People who regularly visit newspaper-produced Web sites are younger, better educated and more likely to be employed than general Internet users, according to a recent consumer study conducted for the Newspaper Association of America by MORI Research of Minneapolis. These visitors are also affluent and more likely to shop for and buy products online.
The findings of a study by a consortium of consumer packaged goods companies show that online advertising spurred lifts in sales ranging from 7 percent to 12.5 percent, demonstrating the extent to which an increase in the level of online media impacts offline sales.
Readers who are young (but not too young) and active attract peddlers of drink to alt-weeklies, and it shows in all the ads promoting liquor, beer and clubs. To compete with radio for those coveted ad dollars, some AAN papers cosponsor pub crawls, beer fests and jazz festivals—any event that involves good times and a bit to imbibe. Regional and national purveyors of alcohol are taking notice.
Making a micro-budget horror movie isn't easy. Sometimes it involves sexual acts with goats. Sometimes it involves rancid pig intestines. But most of all, it involves a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Chris Haire of MetroBEAT meets with the men behind "Wiseguys vs. Zombies," a gory little flick that cost only $5,000 to make and which Troma Entertainment just picked up for worldwide distribution. In a related article, movie critic Matt Brunson discusses the best and worst elements of zombie films over the years.
The St. Louis weekly's editors and writers were saddened when the Rev. Al Sharpton abandoned his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination. "Sure, he didn't win many votes, but out on the hustings he stole the show," they write. Not only did the candidate from Queens speak the hard, bitter truth, he got off some really good one-liners—and that's why he'd make a great mayor of St. Louis. To help residents reimagine their troubled city, the Times offers a slide show featuring Sharpton inserted into various local scenes.
A writer for the Orlando Weekly column Happytown™ was there when George W. Bush kicked off his re-election campaign in Orlando March 20. Emily Ruff's note-taking looked suspicious to some Republican women, who accused her of being a "dirty hippie" and "terrorist." After Ruff responded with some chants of her own, a security guard escorted her out the door.
Among various forms of advertising, consumers are repelled by spam and telemarketing but feel fairly positive about print advertising, according to Dynamic Logic's Advertising Reaction Study. Among the consumers polled, the market research firm found that TV and online advertising fell roughly in the middle of the pack with regard to attitudes toward ad formats.
Having already conquered the nation's suburbs and small towns, the powerful retailer has its eye on the final frontier: urban centers. Paul Demko of City Pages examines the record of the top Fortune 500 company, which plans to take over a former K mart location in St. Paul, Minn. Known for animosity toward unions, Wal-Mart has been sued for overtime abuses and sexual discrimination. Union workers believe the discount store's dominance is influencing grocery chains across the country to demand wage and health insurance concessions.
No one can doubt Max Baucus's resolve, but they do wonder about his purpose, editor Brad Tyer reports in the Missoula Independent. The ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee was instrumental in the passage of the controversial Republican-backed Medicare bill and has disappointed environmentalists by supporting a Bush energy bill they see as a threat to the state's Rocky Mountain Front. Tyer describes the ways in which the longtime senator seems to have become "a Republicrat: a liberal swung so far center that right looks like left to him."
