MPA/MPS e-Bulletin

Members are reporting a sharp rise in postage costs in the first week following second class increases by the USPS on July 15.

Prentiss Headlight editor and general manager Patsy Speights, an MPA consultant on postal matters, advises that newspapers are being charged for bundles and sacks, so bundles should be made as large as allowed and as few sacks and/or tubs used as possible.

Speights said any exceptional dispatch codes are claimed at DDU (Destination Delivery Unit) rate with no bundle nor sack/tub charge.

The National Newspaper Association has compiled a list of useful tips and advice from its Postal Chair, Max Heath of Landmark Newspapers.

A veteran newspaper advertising executive has joined the staff of Mississippi Press Services as its director of sales.

David Gillis, 55, of Vicksburg, joined MPS earlier this month and will oversee the newspaper marketing agency’s sales efforts. Prior to joining MPS, Gillis spent 15 years as advertising director for the Vicksburg Post.

“We’re thrilled to have someone with David’s experience in and enthusiasm for newspapers join our team,” said Layne Bruce, executive director of MPS. “He has worked in the trenches at the newspaper level for many years and we know that background will serve him well as he promotes newspapers as a medium of first choice on behalf of our statewide membership.

Prior to joining the Vicksburg Post as retail advertising manager, Gillis was a southwest sales representative for the Dallas Times Herald.

“I am very excited to be on board with Mississippi Press Services,” said Gillis. “I look forward to working with our member papers, advertisers and agencies to hopefully aid them in their continued success.”

Bruce said that while times are changing rapidly and media buyers have a menu of choices in advertising, newspapers still represent a great value to clients.

“MPS works with clients on a number of levels, including print and the Web, to help customers market their business to consumers in Mississippi and nationwide,” he said. “Our name says Mississippi, but we work with publications and sister associations across the country to promote the value and effectiveness of newspapers in print and online.”

Founded in 1978, MPS is the advertising business unit of the Mississippi Press Association, the trade organization for over 100 member newspapers in the state. It acts as an advertising placement firm for member papers and coordinates statewide cooperative ad networks. Established in 1866, MPA is the sixth-oldest operating association of its kind in the nation.

MPA members who are still receiving weekly mailings including their MCAN and MDAN advertisements will no longer receive the packages as of the week of July 23, unless they have specifically requested they continue.

Around two dozen member papers were still receiving the weekly packets, but MPA executive director Layne Bruce said with the rise in postage costs and the prevelance of of Internet access for downloading materials electronically, the days of weekly mailings have passed for most members.

“Longtime members will recall we made an effort over a decade ago to move toward a paperless exchange between newspapers and the Association,” Bruce said. “We may not be entirely to that point, but with this step we are moving closer.”

Bruce added that with upgrades expected in the accounting and order system software used by MPS, members will soon be able to elect to receive insertion orders via email. “We want to make use of the latest technology to make the process as simple and efficient as it can be for our members.”

A few newspapers will still receive the network packets by special request. If you have questions about the mailings or downloading MCAN/MDAN, contact Networks Coordinator Linda Caldwell, lcaldwell@mspress.org.

From The Washington Post: Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper chain, has suffered from the industry-wide advertising downturn, the McLean company reported, though it is weathering the slump better than its rivals.

From Editor and Publisher: When the Bancroft family meets Monday to consider Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion bid for Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co., relatively few of them will actually be named Bancroft.

From NAA: More than 59 million people (37.3 percent of all active Internet users) visited newspaper Web sites on average during the second quarter of 2007, a record number that represents a 7.7 percent increase over the same period a year ago, according to custom analysis provided by Nielsen//NetRatings for the Newspaper Association of America.