A recent survey of AAN papers revealed that the applications alt-weeklies are using to track circulation are as diverse as the newspapers themselves. A few papers rely on their in-house wiz for a custom-made program, but for the rest of the industry, a commercial package is the only sophisticated option. Alt-weekly circulation insiders describe their woes, successes, and dreams of better uses for the numbers.
Is there really a personals manager at Austin Chronicle named Daniel Hardick, or is it just a clever nom de plume? Well, we met him at an AAN convention, so we know he exists. But we must confess that until now we were unaware of his "hardscrabble beginnings" and "humbling plummet."
