WWW. ANANEWS.COM
DECEMBER 2008
Longtime publisher Jonathan Marshall dies at 84 By Ryan Gabrielson East Valley Tribune Jonathan Marshall, a prominent voice in the Valley for more than four decades as a journalist, politician and philanthropist, died on Saturday. He was 84 and had suffered in recent years from multiple ailments, including Parkinson’s disease, according to Jonathan H. Marshall, his son. Marshall fought for a legion of causes in Arizona, first as owner and publisher of the Scottsdale Progress, and after selling the daily newspaper in 1987, through a charitable foundation he launched with his wife of 53 years, Maxine. “One of the themes for my dad is always sticking up for the underdog,” said Marshall’s son. “And if there were people he thought were not getting a fair shake, he was always on their side. He was just a big believer in the concept of American justice for all people.” With the purchase of the Scottsdale Progress in 1963, Marshall brought a liberal editorial viewpoint that argued for open space, open public meetings and open records. “For somebody as liberal as he was, to be in a community as conservative as Scottsdale, it’s probably a wonder he lasted at all,” said Jim Bruner, a former city councilman. Bruner and Marshall became friends, despite often being political adversaries. The publisher wanted Scottsdale to remain small, Bruner said, while the council viewed development as inevitable. After Don Bolles, an investigative reporter with The Arizona Republic, died in a car bombing in 1976, Marshall hired a reporter to work full time digging into the murder case. Marshall was a staunch Democrat — his first political experience came volunteering for Adlai Stevenson’s presidential campaign in 1952. But party affiliation did not determine his editorial stances. “I was one of the first editors in the country to oppose the Vietnam War,” Marshall told The Phoenix Gazette in 1987. “That’s when people said, ‘You’re just a communist.’”
Jonathan Marshall, publisher of the former Scottsdale Progress, shown in a photo from 1974. (Photo courtesy of The Arizona Republic.)
As the Watergate scandal unfolded in 1974, Marshall relinquished control of the Progress to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate against Barry Goldwater. He accused Goldwater of failing to “change the ethical standards” of the Nixon administration. Marshall sold the Progress to Cowles Media Co. after 24 years as publisher. Cox Newspapers later purchased the Progress and merged it with the Mesa Tribune. Rather than retirement, Marshall and his wife formed the Marshall Fund of Arizona. Over the course of 15 years and 183 grants, the couple donated $5.5 million to health care, arts, environmental, cultural and other efforts and just published his autobiography, titled “Dateline History: The Life of Journalist Jonathan Marshall”, last month. Marshall earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado in 1946 in economics and political science and, 16 years later, a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon. He is survived by his wife, their four children and 10 grandchildren.
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There is much hope in our future
Paula Casey Executive Director
“The good news comes in the form of all the future opportunities out there for newspapers.”
After a recent trip to Las Vegas to attend the Annual SNA Classified Conference I am filled with hope. Amongst all the naysayers that newspapers are dead, low and behold, it seems they are all wrong. I learned that while some areas of advertising will surely drop in the next five years, there are areas where opportunity abounds. Peter Conti of Borrell Associates relayed that local advertising revenues will drop from $6.6 billion in 2008 to $2.7 billion in 2013. This surely is not good news for the classic newspaper business model. The good news comes in the form of all the future opportunities out there for newspapers. It is expected that there will be $1.3 billion in revenues derived from video. In 2013 this is expected to top $6.1 billion. As newspapers continue to retool their product line with new and innovative products, it is believed that they will garner a larger piece of the revenue pie from their competition such as TV, radio, cable and yellow pages. Newspapers still have the most viable and highly sought after sites on the worldwide web in their local communities. TV, radio, cable and yellow pages cannot make the same claim. At the SNA conference, Mike Blinder continued to expound on the future of newspapers. Our online readers will come from the young, affluent, educated and employed, he said. Our online readership will be the reason why we will be able to garner a greater share of the advertising market from our competitors. It is clear that newspapers will need to
December 2008 ■ ANAgrams
meld your sales staffs and make them experts in all your product lines. Old-school salespeople will need to become versed in selling online products. They will not be required to be an online expert but should be able to sell across lines. Newspapers will need to train to “de-mystify” online products. We will need to “de-geek” the medium. Salespeople will need to focus on the eyeballs not the technology: Sell frequency not CPM. The biggest challenge will be to train, train, train! Future revenue growth will come from selling banners, search and video. There is already talk of the “death of the print yellow pages”. With an increasing number of online directories, the yellow pages are changing their focus to the internet. Newspapers have an opportunity to do this on their Web sites. Upselling each advertiser could bring in extra revenue. With the increase in online directories comes the opportunity to sell your community on video advertising. Video advertising will open up new revenue possibilities in real estate sales, autos and recruitment. Bundling the print product with the online product will enable you to offer advertisers a better return on their advertising investment and expand the reach of your newspaper advertising to a unique online audience. The last nugget we learned was that whatever new innovative products newspapers try, they do not need to be perfect. Use the Apple philosophy: be the first to the market, then replace anything that does not work.
Television is changing By law, television stations nationwide must begin broadcasting exclusively in a digital format on February 17, 2009. There are over 369,000 Arizonans who do not have cable and get their emergency information from local television stations. Let them know what’s going on. The Arizona Newspapers Association, in conjunction with the Arizona Broadcasters Association, needs your help informing Arizonans of the switch. Don’t let your readers get left out. Inform them that the change occurs soon and that www.dtvanswers.com can answer most of their questions. Help them get ready for the switch.
ANAgrams ■ December 2008
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Safety vests required when reporting near federal highways As of November 24, reporters, camera operators and other personnel covering stories on Federal highways must comply with a new regulation released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FWHA). The new rule requires that any person working within areas of traffic or construction on federalaid highways wear high-visibility safety apparel. Under the law, news crews, photojournalists and reporters are considered “responders to incidents.” Therefore, when they are reporting or filming (whether during the day or at night) near a federal highway— such as when covering highway traffic accidents or construction projects—they must wear approved safety vests. The requirement is intended to prevent injury by ensuring that anyone, including media personnel, working near federal highways is conspicuously visible. All
vests must be at least ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 Class 2-certified. The approved vests generally are lime green or orange with reflective material, and are available from a
variety of Internet vendors, as well as the National Newspaper Association, for less than $20.
BIG change to 2009 ANA newspaper contests The Arizona Newspapers Association is changing how entries are submitted. Due to popular request, entries will now be submitted online. This system collects essentially the same information as before, but in a slightly different way. For each entry, you will fill out a form online and upload a PDF file. You’ll submit PDF entries by uploading the files from within the online contest registration system. You will not submit them separately on a disk or via email. For those members who are not able to upload a PDF, this year
ONLY, we will still accept your hard copy entries and will convert them to PDF files for you. For ANA’s Excellence in Advertising competition: You may submit a PDF of just the ad. For ANA’s Better Newspapers Contest: You must submit the full tearsheet(s) that your story appears in. For categories that require you to submit an entire newspaper, ANA will continue to accept those in hard copy form. An entire list of rules and guidelines will be mailed to each member in the contest entry packet.
Contest entry packets will be mailed to you the first week in January, so keep your eye on the mailbox. After the first week in January, information will also be available at www.ananews.com. It is our hope that this new system will make it easier and less expensive for our members to enter ANA’s annual contests. Please direct all questions and comments to Perri Collins, p.collins@ananews.com or call (602) 261-7655 ext. 110.
December 2008 ■ ANAgrams
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“Good journalism does not come not cheap” Newspapers that so often tell people what’s happening are now facing the question of what will happen to them. Bill Keller In the New York Times teeth of the current recession, more and more companies in the already troubled industry have been forced to cut staff and shrink the size of their publications. Even a paper the size of The New York Times isn’t immune. Bill Keller, the Times’ executive editor, says his company’s stock price was sliding even before the economic crisis hit. But he tells NPR’s Steve Inskeep that his newspaper is still profitable — and when asked to write the headline for his institution at this moment in time, he says it would be this: “We will survive.” The current era of journalism, he says, is “an amazing period of ferment, which is sometimes disheartening because people are nibbling away at our core business.” Still, Keller said he doesn’t think his newspaper is losing its audience, citing as an example the billion page views that the Times’ Web site garnered for the month of October. “But we’re competing for audience with different people,” Keller said, adding that the Times sometimes gets “tarred with the condition of the industry that we’re in.” “Good journalism does not come cheap. And, therefore,
you’re not going to find a lot of blogs or nonprofit Web sites that are going to build a Baghdad bureau.” He also noted that “there’s a real shortage of the kind of information that I would call quality journalism.” Still, the days when many American cities could support two competing papers are coming to a painful end, Keller says. “A fair number of those newspapers are going to die, and they will be supplanted by something [such as] a local Web site,” he said. “I don’t think that Americans want to go without news.”
Even in an era of short news cycles and multiple media outlets, Keller said his newspaper remains as relevant as ever to politicians and the public, “although it’s relevant in a different way and on a different cycle.” “It used to be that a New York Times story out of Washington would set the agenda for the network news for days to come, for the Sunday talk shows and probably for the newsweekly magazine covers the following week,” he said. “Now the news cycles through in about 36 hours, instead of a week.” continued on page 6
“81% of newspaper Web site users also read their printed paper.” –Newspaper National Network
Your advertisers can make an impact by integrating a print and online ad campaign. With AdBuilder.com Web Source, you get matching print ads and online Flash banners that anyone can edit—no experience or software needed. 800.245.9278, ext. 5324 • sales_builder@multiad.com
ANAgrams ■ December 2008
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10 advertising words to avoid in 2009 Susan Gunelius Entrepreneur.com
The economy, unemployment, companies folding, people losing their homes--2008 has left consumers wary of businesses. And that lack of consumer confidence requires straightforward, honest advertising messages to regain marketplace security. In 2009, perhaps more than ever, the words you use in your copywriting can determine whether you make a sale or lose a customer. Here: 10 words to avoid in your 2009 copywriting.
Free
E-mail spam filters are tough on messages that include “free” in the subject line. While it might be tempting to use a subject line that says, “Open now to get your free widget,” that’s an e-mail spam filter red flag that will send your message to most recipients’ spam boxes. When the economy is tough, you can’t risk having your e-mails not make it to the intended recipients. Replace “free” with “complimentary” or “gratis” to sneak by spam filters without compromising the effectiveness of your message.
Guarantee
Few people believe in guarantees these days. Unless you can prove your guarantee is real, use the valuable real estate space in your ad for a more effective message that consumers are likely to believe and act on.
Really
If you want to waste space in your ads, include “really” in your copy. This word does nothing to help your messages. Instead, it slows consumers down, and they are not likely to wait around for the complete message. Don’t risk losing them by loading your copy with useless filler words. Make sure every word in your copy is there for a reason.
Very
Does a message sound more compelling with “very” in it? Is “When you need very fresh flowers, call ABC Florist,” more effective than “When you need fresh flowers, call ABC Florist”? If you answered, yes, reread the last paragraph.
That
Once you finish writing copy for your ad or marketing piece, reread it and make note of every time you use “that” in your copy. Chances are, you can delete 90 percent of them because “that” is a filler word that doesn’t advance the consumer through the mes-
sage. Instead, it slows down time-strapped consumers. Deliver the messages your audience is likely to respond to, and deliver them quickly.
A lot
Don’t use vague copy with words like “a lot” that do nothing to differentiate your business from your competitors. Instead, quantify your messages. If you offer 20 varieties of roses in your flower shop, say so. If you respond to customer service calls within five minutes, tell people. Which is more compelling: “You can choose from a lot of shoe styles at Sally’s Shoe Boutique” or “You can choose from more than 100 shoe styles at Sally’s Shoe Boutique?” A lot can mean different things to different people. Don’t leave room for guesswork in your copy. Make your messages extremely clear with no room for confusion.
Opportunity
You’re not helping anyone when you offer “opportunities” in your copy. Consumers don’t want opportunities. They want to feel confident handing over their hardearned money. They want to know they’ll get the results they want and need, not the opportunity to perhaps get those results. Don’t let them wonder what they’ll get when they pull out their wallets. Tell them.
To be (or Not To Be, For That Matter)
Write your advertising and marketing messages in the active voice, not the passive voice. If any form of “to be,” “has been” or anything similar appears in your copy, rewrite it. Writing in the passive voice doesn’t command action. Writing in the active voice does.
Synergy
This overused piece of jargon has had a long life, but it’s time to move on. Leave jargon and 10-dollar words out of your advertising messages. There’s no room in copywriting for buzz words and words that consumers need a dictionary to understand. Consumers don’t care about your “unique value proposition.” They care that when they pay for your product or service, it will deliver the results they expect.
Drinkability
Budweiser is already using “drinkability” in its ads. Seriously though, the point is valid--don’t copy your competition. Instead, differentiate your product and business with unique copy and messages that your target audience is likely to respond to. The rules of successful copywriting don’t change from one year to the next, but as the marketplace and environment change, so must your messages. Use the list above as a guideline to writing great adcopy in 2009.
December 2008 ■ ANAgrams
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continued from page 4
Good journalism con’t While it’s unclear how President-elect Barack Obama’s incoming administration will use the Internet and other media, Keller says he expects to see some of the Obama campaign’s discipline and messagecontrol. “But you can’t just govern by communicating with your base,” Keller said. “And I think the Bush administration has demonstrated that that’s true, and I think the Obama people are smart enough to know that.” Asked how open or cooperative the executive
branch might be in the next four years, Keller responded: “I think the reporters who covered the campaign would say that it’s quite buttoned-down.” He noted how the Obama campaign excelled at using online social-networking tools for fund-raising and building support. But, Keller said, “again, that’s something that works to mobilize your base. You need more than your base to govern. And even your most devoted admirers don’t want to rely just on you for word of what the government’s up to, and what it means.”
Free refresher for newspaper sales staffs
SWFHC is pleased to offer no cost, orientation and refresher sessions regarding the application of fair housing law to advertising for classified advertising staff of newspapers – large or small – serving communities throughout greater Arizona. See the SWFHC brochure for more info or call Sandy Fagan at (520) 798-1568 and arrange a free, fair housing refresher for your classified ad staff.
ANF scholarship program cannot continue without your support Contribute to the 2009 Arizona Newspapers Foundation 3for3 Scholarship Fund and help a young journalist pay for college. We can’t do it without YOUR help! The ANF will select two worthy students this spring to receive a $1,000 scholarship to Arizona State University, the University of Arizona or Northern Arizona University. If you are ready to donate or have questions regarding this fundraiser, please contact Sharon Schwartz at (602) 261-7655 ext. 108 or s.schwartz@ananews.com. Arizona Newspapers Foundation
- PLEDGE CARD Your pledge will fund scholarships as well as provide resources to train Arizona’s next generation of journalists. □ This is my pledge for the 2009 campaign.
□ 3 cents per subscriber, circulation:__________ x .03 = $__________ This is the target amount recommended by the foundation board. We hope you’ll consider this amount but feel free to choose one of these alternatives:
□ 5 cents per subscriber, circulation: _________ x .05 = $___________ □ 7 cents per subscriber, circulation: _________ x .07 = $___________ □ Other - $__________________ □ Check enclosed. □ Bill Me. □ Charge to: □ VISA □ MasterCard □ AMEX □ Discover Card No._________________________________________ Exp. Date________ Your name________________________________________Signature__________________________Date___________ Newspaper/Organization_____________________________ Address___________________________________________
InDesign CS4 and Data Rescue oor Kevin this month Kevin Slimp Institute of Newspaper Technology kevin@kevinslimp.com
E
xcuse me, but I have to sit down. It’s time to let you know about a few of the new features in Adobe Creative Suite 4. And after taking a fresh look at these applications, I need to catch my breath because some of the features are incredible. No, make that unimaginable. No, let’s stick with incredible. Wow. There’s so much to cover when pondering a review of CS4. The number of applications alone is mind boggling. My copy of the CS4 Master Collection includes InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Contribute, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Soundbooth, OnLocation, Encore, Bridge, Version Cue, Device Central and more. Think you’ll never use Soundbooth? Think again. I can’t believe how much better the audio sounds on my recordings. No idea what Fireworks and Flash do? It’s time to learn, my friend. For today, however, I’m going to discuss two features of an application you’re probably already using: InDesign. The feature that most impresses me in the latest rendition of InDesign is the Preflight. I know, I know: InDesign has always had a great preflight function; however, the gang at Adobe has taken it up a notch or two or three thousand. Two things stand out about CS4 preflighting. The first is the ability to create your own preflights that look for just about any potential printing problem. Like previous versions of InDesign, users can search out RGB in images, missing links and more. Now users can select from dozens of potential problems for InDesign
to detect before a file goes to print or is converted to PDF. My favorite preflight criteria is the ability to find OPI links in images. You may not know the difference between OPI and LZW, but InDesign knows and will share its knowledge with you before you have a printing issue. Something else that you will love about InDesign’s new preflight: It provides a continuous preflight as you work. That’s right. There’s a little green light in the bottom corner of InDesign’s desktop. If that light turns red, watch it. That means you’ve hit a snag. Man, I could have used that ten years ago. To test the new feature, I created a preflight that included the following checks, among others: - missing links - OPI information - RGB images or text - lab and spot colors - overprinting of white text - CID fonts - missing fonts - image resolution problems Next, I created three InDesign documents that each contained some of these issues. Guess what? Yes, InDesign caught them all. Every single error. Every CID font. Every photo with RGB. PDFs with OPI information. As we’re forced to do from time to time in the South, I had to sit and have a cool drink before look-
Using Data Rescue II, by Prosoft, I was able to recover files from a corrupted camera card. For more information, visit prosofteng.com.
InDesign CS4 includes an incredible preflight feature that checks for problems on pages as you create them. This InDesign page had two errors, both found in a PDF file.
ing any further. Not to worry. You’re going to love what I found next. You’ve seen them: Those cool magazines and newspapers on Web sites that allow you to grab the corner and turn the page. That’s right. You can create a Flash (swf ) file that contains everything you need to convert your newspaper to a Web publication in InDesign CS4. I am not lying. I’ve done it myself. Soon after discovering this incredible treasure, I received a request for advice from an advertising group in New York. The question: Should they purchase a system that would create Flash documents like this of their magazines and other periodicals? I quickly opened a 30-page outline that I give to classes and exported it as a Flash file from InDesign CS4, then uploaded the file to a Web site so they could see it. I received an e-mail a few minutes later: “We just ordered InDesign CS4.” Enough said.
Data Rescue II Gary Rudy, IFPA director, sent a panicked e-mail a couple of weeks ago. Seems the camera card that contained all of the photos from the IFPA national convention bit the dust. After sending the card to an outfit that specializes in getting data from corrupted drives, he learned that the cost for this service was a mere $700. He e-mailed to ask if there was a less expensive way to get the photos off the card. A few days later, FedEx arrived with his corrupt card. Sure enough, when I put it in the slot in
my iMac I was informed that the drive was bad and my only option was to format or eject the drive. Not so fast. I remembered that I’d recently received the latest version of Data Rescue II, from ProSoft Engineering. DRII promises to rescue data from dead drives. I figured, “What the heck.” After installing the software, I slipped Gary’s card into my card slot. Next, I instructed DRII to scan the card. Sure enough, hundreds of jpeg file names appeared in a list. I selected “Recover Files” and, sure enough, those jpeg files were copied to a folder I had created on my desktop. A few minutes later I was burning the photos to a CD and filling out a FedEx form. Gary was pleased. For more information concerning Data Rescue II and other ProSoft products, visit prosofteng.com.
Where’s Kevin? January 29: Indianapolis, IN January 30: Minneapolis, MN February 4-6: Nashville, TN February 28: Minneapolis, MN Coming soon to: New York • Des Moines Kentucky • Winnipeg Saskatoon • Toronto
Want to bring Kevin to your office or training event? It’s easy. Email him at:
kevin@kevinslimp.com
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Little things in customer service
December 2008 ■ ANAgrams
ANA Calendar
Lynne makes customer service a top priority. “When I read January 15, 2009 about a big corporation that is starting a customer service initiative, I can’t help but wonder if they’ve had their heads in the • ANA Legislative Luncheon sand. It’s almost like they’re saying, ‘Uh oh, business is down, March 23, 2009 so we’d better start being nice to our customers.’ “My business card says, ‘advertising sales,’ but my real job • Schatt Memorial Lecture, Tempe is customer service,” she said. “If I take good care of my existing advertisers – and if I show my prospective customers that April 3-5, 2009 they’ll get top-notch service from me and my paper – selling is • SPJ Region 11 Conference, a lot easier.” Phoenix Lynne understands the power of small gestures. “In my exJohn Foust April 17-19, 2009 perience,” she said, “little things make a big difference. I make Raleigh, NC notes of things that are important to my clients. When is their • Journalism Education business anniversary? How did the business get started? What Association annual national convention, are their favorite teams? What are their hobbies? What are their kids’ interests? Phoenix Where do they like to vacation? “It’s easy to ask about that kind of information,’ she explained, “because peoMay 9, 2009 ple like to talk about their interests. On a business anniversary, I might send a card • Arizona Press Club annual or an e-mail. When a customer’s favorite team wins a big game – or their kid’s banquet, Phoenix team plays in the city championship – that’s a good opportunity for a congratulaMay 15, 2009 tory phone call. When they run a special promotion in our paper, I might show up with extra tear sheets that can be posted in their office or showroom. It’s all about • ANA Excellence in Advertising awards paying attention to the things that are important to my advertisers. reception, Phoenix “I can’t build rapport – and I can’t win any degree of loyalty – if I call on them only when I want to sell something. This market has a lot of advertising sales people who are trying to reach into my customers’ budgets. It’s good business to show that I care about them and their businesses.” 2008-2009 ANA/Ad Services Board of Directors Lynne’s approach to customer service reminded me of a visit to the historical area of Philadelphia, where I saw President Directors Dick Larson, Western Tom Arviso, Navajo Times Benjamin Franklin’s grave at the Christ Church cemNews&Info, Inc. Two-Year Director/Non-Daily etery. The stone slab was covered with pennies, hundreds One-Year Dir./Daily of pennies. According to the tour guide, it is considered Nicole Carroll, The Arizona First Vice President Republic good luck to toss a penny on Franklin’s grave – a salute to Teri Hayt, Arizona Daily Star Two-Year Director/Daily Ben’s famous saying, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Two-Year Dir./At-large The guide explained that the money is used for upkeep of Elvira Espinoza, La Voz Second Vice President Two-Year Dir./At-large the cemetery. “Occasionally, we find quarters or nickels Ginger Lamb, Arizona Capitol or dimes, but it’s mostly pennies. Last year, we collected Times John Naughton, Payson $3,800. That’s 380,000 pennies.” Two-Year Dir./Non-Daily Roundup One-Year Dir./Non-Daily Bruce Barton, co-founder of the Batten, Barton, Third Vice President Durstine & Osborn (BBDO) advertising agency, once Don Rowley, Arizona Daily Sun Jody VandenHeuvel, wrote, “Sometimes when I consider what tremendous conTwo-Year Dir./Daily East Valley Tribune sequences come from little things, I am tempted to think One-Year Dir./Daily Secretary/Treasurer there are no little things.” Rick Schneider, Eastern Pam Mox, Green Valley News Jan Carlzon, former Chief Executive Officer of SAS Arizona Courier and Sun Airlines, said, “You cannot improve one thing by 1,000 One-Year Dir./Non-Daily Past President percent, but you can improve 1,000 little things by one percent.” Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi said, “Inches make champions.” Little things add up. Pennies make dollars. Minutes make hours. And thought- ANAgrams is an official publication of the ful gestures build customer service. Arizona Newspapers Association E-mail John Foust for information about his training videos for advertising 1001 N. Central Ave., Suite 670 departments: jfoust@mindspring.com. Phoenix, AZ 85004