We Want Media

It’s that time of year again--auditing time! For the first time in 2006, the Audit Bureau of Circulations will conduct its biannual circulation reports. Most major papers and periodicals go through this process, so of course they have some tricks up their sleeves.

You see, logically, if you want to have a high circulation rate, you have to sell a lot of papers. Well, who wouldn’t want a high rating. It attracts the people that foot the bill--advertisers. So why not just give away papers to boost your circulation stats? It’s illegal, but wait, unless someone else pays for it. That’s where the Post and many others like the Times and the Wall Street Journal come in.

All of these publications were just handing out sponsored papers last week. It seems fair, right? If everybody is giving away papers then everybody’s numbers are skewed. Wrong. The Post took it one step further by printing thousands of extra papers and then secretly disposing of them (or sending them to China!). Shame, shame for cheating, and shame, shame for getting caught!

The point here is the deceit to the advertisers. I don’t know what the Post’s advertisers think, but I would think twice before I sent them my RFP for 2006. The Post already has a seedy reputation, why make it worse? Oh, yeah, because that's their style.