Monday night, I traded emails with Tom Mangan about the Indianapolis Star’s announcement about advertisements going on the front page of their newspaper. He gave me some quality insights on the topic that I’m able to share with you here.
When asked if he thought front page ads were “taboo,” Mangan replied, “I’ll tell you there’s a lot of resistance in the newsroom. I asked the same question in an online forum for newspaper designers and the response was generally negative, though a few said that they wouldn’t mind ads on Page One if they were well-designed and visually attractive.” Which is key - newspapers may reject advertising that is unsuitable for use due to content, but not necessarily because of a design flaw. Those that “create” your morning paper take pride in what they do, and will now have to work around yet another item on their front page. It’s probably tough enough keeping articles above the fold as it is, let alone when your useful column inches taken away by the advertising side of the paper.
He also pointed out one thing when discussing locales that only have one daily newspaper - pricing. As an ex-media buyer, I can tell you that some publications had pricing that was certainly not what you would expect. “Ads on the cover — which will be sold at pricey premium, presumably — are just one more way to squeeze people who feel they have no choice but to advertise in the local sheet,” Mangan noted. Obviously, a company doesn’t have to advertise on the front of a newspaper, but when push comes to shove - or your crosstown competitor buys a display ad on A1 - it’s tough not to play along.
[ed: On a side note, the Star has yet to reply to my request about pricing for their publication’s front page.]
