The annual awards competition of the International Newspaper Marketing Association is divided into two broad genres: "Use of a Medium In Marketing Newspapers," which rewards creative use of various marketing media, and "Customers and Audiences," which rewards the overall effectiveness of multimedia campaigns. This year, the latter genre includes a new category, "Promotion of the Newspaper As An Advertising Medium," which is open to newspapers, advertising agencies, media buyers, and press associations. The contest deadline is Jan. 24; the awards will be presented at the INMA World Congress, from April 5-7, 2006 in Chicago.
People who don't know Jennifer Loviglio's work sometimes say, "Oh, you write a 'mommy column.'" Far from it. Even when Loviglio is writing about her kids, her City Newspaper column, The XX Files, makes important political and cultural points. In between columns, she's always looking for an issue that will raise her hackles. This is the third in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
Mike Massey's column poking fun at students obsessed with their pickup trucks was rejected by the school paper for being "too liberal," so he decided to start a newspaper of his own. Splat! -- which aspires to be like Rolling Stone magazine in its early years, according to the News & Observer -- is scheduled to debut in November. "You aren't going to see stories about student government votes or trustee meetings in our paper," Massey tells the N&O. "I expect our stories to address the environment, women's issues, minority affairs, sex, student activism, drinking. This is what students talk about, but you don't see it in papers like the [North Carolina State school newspaper]."
Insider, a youth weekly that promises to bring readers "Rochester Remixed," debuted Friday. Editorial content includes weird news, breezily written mainstream news, snapshots of young people having fun, and two articles identified as "big stories." The free tabloid targets ages 25 to 34, according to the Gannett daily paper that publishes it. That age group is "wildly underserved," says Democrat and Chronicle Editor Mike Johansson. AAN member City Newspaper is published in Rochester.
Chad Oliveiri, managing editor of the Rochester, N.Y., AAN member publication, talks to editors of other alternative newsweeklies to anticipate how a new Gannett weekly, tentatively named The InsideR, could affect his market. Free weeklies the media giant has already launched in Boise and Cincinnati compete with AAN papers for advertising and promotional opportunities. The silver lining is that Gannett is selling large mainstream advertisers on the concept of appearing in free weeklies, Cincinnati CityBeat Editor John Fox says.
Across the country, alternative newsweeklies ditched their planned front pages as the awesome events of Tuesday unfolded. East Coast papers like The Village Voice and Washington City Paper are sharing stories and pictures with colleagues from Maine to California.
