the Lansing State Journal, made a City Pulse advertiser a special offer (free color) if he would quit advertising with us. (The advertiser, bless him, stayed with us.)

Also, the story should have said that the Lansing mayor’s problems with City Pulse, and vice versa, began after he was elected to his third term last fall, not his second.

Finally, your members may be interested in knowing how City Pulse is responding to the Gannett endeavor. I plan to stage a significant marketing campaign in September before the Gannett publication is scheduled to launch. To raise the funds for it, City Pulse is throwing a party on Friday, Sept. 6, at a local club that will give us the proceeds from the door. We’ve lined up several entertainers for the benefit. We’re asking for donations ($10, $5 from students).

So far, the reception to a fund-raiser for a for-profit business (although non-profit so far!) has been very good. Apparently, lots of folks see City Pulse as much a cause as a business. One reader who said she can’t make it to the benefit called in a $250 donation on her credit card!

With luck, the marketing campaign will solidify the position we’ve staked out for ourselves in our first year and allow [us] to compete against the promotional blast I expect Gannett to make here when it launches its publication.

Thanks and cheers,

Berl Schwartz
Editor & Publisher
City Pulse

Editor: To view a jpg file of City Pulse’s parody of a Gannett recruitment ad, click here.