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Raises questions about newspaper coverage
in Gwinnett
By
Dr. Ron Lane
Special to GwinnettForum
(Editor's Note: Ron Lane is the former head of
the advertising department at the Grady College of Journalism
at the University of Georgia. He currently is affiliated with
lane bevil+partners of Atlanta, a brand consultancy and design
firm.)
ATHENS, Ga., July 22, 2008 -- Will the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
brand take a hit as it eliminates its "geographical targeted
news sections" aimed at Gwinnett and other metro areas? Is
the AJC forgetting about the small to medium Gwinnett businesses
who need to advertise?
Last Friday some AJC ad sales people didn't even know if
they had a job or not, or what happens to ad accounts. Are advertisers
going to be forced into a new relationship with AJCsales
people? Who knows? The Gwinnett section is history after some 20
years. And The Gwinnett Post was selling itself to consumers
at the Mall of Georgia this weekend with a smile.
From an advertising perspective, how do you recommend a product,
which may be damaged goods? The AJC claims cutting eight
percent of their staff won't matter. They don't need 85 newsroom
positions that have been cut, or 104 advertising positions. So they
are going to cut these people and give you a better paper?
Hopefully in the process they remember the AJC is a product.
Ultimately consumers determine whether they like the political slant,
features, sports attitude, comics and type of news coverage, not
the people at the AJC. The paper is a product just like a
can of beans. A subscriber in Raleigh recently sued his paper for
the same reasons claiming their cuts damaged the product. It is
too early to judge whether or not the AJC can pull it off.
The AJC reported that readership in print and online is
up, which may be true. In general newspaper readership is down over
25 percent over the past 20 years and those numbers aren't likely
to change upward. Can they make a profit converting print readers
to online users? Maybe, but currently the difference in advertising
rates of print versus online is huge. And basically no one has turned
online newspapers into significant profits, if at all.
Print readers spend an average of 27 minutes with the daily paper,
but online readership time is significantly less which concerns
many advertisers. As an example of newspaper's revenue problems,
The New York Times print edition still accounts for 90 percent
of paper's revenues. So the AJC moving more to online may
or may not be a solution.
The AJC has continued to pull back their coverage areas,
which impacts advertisers. Once they basically covered opinion leaders
throughout the state. Now they are pulling back to inside the perimeter
(which they will dispute), but in some gated Gwinnett county neighborhoods
you don't see the AJC like you used to do. In fact, you see
more of the competitive paper. And these are still the movers and
shakers working within the perimeter. That is sad.
Will the AJC get their financial and product house in order?
They certainly can. Will they survive, probably.
Katherine Weymouth, the new publisher of The Washington Post,
said in an interview with The Post," I think the question
should not be whether the newspapers survive, but will news organizations
survive? And I think the answer is that as long as there are people
out there interested in news, there will be entities to provide
them the news."
Taking a look at current, past election runoffs
By
Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
JULY 22, 2008 -- Up until now, County Commission Chairman Charles
Bannister must have liked runoff elections. You may remember that
Mr. Bannister barely squeaked into the 2004 primary runoff against
Wayne Hill by 233 votes before he won the runoff.
Brack |
Here's what the 2004 results of the primary showed:
Candidate .............Votes ........Percent
Wayne Hill .............21,276 ......39.05
Charles Bannister ...16,723 ....30.69
Marcia Neaton .......16,490......30.26
So by 0.42 percent, Mr. Bannister got to face Mr. Hill in the runoff
election. Yes, that is very much squeaking by.
However, the reason Mr. Bannister must like runoffs is that he
came out on top, 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent, in the runoff. He
garnered 17,247 votes to 15,508 for Mr. Hill, winning by 1,689 votes.
We give this background as Mr. Bannister just failed to win the
Republican primary for the chairman's position by oh, so few votes,
getting 49.39 percent of the votes, with Lorraine Green winning
a position in the primary with 46.45 percent, of 14,686 votes. Running
third was Glenn Pirkle with 10 per cent, of 3,688 votes.
Had Mr. Bannister scored another 222 votes, he would have won the
primary.
It's easy to see how Mr. Bannister won his race in 2004's runoff:
he scored 574 more votes in the runoff than he gained in the primary.
Put it another way: Mr. Hill lost the runoff as his voters did not
return as heavily to vote in the runoff. He scored 5,574 fewer votes
in the runoff than he had won in the first balloting.
On the runoff night, Mr. Bannister must have been thinking: "The
important aspect is to get in the runoff, no matter how close your
opponent comes in winning the first time."
In 2008, of course, this thought may come to haunt him, as he came
ever so close to winning the primary by less than one percent….yet
still must face Lorraine Green in the primary. The outcome on August
5 will again be determined by which candidates get their people
back to the polls.
Along that line, it might be telling to note that Ms. Green comes
to the runoff as the candidate who has in the past represented District
1…..which has itself a runoff with Shirley Lasseter facing
Bruce LeVell to take Ms. Green's post on the county commission.
Some might say that this gives Ms. Green an advantage of her current
commission district perhaps returning in greater number to the polls
since there is a runoff for her old slot.
Yet another side of the coin would point out that Mr. Bannister
came much closer in winning without a runoff than Mr. Hill did in
2004, and thereby stands a good position to win the runoff.
No matter: it still boils down to which of the two candidates will
get their supporters back to the polls in greater numbers. We'll
see.
* * * * *
For newcomers to Georgia, let us explain the state's rules for
voting in runoff primaries. If you voted in the July 15 primary,
and you want to vote in the runoff, you must continue to vote in
the same party primary. You cannot switch parties for the runoff.
However, if you are registered and did not vote on July 15, you
may still vote in the runoff primary, and you have your choice of
which party primary in which to vote. The candidates all encourage
your voting, in hopes of attracting your support!
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The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com
to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is the Aurora Theatre,
Gwinnett County's first choice for professional theatrical entertainment.
Celebrating their 13th year in Gwinnett's crown jewel for the performing
arts located on the square in Downtown Lawrenceville, Aurora Theatre
is committed to producing quality, professional theatre for all
of North Georgia. The 2008-2009 Season opens with that home-run
hit Damn Yankees and features main stage productions of Dracula
just in time for Halloween, Christmas Canteen 2008 Celebrating 13
Seasons of Joy, Corpse! an edge of your seat thriller, The
Glass Menagerie a classic southern drama and Once On This
Island a Tony-Award Winner whose island rhythms will get you
ready for summer.
Aurora Theatre also welcomes Atlanta's Shakespeare Tavern for two
special shows, the wildly popular one-man version of A Christmas
Carol will once again star Anthony Rodriguez and their club
comedy series goes monthly as Funny Fridays returns in August. For
young children ask about the Saturday Children's Playhouse on select
Saturday mornings at 10 a.m., while school age children can learn
from working professionals at Aurora Academy. To purchase individual
tickets, season tickets or for more information, visit their revamped
new website at www.auroratheatre.com
or call 678-226-6222.
Points
out ways for advertisers to get message to Gwinnett
(Editor's note: the following explanation comes from the former
top executive of AJC with the Gwinnett News.---eeb)
Editor, the Forum:
Let me correct one error of fact in your recent
column.
Advertisers in Gwinnett still have a range of options for advertising
in the AJC, both in print and online. Our Sunday Living section
will still be zoned for advertisers, meaning Gwinnett advertisers
can buy the same targeted distribution just in Gwinnett for the
same Sunday rates that they have been paying in the Gwinnett News
section.
We also offer the ability for advertisers to place geographically
targeted pre-prints (or circulars) in the AJC. These can
target just the areas of the county that an advertiser wants to
reach. It's a very cost-effective way to get a message out, because
it goes only where you want it to go.
Online offers further possibilities for both geographically targeting
advertising, but also demographically and behavior-based targeting.
Because this advertising method doesn't involve all the hard costs
of printing and delivery, it is both effective and affordable.
We also offer a way for advertisers to target non-subscribers,
in Gwinnett and elsewhere, in our home delivered Evening Edge product
on Thursdays. Zoned display rates in EE are very attractive and
include full color.
We, like you, have loved the Gwinnett News section. Tough economic
times and changing media habits call for new ways of doing things.
But we will still be very much in Gwinnett.
By early 2009, our plant in Norcross will be upgraded and will
become our sole printing facility---producing all editions of the
AJC. Our news bureau will remain in Norcross as well, with
reporters filing daily for online as well as the newspaper. We'll
be expanding both the Metro and Sports section to accommodate more
news from the county.
-- Amy Glennon, Product Development Developer, AJC, Atlanta
Wonders who tried
to hide meaning of TAD question
Editor, the Forum:
Who was the genius who drafted the question on the Republican primary
ballot about the proposed revision to the state constitution to
allow school districts to participate in Tax Allocation Districts?
Essentially, the question asked if you would support taking tax
money away from the school districts and giving it to developers.
Taken on its face, the answer would have to be "no!".
What the results actually show, though, is that over 90 percent
of those who voted in the Republican primary have no idea what a
TAD is or how it works.
Establishment of a TAD has no effect on the amount of tax dollars
the school district currently receives from the Tax Allocation District,
as those amounts and their allocation are frozen when the TAD is
established. Then the school district has the option of allowing
some portion of its share of any increases in tax revenues resulting
from improved property values in the TAD to be reinvested in infrastructure
within the district (such as roads, sewers, sidewalks, etc.) which
helps to improve property values, resulting in more tax revenue,
and more money for the schools in the long run.
Tax money does not go to developers, but it does go into improving
the infrastructure, making projects within the TAD more economically
attractive to developers and thereby improving property values.
The process is a little more complicated than that, as it involves
issuance of bonds backed by the expected increase of property values
in the TAD and negotiations with the school district as to the extent
of their participation in the additional tax revenues.
But, essentially, it's a win-win proposition for the community,
the school district, and the developers. That's how TADs have historically
worked, until the Supreme Court reinterpreted the law, and the proposed
constitutional amendment would restore the school districts' ability
to be a part of the process instead of being excluded.
-- Bob Wilkerson, Norcross
Dear Bob: For your information, the wording was
the same on both the Democratic and Republican ballots. So don't
blame just the Republicans! -eeb
Pleasantly surprised
at Forum "Thought for the Day" ending
Editor, the Forum:
Aren't you cute! You ever so gently skirted the real potential
for a reduction in investigation journalism with the demise of the
old Gwinnett Extra. Just when I thought you were getting soft, I
scrolled down to the "Thought for the day". Lo and behold
my confidence in your editorial abilities was restored, when it
said: "You can never get all the facts from just one newspaper,
and unless you have all the facts, you cannot make proper judgments
about what is going on." Well done,
-- Hoyt Tuggle, Lawrenceville
Lawrenceville
Methodists plan Letters from Dad workshop
The men of Lawrenceville First United Methodist Church invite men
of all generations on a journey...to leave a legacy of faith, hope
and love through the lost art of letter writing and the spoken blessing.
An informational dinner, featuring Letters from Dad®, founder
Greg Vaughn, is planned for Thursday, August 7 at 7 p.m. at the
Lawrenceville Campground (700 Braselton Parkway, Lawrenceville).
Letters from Dad® is a program that encourages husbands, fathers,
sons and uncles to say what's on their hearts, creating a legacy
for children and other family members. Inspiration for this program
came four years ago, when Greg Vaughn lost his father to Alzheimer's.
Shortly after his death, he found himself alone in his garage staring
at his father's old rusty fishing equipment that Greg had somehow
inherited. At that moment, he remembers, "I was overcome with
feelings of anger and hurt. Angry at my father, at God and myself.
I found myself asking the questions that many of you may have asked,
'Why couldn't my father tell me he loved me? Why couldn't we have
been closer?' I was saddened by the fact that I did not possess
even a signature of my father."
Thus started the Letters from Dad® movement, which has since
touched the lives of thousands of men, across various generations.
For more details about the informational dinner or the fall workshop,
contact 770-963-0386 x1003.
Tickets for the dinner are $5. Tickets may be purchased at the
event, but RSVP is requested. The cost of the Letters from Dad®
workshop is $105 per man, which includes basic materials.
Duluth plans "Salute
to Troops" program on Aug. 2
Reminiscent of the days of the USO tours with Bob Hope, Atlanta
Special Events presents its own "Salute to the Troops"
on Saturday, August 2 at 8 p.m. at the Duluth Amphitheater.
The show opens with the nationally known Bob Hope impersonator,
Lynn Roberts, as the emcee. The show pays tribute to over a dozen
artists who have contributed their talents to the USO shows since
the 1940's.
Veterans are encouraged to come in uniform. Enjoy a fun family
night under the stars in Downtown Duluth. This concert is free and
open to the public. Premium tables with gourmet meals are available.
For more information visit www.duluthga.net
or call 678-475-3512.
Rotary working to match
Gates' polio eradication challenge
Rotary International has been fighting to eradicate polio for more
than 20 years around the world. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
recently donated $100 million dollars to the Rotary Foundation for
their polio eradication efforts. Their donation included a challenge:
Rotarians throughout the world had to match the contribution. To
date, individual Rotarians and friends of Rotary have given well
over $500 million to this need to stop polio. The presidents of
Rotary clubs in Gwinnett County met with their Assistant Governors
Joe Allen and Mike Sweigart to discuss a fund-raising event for
matching the Gates Foundation challenge. Further details of the
community event will be made available soon. From left are Valerie
Dirksen, David Freeman, Slade Lail, Asst.Gov. Joe Allen, Linda Storey,
Asst. Gov. Mike Sweigart and Larry Reed. (Photo by Nina Freeman)
- An invitation: What
Web sites, books or restaurants have you enjoyed? Send us your
best recent visit to a restaurant or most recent book you have
read along with a short paragraph as to why you liked it, plus
what book you plan to read next. --eeb
Francis
James Robinson another early Georgia humorist
A final humorous
Georgia writer of interest is Francis James Robinson, who published
a collection of seven humor sketches entitled Kups of Kauphy:
A Georgia Book in Warp and Woof (1853). Little is known about
Robinson except that he was a country doctor and newspaper writer
who was born around 1820. Fiercely partisan toward the South before
the Civil War, Robinson supported the Republican Party during Reconstruction
and apparently died in Oglethorpe County in 1870.
Several of the sketches in Kups of Kauphy show the influence
of Longstreet and Thompson in theme, setting, and dialect. Robinson
also incorporated a lengthy proslavery argument into the frame of
one sketch that reveals the impact of the sectional crisis on the
Georgia humor tradition.
Spokesmen for a social system that rejected the free labor assumptions
of the North, the Georgia humorists initially dedicated many of
their literary efforts to the cause of moral reform. The escalation
of sectional conflict in the 1850s, however, made life more difficult
for literary reformers in Georgia. Every agency of cultural expression
was enlisted in the defense of plantation slavery as the secession
crisis drew near.
Playwright understood
what a good newspaper was
"A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself."
-- Playwright Arthur Miller (1915-2005).
Send your thoughts, 55-word short stories, pet peeves
or comments on any issue to Gwinnett
Forum for future publication.
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© 2008, Gwinnett Forum.com. Gwinnett Forum
is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible
social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett
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