A serious question to all...

Massage...Bored · Post by **Massage...Bored** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:34 am

Oliver's Army wrote:I am always amazed when I am in Chicago and pick up the Chicago Reader.

It's freaking bigger, better and more interesting than our own Sunday paper.

And its free.

Don't forget the abundancy of The Onion in actual print form!

mattjericho · Post by **mattjericho** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:35 pm

First off - wow.

I realy need to look at what I write as opposed to what I think. We can blame it on me being a d#ck, lack of sleep, or stress as my radio station's X-Fest is this Sunday and I've had almost no free time, but let me put my original statement in to the context that was in my head.

I was having a conversation with my friend Jonathan online on Monday. We were talking about Nuvo/Intake and how most of the local music community (in his mind) hates Intake. They are printed by "the man" printed on non recycled paper, only do this, don't do that, blah blah blah... that point of the conversation dosen't matter.

This woudn't have stuck in my head except for the fact that I had just seen an advert for Liquid Magazine on here and gotten a friend request from FW Nightlife Mag on Myspace. This got me to thinking. What would happen if Whatzup, the Reader, LM and FWNM all were publishing in the same city? What affect would that have on advertising dollars generated by the existing publications?

There will always be a certain ammount of potential advertising revenue in any market at any given time. The salesperson's job is to get that money for his/her media outlet. So if the money stays the same, what changes?

I know (from what Jonathan said) that this happened in Indianapolis and that was how Intake was able to grab a market share. They had WAY more salespeople, many more business contacts and a bigger advertising budget.

It WAS NOT my intention to throw the Reader under the bus in this exchange. It was an attempt at an honest question. I realize now with the way that I wored it it sounded like I was being an as*hole. That was not my intent.

To that extent I apologise for my remarks.

The second post that I made last night was a direct response to Sharkman's post and it was made as a joke. If it offended anyone, and I could see how it might given my first statement. If you understood where I am comming from and still are offended, get to know me better. You'll realize that I've bagged on Doug Driscoll more times than I've talked to most of you. (Doug is a person I consider a great friend, and if you can't bag on your friends who can you bag on.)

I don't think that the Reader is a bad publication. I check it out when I'm in town and check out the website as well.

Anyway - I hope that clears things up. Feel free to call me a d%ck. that's your right to do.

Cheers,

Jericho

Post by **cwallace** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 10:04 am

d*ck...

Anyway...I am always going to be impressed with WhatzUp and have gained more and more respect for The Reader since it has developed...I do think it has come a long way and will only get better with time...as WhatzUp has over the years...

They both include articles that are similar, but different...at the same time there are enough differences that they are unique...

We have room for both...I don't know about any others, but that would only take the existance of another and we would see what happens...

Chris

Post by **cwallace** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 10:06 am

Analogy...

Ok so you have Elvis and Hammer in studio...then you try to add Tiny...ok...that is more a volume/size problem than anything...sorry bad example...<duck>

Chris

P.S. MikeS...pop in more often...you might like it...

CW

FINNCADE · Post by **FINNCADE** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:41 am

mattjericho wrote:This woudn't have stuck in my head except for the fact that I had just seen an advert for Liquid Magazine on here and gotten a friend request from FW Nightlife Mag on Myspace. This got me to thinking. What would happen if Whatzup, the Reader, LM and FWNM all were publishing in the same city? What affect would that have on advertising dollars generated by the existing publications?

Hey, Matt. Bill Finn here, publisher of Liquid Magazine. Just wanted to let you know that Liquid is not a Fort Wayne based publication. We are based in South Bend but, do cover Fort Wayne, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and the surrounding areas. And within a year we will be spreading out to Lansing, MI as well as Muncie and Lafayatte.

We want to expose Fort Wayne bands and businesses to people in other cities. A band can advertise with us and reach 37,000+ readers a month for cheaper than it costs to print 1200 flyers + we deliver them all for you.

The advertisers we are targeting (in Fort Wayne) are the ones who want to get the word out to cities that their hometown papers and zines don't offer. Our #1 goal is to spread the word and support independent artists. We are musicians and artists working for musicians and artists.

I don't think it would hurt FW to have all these papers available. I am sure that FW has ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC and even the WB (or whatever it's called now). All of those stations offer different programing and still manage to co-exist.

The readers will pick up the ones they want to pick up. The content of each publication is what will set the publications apart. I assume that all four papers will report on music (I only assume because I am not familiar with The Reader or FW Nightlife) but, they probably wont be reporting on the same artists.

A guy like you who is very passionate about the Fort Wayne scene should be writing for Liquid! I'd love to sit down and talk with you the next time I am in Fort Wayne. I am sure that a guy with your experience in the local scene has a lot to say.

Thanks,
Bill Finn / Liquid Magazine publisher

Massage...Bored · Post by **Massage...Bored** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 4:29 am

FW Nightlife is like the Piere's of Free Fort Wayne Weeklies.

mikes · Post by **mikes** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 5:45 pm

I've responded to Matt Jerhico privately; now I'll make it a matter of public record.

Apology accepted and appreciated. Everything is fine. I understand.

But he does bring up an interesting point that any readers out there should probably think about â€”Â in may just be a matter of time before Fort Wayne Newspapers get into the "alternative weekly" business, and Fort Wayne gets its own version of INTake. There are national companies out there that basically provide a template for a sort of generic "alternative weekly" that can be customized for local stuff. These are usually heavy on the fluff (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but generally I like my fluff as a side dish with something more substantial to go along with itâ€¦ alright, I'll stop the metaphoresâ€¦ must get to the point) When/if that happens in Fort Wayne, do you think people are going to recognize it for what it is â€” a cynical product?

I'll stop now. My turn to plead exhaustion.

Thanks.

GxWxLx · Post by **GxWxLx** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 5:59 pm

mikes wrote: in may just be a matter of time before Fort Wayne Newspapers get into the "alternative weekly" business, and Fort Wayne gets its own version of INTake.

It seems to me that they're already beefing up their local entertainment coverage with all of the recent articles on bands and shows. (Good for the bands, I say.)

If they are to ever try to eat up whatzup and the Fort Wayne Reader - and God forbid, succeed - I fear they'd just taper back to what they were ten years ago ... which is basically what they are now, sans the local entertainment stuff.

mattjericho · Post by **mattjericho** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 12:04 am

FINNCADE wrote:
mattjericho wrote:This woudn't have stuck in my head except for the fact that I had just seen an advert for Liquid Magazine on here and gotten a friend request from FW Nightlife Mag on Myspace. This got me to thinking. What would happen if Whatzup, the Reader, LM and FWNM all were publishing in the same city? What affect would that have on advertising dollars generated by the existing publications?
Hey, Matt. Bill Finn here, publisher of Liquid Magazine. Just wanted to let you know that Liquid is not a Fort Wayne based publication. We are based in South Bend but, do cover Fort Wayne, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and the surrounding areas. And within a year we will be spreading out to Lansing, MI as well as Muncie and Lafayatte.

We want to expose Fort Wayne bands and businesses to people in other cities. A band can advertise with us and reach 37,000+ readers a month for cheaper than it costs to print 1200 flyers + we deliver them all for you.

The advertisers we are targeting (in Fort Wayne) are the ones who want to get the word out to cities that their hometown papers and zines don't offer. Our #1 goal is to spread the word and support independent artists. We are musicians and artists working for musicians and artists.

I don't think it would hurt FW to have all these papers available. I am sure that FW has ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC and even the WB (or whatever it's called now). All of those stations offer different programing and still manage to co-exist.

The readers will pick up the ones they want to pick up. The content of each publication is what will set the publications apart. I assume that all four papers will report on music (I only assume because I am not familiar with The Reader or FW Nightlife) but, they probably wont be reporting on the same artists.

A guy like you who is very passionate about the Fort Wayne scene should be writing for Liquid! I'd love to sit down and talk with you the next time I am in Fort Wayne. I am sure that a guy with your experience in the local scene has a lot to say.

Thanks,
Bill Finn / Liquid Magazine publisher

bill - I'm not saying that what you are doing is a bad thing.

(btw - the WB will be the CW in a few days in most markets)

I wish you well and I hope everything goes well with what you are doing. I just posed a question.

Same as if I would have posed the question: Are you p@ssed off at *********** for the fact that they ruined someting I worked at for most of my adult life. I could have posed that question as well, but I realised that karma is a bi#ch and ... well yah... karma is a bi#ch.

BTW - before you ask, assume, etc. I'm not talking about ANYONE you know. I love everyone who is or has ever been a part of Rock 104/X102 (From a on air angle at least - in the last 10 years, I can't speak much further past that)

As far as sitting down, we'll have to coordinate, I'm not in Fort Wayne anymore. I'm in Dayton and not planning on returning (other than for Komets opeing night and holidays)

sharkmansix · Post by **sharkmansix** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:21 am

The second post that I made last night was a direct response to Sharkman's post and it was made as a joke. If it offended anyone, and I could see how it might given my first statement.

Nah man, I wasn't offended. I senced your rib and countered with some nerdyness.

***

I would think that if there is a point where there are a good number of 'free' publications that the publishers would just have to 'up their game' so to speak.

Maybe have a larger paper, more issues, expand their coverage, more articles, podcasts, new sections, gonzo reporting, etc.

I'm not sure what it would be exactly but there is always the room to grow. (Now finding the capital for such growth; there in lies the problem; which I think it's Jericho's original point. Is there enough advertising dollars to go around?)

girlzrock · Post by **girlzrock** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:11 pm

While I do love seeing the "little guy" succeed, I think any exposure that local bands can get from any source is great. Having been in one of the bands reviewed by the bigger paper in town, I appreciate that they are making an attempt to cover the local music scene. I think that this will strengthen the local music scene and bring exposure to bands who don't always get covered in any of the other papers in town.

Just my two cents. I hope that the Reader and Whatz Up can compete, but from a musicians perspective, I welcome the extra fans we can get by having more weeklies in town.