Jackson Free Press

May 24, 2006

How to Help Save Local Media

I met Marilyn, perfectly dressed and wearing her lipstick, on a late Friday afternoon. And Mike, who ponders with his head in his hands. There were the Blake brothers, looking worried and stressed with their parents on a well-earned vacation to Italy. And Jimmy and Gretchen sitting quietly, soaking up every word. Beverly was friendly but worried about her livelihood. There was Angie, a hard-nosed businesswoman with a great tan.

I had never met these people until a group of Jackson's independent publishers all crowded into a borrowed conference room in Fondren Corner to talk about how the Gannett Corp., and its local affiliate, The Clarion-Ledger, was trying to hurt our businesses.

It was fitting that we first met in a building where the JFP has helped host many artistic Fondren events, a building where The Clarion-Ledger's Weekend box was at that moment sitting in front of Rooster's sideways because the company had not taken the time to weight it down with sand (at the JFP, an intern would report such a problem; I doubt that a Ledger editor would notice). I often look at Gannett's exploding stable of "free" plastic boxes and racks, a bit jealous at all the resources they have that we don't, the money that could go into creating an amazing daily newspaper in Jackson, Miss. If only they would.

But the Gannett Corp. has told us that we can no longer distribute the JFP in front of Rooster's. We are being evicted, it seems, because we are not willing to, nor can afford to, pay the world's largest newspaper corporation $8 a month per box to continue to be available to our friends who live and work in that building. Or in hundreds of locations around the city, many where people go every week to pick up the JFP without fail. Or to pick up Beverly's American Classifieds, or Mike's Apartment Guide, or Marilyn's Christian magazine.

The Gannett Corp. is throwing all of us out of our best distribution spots because we are too small, or too stubborn, or too proud, or too smart to believe that we can survive as an afterthought in one of their new, huge, ugly plastic boxes with their logos and windows too small to display our covers. We got our eviction letter last Friday, as did our new partners in the Mississippi Independent Publishers Alliance. They ordered our eviction only days after we learned that they had distributed a sheet with all of our names listed, saying we were "accepted" publications. The businesses could choose from the list, they were told, if they signed onto the plan. They each would get 25 percent of Gannett's take—but they did not know that none of us had signed on.

Goliath hadn't bothered to come to us before taking these actions that will hurt our businesses, telling us after the fact that we have no choice. It's their way or the highway.

But we intend to fight. We are telling our readers the story, and asking for your support. Beverly Smith and the Blake family even published open letters this week—something you don't often see in classified publications.

"We are a locally owned family business that was built on and stands firm on customer satisfaction," wrote Chris Blake. Chris was the young man who busted us up during our first meeting by saying his parents would come home and "ground me" if he didn't handle this thing right. (He was kidding.)

Every alliance member is a hard worker and contributes to our economy. These people have families, and they have built ground-up relationships with clients and businesses with investments of shoe-leather and elbow grease. They are shining examples of the American dream. Some of them started on a kitchen table just like we did. They are leaders in their churches; their families are Real Mississippians. And, now, thanks to an arrogant scheme by a mammoth corporation, every one of us is fighting for our livelihood.

This isn't right.

Clarion-Ledger Publisher John Newhouse, who was transferred in a few months ago, stated last week that free publications popping up are a "concern for all of us"; thus he offers to clean us all up. He didn't mention that Gannett owns more free publications, more of the "clutter," than any other company here. And they haven't exactly gotten around to putting the sand in the box in the past.

He also claims a "benefit" for publishers. Read my lips: There isn't one. And if this plan was developed to help all us little guys, why weren't we told about it at a friendly meeting before they started using our names without permission to sell it to businesses? Why didn't they ask for our input? Our "concerns"? Because it's about them, and only them.

Please join us as we take our stand. A Jackson State professor is passing around petitions from our Web site. Citizens are writing letters and e-mails to Gannett. Readers are asking businesses to keep distributing us. JFP editor JoAnne Morris is handing out papers house to house on her street. Your voice matters in this fight, and it's about more than continuing to get your JFP or American Classifieds at the Piggly Wiggly on Meadowbrook (a key spot that Todd and I replenish every weekend, and chat with the security guard). It's about helping preserve the free market and local voices that make Mississippi special.

Don't stop with MIPA members. Renew your efforts to support all local businesses—whether it's buying your groceries and your beer at McDade's, more books at Lemuria or Choctaw, your jeans and handbags at Chane's stores, your bargains at Mississippi-owned Hudson's rather than Wal-Mart. Every local business deserves your support for rolling up their shirt sleeves and fighting the corporate odds in today's world. Help them. Help us.

Needless to say, the people in the newly formed alliance don't agree on every issue. But we stand together on the principles that Mississippians have been known to get a bit testy over in the past: Don't try to silence us. Don't trample on our rights. Don't treat us like we're stupid. Don't try to roll the corporate steamroller through our state for your own good while telling us it's for ours.

And for the love of God and country, don't trot in from up north somewhere and try to throw our printing presses down a well.

To learn ways to help, see our citizens' action guide at The Goliath Blog.

Previous Comments

ID

170509

Comment

Amen! Donna, call or email me about another distro spot we discussed at the Chick Ball. I'll be happy to deliver or hook your distro people up with the manager.

Author

kaust

Date

2006-05-24T14:49:44-06:00

ID

170510

Comment

Thanks, Knol. I will. I'll try to get you some issues to pick up here from now. It is urgent for everyone to understand that if you value independent media, we need you to do something. We can put out a wonderful newspaper and have and develop all the talent in the world, and if we lose our right to distribute it due to such a corporate ploy, then fewer people will get to read it. We will have a smaller impact. We will get to fewer young people who value our publication and are motivated by it to give back to, or stay in, our state. So speak up. Pass around a petition. Call or e-mail Gannett. Talk to the businesses that distribute. Tell every single person you know that this is happening. Please be proactive on behalf of all the independent papers. There is no time to waste. Thank you, Donna

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-24T15:16:33-06:00

ID

170511

Comment

"And for the love of God and country, don't trot in from up north somewhere and try to throw our printing presses down a well." Your resort to crass sectionalism is beneath the open-mindedness to which the JFP aspires. You may have some valid points but, if so, they are lost in your resort to provincialism and the tried-and-true "us against them" argument. Why go there? Would it be an easier pill to swallow if someone trotted in from "down south" or "out west" to throw your printing press down a well? And while I like & patronize whenever possible the local establishments that you name, i.e., McDade's, Lemuria, etc., I do so not because they are "local" but because they are better, at least in some respects. And the fact that Lemuria is locally-owned, as opposed to Barnes & Noble or Borders, does not mean that these large, corporately-owned chain bookstores do not contribute to our "local" economy -- just ask their "local" employees who depend on them for their livelihoods. Similarly, hundreds [?] of Mississippians [whether native-born or "transferred in"] work for The Clarion-Ledger, and hundreds [thousands?] more work for Wal-Mart, Kroger, etc, no doubt spending much of their paychecks "locally". If the only businesses deemed worth having in this state were those owned by Mississippians, we'd all be a lot poorer and lot more close-minded. Thankfully, I don't have to work for Bernie Ebbers - and the JFP shouldn't resort to the language of states-righters to make its points.

Author

Sutpens100

Date

2006-05-24T16:12:18-06:00

ID

170512

Comment

Oooo, that was my favorite line. ;-) And it was partly tongue in cheek, and a reference to the late Willie Morris' story about his grandfather's printing press. However, I am mighty offended at the idea that an international corporation can and will come in from somewhere else and do this to local businesses without even trying to get us on board ahead of time. I stand by my statement strongly, regardless of your opinion about it. And with due respect, I find your logic about local businesses rather off, but that's just my opinion. Long live local businesses.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-24T16:26:18-06:00

ID

170513

Comment

If I knew anyone, I'd help. There aren't many JFP's out in Clinton, except over at Fazzoli's. I wish they'd carry garlic sticks again.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2006-05-24T16:36:00-06:00

ID

170514

Comment

I didn't think you'd agree with my logic about local businesses, but it strikes me as wrong-headed to assume that because the OWNERS of one business may live nearby, it is necessarily entitled to preference over a business whose owners live "up north" but who employ hundreds of local workers. Surely the JFP is not going to rely on birthplace or residence to determine worth. Stick to the merits and quit waving the bloody shirt.

Author

Sutpens100

Date

2006-05-24T16:52:28-06:00

ID

170515

Comment

Stick to the merits and quit waving the bloody shirt. Uh, Sut, you can stop telling me what to do, or how to think, as of this very moment. If you are not aware of what mega-corporate media have done to "local" media all over the country, and how different the jobs not to mention the passion for their jobs, are as a result, I'm not in the mood to educate you. I have a newspaper to save. You are more than welcome to state your opinion, but you will do me the honor of not coming on my Web site and commanding how I or anyone should think, what we "stick to" or what we should "quit." You are sorely mistaken if you think this is your right or your privilege on this site. In other words, post like a respectful adult here or get lost.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-24T16:58:14-06:00

ID

170516

Comment

It seems like all the local business has to do is not sign the contract for the distribution box. Gannett can't force the removal of the independent boxes otherwise. It seems like JFP and everyone else should contact the owners of all their distribution sites and make sure they don't sign. What provisions do local businesses have to back out of the contract if they have already signed, or for how long are the terms of the contract?

Author

avens

Date

2006-05-24T17:03:59-06:00

ID

170517

Comment

Sut, I'm trying to figure out why you're so defensive of the CL. Clearly they've engaged in multiple acts of fraud so far. Why defend them when their motives are perfectly clear?

Author

Ironghost

Date

2006-05-24T17:07:31-06:00

ID

170518

Comment

Avens, great suggestions. We are contacting the businesses directly -- although we don't know everyone they're talking to before they sign. But we're getting in touch with all distribution points to make sure they know that very few, if any, free publications have signed on. (And they'll only get their 25 percent cut if Gannett "sells" this to any of us.) Without saying too much here, a potential problem is with businesses that signed before they fully understood what this meant and after seeing the "accepted" list that Gannett was passing out with us and other Alliance members on it. B The Clarion-Ledger has refused to provide us a copy of the contract they are signing with businesses to kick us out. Our fax # is: 601.510.9019 should any businesses want to share.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-24T17:08:38-06:00

ID

170519

Comment

It's also interesting that Sut just signed up; this is his/her first commentary on the JFP site. Interesting that it starts out as a big defense of the Gannett Corp. Hmmmm.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-24T17:09:22-06:00

ID

170520

Comment

That made me wonder as well. I was wondering what States Rights had to do with this, anyway. :)

Author

Ironghost

Date

2006-05-24T17:16:12-06:00

ID

170521

Comment

Well, apparently Sut caught my subtle "taking our stand" theme. And my last line was certainly a reference to Yankees throwing Mississippi printing presses down the well during the Civil War. This is something that Willie Morris wrote about, and JoAnne and I took great pleasure in coming up with that line for this piece. ;-) Guess we offended Sut's anti-sectionalism sensibility. I should say that corporations can be good. It is up to the corporation to prove that it deserves to cart a lot of our local dollars out of town and out of state. And they'd better treat the community well in order to do that. They are not treating the community well here.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-24T17:20:00-06:00

ID

170522

Comment

In the cases of Little Tokyo, Roly Poly, Hickory Pit, etc. where the papers are in the stores, will Gannett be able to force you out? I don't see how, even if the strip mall got one of those boxes? The Gannett should not be able to dictate what is and isn't in the store. I don't like it a bit, and it is a shame that they are going forward with their plan. I think they are going to end up with a bunch of empty boxes. I'd have someone on their sidewalk handing out JFP's on Thursday's to people walking downtown or going to work. Old school newspaper style!

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-05-24T17:55:51-06:00

ID

170523

Comment

Yes, they are going after stores, too—and telling them we can't be inside or outside their store unless we pay to be in the TDN box. The business gives up control of its store and what can go in it in this deal.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-24T19:48:47-06:00

ID

170524

Comment

I admit I thought the same as pikersam regarding inside businesses. I usually get my JFP at the Ice Park or Buffalo Wild Wings. I plan to thank them both for carrying JFP, but that Gannett is going after the inside of the stores too is UN-FRICKING-BELIEVABLE. I was stunned but not surprised before . . . now I am simply in shock. Newt

Author

Newt

Date

2006-05-24T20:11:28-06:00

ID

170525

Comment

I believe that this strongarm tactic of the CL will make the JFP even stronger because we (the readers) of the JFP believe in the Jackson Free Press. We will fight together and get past this issue. One of the biggest problems that we have here is that the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. The CL will not be a newspaper of the people, but rather one of certain powerful people. They have forgotten that the readers made them what they grew into. To Donna Ladd and the rest of the JFP staff..........if it will help, I will come down there weekly and distribute papers personally to people. I hope that anyone with time will also offer to help in any way that they can.

Author

lance

Date

2006-05-25T06:05:05-06:00

ID

170526

Comment

Thank you, Lance and Newt. The biggest thing you both can do right now is TALK TO PEOPLE about this, including the businesses. As you can see from John Newhouse's statement, they are trying to spin it in a way that makes it sound like great for everyone. But it's not. So make sure that people, including the distribution businesses, understand it. Many of them seem to have no idea that they give up control of any free publication that goes in or near their store if they sign. ANY free publication. They can't enforce it against the "accepted" publications and not others. And it seems that the Clarion-Ledger offices, especially Newhouse, was inundated with calls last week after our paper and the American Classifieds letter came out. They put it on voicemail, and then had someone telling callers that Newhouse would issue a respoinse, which he did (that lame one I just linked). So we have their attention. But that's not enough. We have to stay the course and take our stand. We need each and everyone of you to help us, in however small or big way. Thank you for your support. See our Citizens' Action Guide for ways to help fight Goliath.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-25T10:41:59-06:00

ID

170527

Comment

BTW, Beverly Smith printed up some great bumper stickers. YOu can get free ones at American Classifieds' offices on Fortification Street. Just pop by. She has a huge banner out front about this. ;-)

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-25T11:09:44-06:00

ID

170528

Comment

I'll have to see this when I get over there again.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2006-05-25T11:51:34-06:00

ID

170529

Comment

More media on the way: Todd will discuss this issue on Paul Gallo's show on SuperTalk radio Tuesday, May 30, at 8 a.m. Also, Todd and Donna will appear on Let's Talk with Charles Evers on Wednesday, June 7, from 8 to 9 p.m. to talk about this issue. Watch for the Mississippi Business Journal next week for a story on this issue, on the stands May 29! More to come ...

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-25T12:33:53-06:00

ID

170530

Comment

This is unreal! Anti- Competition!!! Extortion! It is a shame that big business resorts to games like this, instead of just doing a better job at what they do. It is illegal to force your competitors out this way. Sure, there are legal paid distribution services. But they cannot be exclusive. Grandma might not be able to sell her homemade jam at walmart. But they can't tell her where she can't sell it! The fact that they are trying to "pay off" the business owner to turn a blind eye to it blows my mind. Sure it looks attractive that they will be getting money for nothing, but to the wise discerning business owner (like the caller on the podcast) it should look like a load of you know what.

Author

Gates

Date

2006-05-25T12:42:06-06:00

ID

170531

Comment

William, as I understand it, a business can sign a contract for an "exclusive" distribution service if they want. The problem here, though, is several-fold: 1. Were the businesses fully aware that they are giving away all rights to control what free publications come into their store or "near" it? 2. Were they led to believe that publications such as the JFP would be a choice even though we are not on board? 3. Why in God's green acre would a publication sign onto a deal to allow a competitor to distribute us? An independent distribution service maybe. But a competitor? In some of our spots, it would mean that we would go from hundreds of papers through that spot in a week to 50 or so. And they have the nerve to "offer" us a slot that we don't even fit into -- and then kick us out when we won't agree to pay them for the privilege of shoehorning into the spot they bestow upon us? That takes some gall, I give 'em that. 4. Do the businesses understand how little they're likely to make? (The boxes have nine slots, I believe. Gannett owns five free pubs, as I understand it, that won't pay anything. So that leaves four slots. At $8 a month, that's $32. The business is supposed to get 25 percent of that: $8 a month. I assure you that people going to stores and such to pick up the JFP and the other pubs bring them in a lot more than $8 a month! 5. What happens if no one signs on? No matter how you slice it, 25 percent of 0 is 0. 6. What about all the free pubs not yet listed on the Gannett "accepted" list? I don't even know if they are being told about it. They may just be out without any notice. Then, of course, is the barrier to entry to the market for new free publications. It is vital to understand that newspapers in America are being forced to turn to free models; thus, dailies want to control it from the get-go. But such strong-arm tactics just give people fewer reasons to trust the daily. But they can't see the forest for the trees.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-25T13:42:53-06:00

ID

170532

Comment

7. Oh, and the big question of the day: Why would anyone believe that Gannett is going to de-"clutter" anything being that (a) they have the most free publications out there and (b) they haven't been able to figure out in two years how to keep those Weekend and other freebie boxes grounded? BTW, the following are Gannett Corp./Clarion-Ledger free publications: Make & Model Century 21 Weekend Career Builder Mississippi homes

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-25T13:47:36-06:00

ID

170533

Comment

Check out this Open Letter to Gannett in the Nashville Scene. The daily paper there is owned by Gannett: The true crime of the corporate takeover of the American newsroom is in instituting a culture where smart people do not wish to work. Or so we'd like to believe. The problem with this logic, as you well know, is that it is utter rot. From a financial standpoint, anyway, it doesn't appear to have a downside. There's simply no evidence that putting out a quality news product will produce more revenues or profits for the parent company—at least not anymore. In fact, a careful analysis of the 13 largest publicly traded newspaper companies today indicates that just the opposite appears to be true. That is the genius of Gannett. You figured it out first. Your papers don't win serious journalism awards. Few self-respecting journalists with job options would consider a career at Gannett. There is almost no original thinking or cutting-edge analysis of the important issues of the day in your papers. Your columnists are absolute nobodies. Your editorial writers have virtually no impact on policy-making institutions, either here inside Nashville's Interstate 440, or inside the Beltway, up near where you live. But what do you care, Mr. Dubow? Gannett is kicking everybody else's financial derriere in the newspaper industry. As CEO of a public company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange, you well know that you have a fiduciary responsibility to return value to shareholders. Fact is: you're better at it than any of your competition. ... Surely, Gannett, like other news companies, is caught in a tug of war. On one hand, it must pay lip service toward fulfilling its First Amendment obligations to readers. (You call them customers nowadays, don't you, Mr. Dubow?) At the same time, of course, Gannett has an overriding responsibility to return value to its many shareholders. I suspect, Mr. Dubow, that you would share my view that Halberstam and his ilk—good people all—have the moral high ground in the profit vs. product media debate. But they miss the point; that battle for high-quality news content just isn't terribly relevant any more, for better or worse. Today's smart kids view local newspapers and the local TV news, which they lump into the same amorphous blob, as a politically correct world in which dumb people present dumb stories in a dumb way to other dumb people. In short, it's the perfect arena for the likes of Tennessean editor E.J. Mitchell to strut his stuff. Surely, it's no place for my smart students to make a career. That is the true crisis in American journalism today—or so we sentimental traditionalists like to believe. ... There's more bad news. The meteoric rise of a million bloggers in their pajamas is maddening. These parasitic information gatherers leech onto the news content that your edit staffs produce, pay nothing to print newspapers or to staff overseas bureaus, yet steal huge chunks of your readership daily. The news business still hasn't found a solution to the increasingly partisan nature of media organizations or its inexorable drift toward sensationalism, entertainment and shouting-to-be-heard. No less an authority than Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett, perhaps the greatest investor ever, was asked by a shareholder about prospects for the newspaper business at his firm's annual meeting on May 6. Speaking off-the-cuff but with his customary intelligence, Buffett carried on about the dismal state of the newspaper industry. Read the whole thing.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-25T14:12:33-06:00

ID

170534

Comment

Donna, you left out the entertaining parts! :D Wonderful article. I don't think I've seen it summed up so neatly. One thing I'd love to ask him: What would happen if Google got serious about "Content Providing"?

Author

Ironghost

Date

2006-05-25T14:52:41-06:00

ID

170535

Comment

"William, as I understand it, a business can sign a contract for an "exclusive" distribution service if they want." I am sure you are right...but this seems exceptional because it is withholding free speech. And I think sidewalks are public domain, like in shopping centers and such. Gas stations don't fall in that category though. But you are right that they are being crooked about it. And I'll bet there is a way to bring em down!!!

Author

Gates

Date

2006-05-25T14:53:36-06:00

ID

170536

Comment

i was actually wrong. The only entity that can encroach on free speech is the government. It doesn't matter if it is a company.

Author

Gates

Date

2006-05-25T16:12:33-06:00

ID

170537

Comment

"Sut, I'm trying to figure out why you're so defensive of the CL. " "It's also interesting that Sut just signed up; this is his/her first commentary on the JFP site. Interesting that it starts out as a big defense of the Gannett Corp." DL tells me to "post like an adult or get lost", apparently because my suggestion that she lay off her use of segregationist-era code words struck her as an imperative, and since it is her site, she's the only one who can give "commands" here. One of the privileges of ownership. And since views that do not strictly adhere to the orthodox line are plainly unwelcome here, and the game is to demean those who utter them, "getting lost" will suit me just fine. But before I go -- I'm also accused of "being defensive of the C-L" and of mounting "a big defense of the Gannett Corp." Both of these comments prove my point about the regulars here not being willing to listen to a different point of view -- I didn't say one word in defense of either the C-L or Gannett in my 2 posts yesterday, and my only mention of either of them was to say that the C-L employs hundreds of Mississippians. My point, as DL plainly understood, is that the use of language harkening back to "the good old days" when Mississippians were regularly urged to band together against "outside agitators" -- to resist court-ordered desegregation, to fight a pitched battle on the campus of Ole Miss to keep James Merideth from enrolling, to deprive African-Americans of the right to vote and violently punish those who aided them, to preserve the current state flag, ad nauseum -- is inconsistent with the JFP's well-deserved reputation as a champion of liberal causes. And whatever the merits of DL's arguments vs Goliath, I thought her appeal to local bias detracted from those arguments. I will now slink away and crawl back under my rock.

Author

Sutpens100

Date

2006-05-25T17:15:01-06:00

ID

170538

Comment

First, Sut, learn to hit "send" only once. I'm tired of deleting your repeat posts. Yes, I do own the site. You might as well get used to that. And I don't hanker to whiners disrupting other conversations. Now, for the "segregationist" language ... no. Just because you were quick enough to get my Civil War-era reference does not mean that you understood it or, certainly, that you are now chacterizing it correctly on my behalf. What you're missing is that one can reject revisionist history about the Civil War not being about slavery, and being about states' rights, and still understand that one of the biggest problems the north had was that its moral correctness on the subject of slavery was hurt here, and in our memories, by the methods many Yankee soldiers (and generals) employed -- which indeed included tossing printing presses down wells. *I* get testy about that historical fact -- even as I am perfectly capable of not buying into any of the revisionist drivel about the, er, "War Between the States." Sut, I can hold two thoughts at once. You? So, the point is that you missed the point. Not only that, but you were nasty and arrogant about it at the same time, not to mention barking out orders to me. Don't even think of doing that again on my dime. Either start acting like a decent human being or get the hell out of here. That ain't got nothin' to do with your opinion; it's got everythign to do with your manners when you're visiting someone else's home. So slink away. People with your style are never missed. Otherwise, I am very proud to be defensive about my state, my city and local businesses and individuals here when outside entities try to play us as fools and take advantage of us. I will do that until the cows come home. And an international newspaper corporation who tries to hurt my very popular small newspaper's survival can, well, kiss my butt.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-25T17:22:20-06:00

ID

170539

Comment

"I didn't think you'd agree with my logic about local businesses, but it strikes me as wrong-headed to assume that because the OWNERS of one business may live nearby, it is necessarily entitled to preference over a business whose owners live "up north" but who employ hundreds of local workers. Surely the JFP is not going to rely on birthplace or residence to determine worth. Stick to the merits and quit waving the bloody shirt." Come on man!! Local is always better!! Would you rather own your own business or work at walmart? Sure, big corporations pay local employees. But the 5 bucks an hour they make is a far cry from the millions that go back to the owner. Even all those employees together don't equal one CEO's income. Not even close. Back to the point: The big corporations are bad because they force out the little guy. Like the CL forcing the JFP in this issue. I wouldn't say that locals are entitled to preference...but there should be a better way to regulate the big corps when they hurt small business. Especially intentionally like this. But worth? yes...i believe Mcdades is worth more to me than Kroger. Simply becuase it is closer to me and it carries local products i like. Which in turn supports everything local, and puts more money into the local govt... if you don't agree move to Madison or a big subburb where there is nothing local. Everything is a chain...it is a 100 yard walk in between stores, and all the food comes from CISCO...Tell me what you think about it then....

Author

Gates

Date

2006-05-25T17:38:43-06:00

ID

170540

Comment

Donna I am all for this fight. Viva JFP! I have been pushing to do this story on 16 for almost 2 weeks now. As soon as we get the info we need from you guys for the go ahead for this story I will do everything I can to get it on the air. I am only an intern...but I will do everything I can to get this story out to the public!

Author

Jes

Date

2006-05-26T15:14:52-06:00

ID

170541

Comment

Thanks! We're working on it. ;-)

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-26T15:32:14-06:00

ID

170542

Comment

Donna I want to say I support the grass roots efforts to beat back the ClarionLedger efforts to lure many of local businesses into a deceitful distribution scheme. I truly think it is the making of a monopoly and could probably be quickly defeated in court especially due to the tactics that are presently using as described by you. I do not like when you turn the tables on people like "sut", who's obviously a very well read and thoughtful person, in your tone and ownership comments. I don't feel that the comments made by that individual were threating or really off base with a valid different perspective than the one you presented. I especially agree it's true capatilism (not that pure capatilism is right!) working and that is why all the local stores are still open and why the JFP is flurishing. You've done this before with threating people by taking them off of your site for having a very different viewpoint. Lest me remind you; you are not always right (common sense tells me) but if you are your tone and threats make you seem weak. I'm no Constituntinal know it all but you threating to limit someone's speech seems to be hypocritical, especially when it a challenge at your written thoughts and not something outrageous like they believe child porn should be legalized. On a side note, of which I don't know if it's appropriate to discuss here, do newspapers have mission statements, Statements of belief's, etc of which is available to the public? It's obvious the CL and JFP are definitely different. Thanks again!

Author

guywithanidea

Date

2006-05-27T16:22:57-06:00

ID

170543

Comment

Guy, it's simple. I did not get ornery wit Sut because he/she doesn't agree with something I believe. I got ornery because he/she ordered me how to think and act, and on my own Web site, to boot. If you re-read the posts and compare them to others here who can respectfully disagree, you're likely to see the difference. And if not, that's OK. We simply cannot allow that kind of tone to dominate the site and drive off people because people like Sut bark at them, so if that means that I have to play the ornery top dog in order to police the site, well, that's my job. And I will continue to do that just. Our approach to policing the site is working wonderfully well to date, and there is no reason to change it. Thanks for your comments about the Gannett scheme, and have a great weekend.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-27T16:52:10-06:00

ID

170544

Comment

WITH Sut ...

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-27T16:53:00-06:00

ID

170545

Comment

I guess that's my main issue I didn't see the evidence of "Sut" ordering you to think and act but how your argument was devalued by your statments about "outsiders"/Civil War era tactics and in addition your point was contrary to his/her and wanted to express it...

Author

guywithanidea

Date

2006-05-27T17:05:04-06:00

ID

170546

Comment

The only way to beat the CL is with a "better product." Let the independents get together to make a better product--more consumer-oriented, cheaper, better looking, better for the store, easier to use. Put your collective intelligence and innovative heads together and do it! Whining won't win. Hit your stores, and give them a reason to stay with you (a better product). Whole Foods did it, Wegmans did it, Starbucks did it. You, also, can do it. Sincerely, HDMatthias, MD

Author

HDMatthias, MD

Date

2006-05-28T12:45:47-06:00

ID

170547

Comment

HD, the JFP already is a better product than their weekend newsletter. What it isn't is a fully-staffed daily newspaper; the CL has a monopoly on that, which is what gives it the power to try to push smaller businesses out of the industry. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-05-28T13:46:38-06:00

ID

170548

Comment

We also provide less "cluttered" distribution already than the Gannett Corp. publications do. I remember during Katrina, Weekend boxes were lying in the streets because they weren't weighted down. They just haven't bothered. Some people believe they purposefully cluttered the spots so they could come back and do this. I'm not aruging that ... but it is remarkable that they've provided such bad service to their own boxes, and now try to sweep in as the "clutter" savior. Harumph. All that said, MIPA (the new alliance) is discussing ways to help each other with customer service. I won't go into that now.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-28T14:12:30-06:00

ID

170549

Comment

Also, the Mississippi Business Journal's article is out. We got our copy in the mail yesterday. It's a front-page article with a photo of Todd and most of the alliance members interviewed on the full-page jump inside. They did a good job -- and The Clarion-Ledger wouldn't comment, other than providing that same lame statement from Newhouse that we published already, which of course is filled with holes. It's a good piece (which is paid subscription-only on the Web site so I can't link it). Thanks to MBJ to covering such an important issue to local Mississippi businesses. I'll ask them Monday if we can repost it or PDF it here. Remember: Todd is on Paul Gallo Tuesday morning, with other media on the way. We'll keep you posted as they happen. Meantime, everyone please remember to please do your homework to help us and the other independent media fend off Gannett's Goliath attack. One comment to a business or e-mail to Gannett from each of you can help make a difference. Thanks!

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-28T14:17:57-06:00

ID

170550

Comment

I just saw that the Vermont 802 Online news blog (she helped me find out about the near-identical distribution scheme in Massachusetts two years ago that citizens helped turn back) is giving our Goliath Blog props. I love her comments about it: Monday, May 22, 2006 Alt. weekly launches blog to fight Gannett File this one in the "That Was Quick Dept." The Jackson Free Press of Mississippi reported last week about its struggle with a Gannett distribution scheme that could put them out of business. On Friday, they launched a blog to chronicle and organize their efforts. Goliath Blog is a clearinghouse where readers can find links to other Mississippi publications affected by the Gannett plan. They can also download a petition to Gannett and the Clarion-Ledger, and sound off about the plan, or communicate with each other in the comments thread. This is the first time I've seen a newspaper use a blog this way. It's neat. I like it. She probably missed our online campaign to bring "Fahrenheit 911" to Jackson, and our online petition drive calling for the prosecution of Edgar Ray Killen, eh? There's much more to blogging than whining about one's personal angst. Or should be. ;-) Again, thanks Cathy. We really appreciate your coverage.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-28T14:26:50-06:00

ID

170551

Comment

Angst is so passe'. :) It's time to do something, these days.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2006-05-28T18:38:36-06:00

ID

170552

Comment

to Tom: By "better product," I meant a better "vending" machine, not a better newspaper. Thanks for pointing this out. HDM

Author

HDMatthias, MD

Date

2006-05-28T19:07:37-06:00

ID

170553

Comment

Donna, MIPA could be very good on a number of levels. If you set membership criteria, you could probably even get set up with a group health plan. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-05-29T00:34:52-06:00

ID

170554

Comment

I agree, Tom. The benefits of such an alliance seem to be vast. I guess we have to thank the yucks at The Clarion-Ledger for making us consider such a thing. That doesn't mean their scheme was a good one, though. The Business Journal really captures that they weren't exactly putting everything clearly on the table for everyone to understand before they tried to get people to sign onto this thing. If it was such a great plan for everyone, why not be straightforward with everyone involved from the beginning? Not, possibly, because they know there's not a benefit to the publications, or that many of the businesses might not sign on if they realized that the more popular free publications in town wouldn't be on board, eh? I don't know of anyone on board, yet, for the record. Maybe there are some, but it sure isn't the list that The Clarion-Ledger provided to the businesses before we all knew it was happening. I feel bad for the businesses as well. As the YMCA told the Business Journal, they're "caught in the middle." The Clarion-Ledger created this problem for everyone, and it's just another headache for the businesses. Interestingly, I don't know of a Clarion-Ledger publication in the Y already, at least not the one we work out at. Just the JFP, Jackson Christian Family and another Christian freebie (which will get banned, too, under this agreement if they sign on to pay Gannett). Why are they even approaching the Y? Last night, by the way, we were in McDade's 14, and the three free publication racks were perfectly neat and almost empty. The Clarion-Ledger/USA Today rack was jammed full of Sunday papers and papers from last week. They were poking out all over the place and falling out of the rack, partly on the floor. It was Sunday night, and it was nearly full. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me, or y'all would be looking at that image of "corporate clutter" right now.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-29T11:44:02-06:00

ID

170555

Comment

I know the Krogers in Clinton keeps an inventory of Sunday papers. Far from being considerate, they just don't sell well after Sunday. Sloppy Carrier. Wal-Mart is always a disaster with theirs, but then they sell 'em for .99 cents.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2006-05-29T14:48:31-06:00

ID

170556

Comment

As Todd points out, here's your first clue on why the Gannett Corp. is trying to control the free distribution market; it is likely their future, and their only one, as the paid circulation model dies: PBS Newshour: "Free Newspapers Change Media Landscape"

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-30T11:48:08-06:00

ID

170557

Comment

I believe it was best said in the movie- You've Got Mail Tom Hanks instructing Meg Ryan on her fight against the big bad bargain book store as he says, "Go to the mattresses." Meaning- Fight! Fight! Fight! This is a battle we should not loose. I don't know what they are talking about when discussing ‘clutter'. Everything has always seemed professional looking to me. I like choices! I have to say if I see my favorite stores complying. I will choose to no longer spend my money in their establishments. Fight! Fight! Fight!

Author

The Godfather

Date

2006-06-07T11:35:03-06:00