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Save A Tree Read On Line
September 21, 2007 
This came in overnight to the GUARDIAN and brought back memories of the “old days” when newspapers were mostly printed on broad sheets–not narrow little pages we see today with type too small to read.
“I have a tip about waste at BSU. Every Thursday they toss perhaps 2000
copys of last weeks campus newspaper. They end up in a large blue recycle bin behind
the repair shop area about 9 AM on Thursdays. I think they could print less knowing
this happens every week… Wouldn’t it be better to be a few short than to have this
kind of waste?”
The reader brings up a good point. Used to be circulation was everything, because the more papers sold meant higher ad rates–hence the old mantra, “all they want to do is sell papers.”
Today it is probably, “they just want hits.”
Speaking of hits, the day the GUARDIAN broke the story of Craig’s daughter being “wanted,” the WALL STREET JOURNAL, ABC, and FOX all had quotes or links to our site. The result was more than 900,000 hits! Normal is 30,000 to 40,000. No analysis of hits versus visits is needed please.
Today, the news model has changed. Free papers like the Boise Weekly, on line rags like the GUARDIAN and all sorts of internet ripoffs make the print game less important. Probably makes good sense to sell ads based on a combined WEB and PRINT package and cut back on the print versions…just share, unless you have a bird cage or clean a lot of fish.
To insure more advertising-free Boise Guardian news, please consider financial support.
Comments & Discussion
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Sep 21, 2007, 10:36 pm
As a former editor of the “campus newspaper,” perhaps I can offer some insight on the amount of copy thrown into the recycling bins.
In a somewhat misguided effort to make circulation look strong, every issue printed is presumed to be picked up and read by two separate pairs of eyeballs.
So, if you’re a business manager willing to use that formulation, it allows you to claim that your press run multiplied by a factor of two equals your readership.
Somewhat handy when pitching to potential ad buyers.
Sep 22, 2007, 12:15 am
Congratulations on the media home run. You deserve it.
Sep 22, 2007, 1:05 am
Most printing contracts for periodicals have a guarantee of a specific number — subscribers plus an estimate for an additional number required. The printer normally overprints by some amount just to be sure. If you reduce the number required (say number of subscribers less 1,000), that is the time the printer does not overprint. It is a Catch 22 situation.
The BSU paper does not have subscribers per se, however every full-time student has contributed a set amount to it through semester fees. You, as a student, do want to be able to pick it up a day or so after it is printed if for some reason you were not on campus the day it went into the boxes. (I like to pick up the Boise Weekly the same way, in case I didn’t pick it up the day it was published.) Hence, there are more distributed to the boxes than will be picked up before the next publication day.
Sep 22, 2007, 4:54 pm
Obviously the paper has too large of a budget. I say cut the printing budget. Perhaps they will have less to to recycle. Well, perhaps this is reflective of the editorial intellegence of said rag or perhaps they are business majors who have never learned “waste not want not”