Arkansas Publisher Weekly: August 26, 2021

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Former ANF intern gains Facebook support for newsletter

Guest Column:

Overcoming the six most common advertiser objections

Arkansas Press Association

Publisher Weekly

By Ryan Dohrn

Vol. 16 | No. 34 | Thursday, August 26, 2021 | Serving Press and State Since 1873

Phillips Media acquires Mountain Home’s Baxter Bulletin Harrison-based Phillips Media last week announced the purchase of the Baxter Bulletin in Mountain Home, continuing a trend of sell-offs in Arkansas for news media giant Gannett Co.

Phillips also acquired four publications in Missouri and the Baxter Bulletin offices in downtown Mountain Home as part of the transaction expected to close on Sept. 1.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Phillips Media owns the Harrison Daily Times and the Newton County Times.

Jim Perry, publisher of both of those newspapers, is a member of the Arkansas Press Association board of directors.

In a statement, Jim Holland, president of Phillips Media said: “We are excited to bring these publications into our group.

We believe we have the expertise to effectively operate publications in these markets, putting out products that will be valued by the respective communities.”

The other four acquisitions, all in Missouri, were the Rolla Daily News and the Kirksville Daily Express and shoppers The Big Nickel in Joplin and NEMO Trader in La Plata. Phillips owns a printing press in Springfield, Missouri, and now will have 17 publications in Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois.

The Mountain Home sale was the latest in a series of offloads for Gannett in Arkansas that started when what was then GateHouse Media sold the Helena World to local businessmen Chuck Davis and Andrew Bagley in 2019.

After GateHouse and Gannett merged, the newspaper chain transferred the Pine Bluff Commercial to WEHCO Media and sold the Hot Springs Village Voice to that Continued on Page 2

Phillips Media acquires Mountain Home’s Baxter Bulletin

Continued from Page 1

newspaper’s former publisher, Jennifer Allen.

Rupert Phillips, founder of Phillips Media, is himself a former publisher of the Baxter Bulletin. According to an article in Arkansas Business, Phillips worked in advertising sales at the Montgomery Advertiser in Montgomery, Alabama, working for the same publisher who then owned the Baxter Bulletin. Phillips went to work in Mountain Home for five years, then bought his first newspaper, the Mountain Echo in Yellville.

According to Arkansas Business: “Phillips

INDUSTRY QUOTE “I’d love to rise from the grave every ten years or so and go buy a few newspapers.”

—Luis Bunuel

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has a long history with Gannett, and was profiled as ‘Gannett’s Trading Partner’ by the American Journalism Review in 2001.

He purchased several papers from the chain over the years, including El Diario, the Spanish-language circulation leader in New York.”

Other Arkansas entities with Phillips ties included the former Hope Star and a startup Mountain Home newspaper he launched in the 1990s to compete with Gannett’s Bulletin. Other Phillips investments have included the former Honolulu Star-Bulletin and several suburban Washington, D.C., newspapers.

The Baxter Bulletin was locally owned until 1976, when it was acquired by Multimedia Inc. That group sold to Gannett in 1995.

With the sale, Gannett’s only remaining daily newspaper in Arkansas is the Times Record in Fort Smith, and weeklies the Charleston Express, the Paris Express, the Booneville Democrat and the Press Argus-Courier in Van Buren.

Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Dirks, Van Essen & April represented Gannett in the Baxter Bulletin sale.

Postal rate hike in effect this Sunday The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit turned back an 11thhour request from news media and periodicals industry trade groups to stop broad postage increases from taking effect on Aug. 29.

That means the U.S. Postal Service can move ahead with its planned increases of nearly 9 percent on periodicals newspapers.

Industry groups including the National Newspaper Association and the News Media Alliance had asked the appellate court to block the increase, arguing the Postal Regulatory Commission didn’t have the authority to raise postage rates beyond the inflation-based cap set by the Postal Accountability and Enforcement Act. The groups maintained that the postage rate increases should not go into effect unless the Court rules that the Postal Regulatory Commission could legally increase the rates beyond the cap. That decision is pending in an ongoing lawsuit.

According to the NNA, the Court did not cite a reason for allowing the rate increases ahead of its ruling on the underlying issue.

Newspaper groups contend the postal rate increase “would create immediate and irreparable harm to users of the mail.

They showed evidence that the significant economic impacts to newspapers would cause harm to community newspapers.

“We felt the impact of a double-digit increase between last January’s rate hike and the second one of the year

coming this month was overwhelmingly damaging to community newspapers,” said NNA chairman Brett Wesner in a statement. Wesner is president of Wesner Publications in Cordell, Oklahoma.

Oral arguments in the underlying case are Sept. 13 and a decision is expected by the end of the year. The court could decide that the commission acted within its authority, or it could require the commission to reconsider its increases based on the inflationary cap rule. Congress could also act in the interim, and the industry associations are encouraging newspaper leaders to reach out to their Congressional delegations.

“We continue to push forward,” Wesner said. “We understand the Postal Service’s motivation for seeking the maximum rate increase allowed. But we, like a growing group of other stakeholders using this universal service, believe a fundamental reworking of the postal laws is the right way to approach the problem, not putting a huge burden on the backs of small businesses.”

Arkansas Publisher Weekly 2 August 26, 2021

Former ANF intern gets Facebook support for newsletter program

—30— Lisa Lee

Newspaper Foundation, which annually partners with Arkansas Press Association members to match in-state journalism students with newspaper internships. This year, ANF fully funded five internships at APA member newspapers, providing realworld experience to students and giving editors a skilled and capable hand in the newsroom.

Hoisington, an Arkansas Tech University graduate, also had internships in Washington at National Public Radio and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

He currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin, where he and colleague Hayley Sperling produce “Madison Minutes” a daily morning newsletter that is a “connection to all things Madison, Wisconsin” covering news and events in the community.

Sam Hoisington

A Rogers native who got his journalism start at an Arkansas Press Association member newspaper is among 25 newsletter publishers who will take part in Facebook’s “Bulletin” program, a new initiative by the tech giant to highlight independent local news.

Facebook last week announced its initial $5 million partnerships with newsletters across the country. Though none are in Arkansas, one of the local newsletters that make up Facebook Bulletin is helmed by Sam Hoisington, a former intern at the South Arkansas Sun in Hampton.

Hoisington’s internship in the mid2010s was supported by the Arkansas

With Facebook Bulletin, independent writers like Hoisington will have a platform for their work, most significantly.

The selection also means writers can participate in the City University of New York’s Jumpstart Program for Local Writers and receive one-on-one consulting and support from a newsletter industry leader.

Facebook’s news release about the program notes that “With access to these services and the tools Bulletin offers for creating content, building engaged audiences and generating revenue, we can better support writers in their efforts to build independent businesses, in turn helping them serve their communities and give people the local information so essential to their lives.”

Facebook Bulletin is at bulletin.com.

“Let the people know the facts and the country will be safe.”

Show your support for independent journalism with this soft cotton tee, available in sizes S-XXL at arkansaspress.org/store.

T-shirts are $20 each.

Lisa Lee, a country music industry executive and native of Cabot, died Saturday, Aug. 20, of brain cancer. She was 52.

Lee, born Alicia Faye Young, worked for the Academy of Country Music and was formerly a broadcaster. After graduating from the University of Arkansas with a degree in journalism, she worked as a reporter for the Cabot Star-Herald. She moved on to a news broadcaster job in Shreveport, Louisiana, at KTAL. While in Shreveport, she visited De Queen for a report on country music artist Collin Raye in his hometown. There she met a reporter with the country music network, The Nashville Network, who encouraged her to apply for a reporting job with that organization.

She worked for The Nashville Network and Country Music Television before moving to Los Angeles with the Academy of Country Music. She rose through the ranks at ACM to become senior vice president of creative and content. She was a member of the Writers Guild of America.

She is survived by her husband, Doug Lee; a daughter, Grayson; a son, Jackson; and her parents, Charlie and Faye Young.

Memorial services are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 28, in Cabot and at a later date in Nashville.

Arkansas Publisher Weekly 4 August 26, 2021

Poynter webinar Arkansas Democrat-Gazette blocks comments on online news articles series tackles Arkansas Democrat-Gazette readers will to shut down conversation with personal jail and police no longer be able post comments on news insults.” because comments had become reform coverage articles Gaines said moderating the comments too much of a distraction from the articles Poynter is offering a free, online training course for journalists who want to learn more about reporting on jails and on police reform.

The five-week, five-session virtual workshop is intended for journalists in any role and working in any medium. It is scheduled for five, 90-minute sessions starting Wednesday, Sept. 22. Other sessions are Wednesday, Sept. 29, Wednesday, Oct. 6, Wednesday, Oct. 13, and Tuesday, Oct. 19.

The course will help journalists “learn how to cover local jails that continue to be COVID-19 hot spots. You will prepare for significant legislative and local changes in policing, spurred by both politics and protests. Formerly incarcerated people will give you insight into the effects of journalism on their life after lockup. And Poynter faculty will lead robust discussions around journalism ethics when it comes to how we cover the accused and convicted.

The sessions will be practical, inspiring and nonpolitical,” according to Poynter.

themselves, the newspaper’s managing editor told subscribers this week.

Eliza Gaines, the Democrat-Gazette’s editor, said in an article published to the newspaper’s website the comment sections “had become a place where a small number of people spent a large amount of time leaving negative messages.

Many of these comments were intolerant, homophobic, transphobic, racists and misogynistic. Instead of engaging in respectful debate, commenters attempted

took too much time and manpower that could otherwise be used by staff to better serve readers, and that most comments “do not add value to readers’ website experience.”

Readers may still post comments on opinion pieces and submit letters to the editor, she said. They may also engage with the newspaper on its social media channels, she said.

Gaines is a member of the APA board of directors.

Support the future of Arkansas journalism by giving to the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation.

Ways to give: Estate planning, memorial and honor gifts and charitable donations. The Arkansas Newspaper Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization.

For more information call APA at 501-374-1500 or email info@arkansaspress.org.

The lead faculty for the course is Al Tompkins, Poynter Institute’s senior faculty for broadcasting and online.

To learn more or register, go to https:// www.poynter.org/shop/reporting-editing/ covering-jails-and-police-reformseptember-2021/.

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August 26, 2021

National Freedom Of Information Summit set for next month The National Freedom of Information Coalition’s annual conference is coming up in late September. The conference is online only Tuesday, Sept. 28, to Thursday, Sept. 30. Registration is $22.50 per person, plus fees.

The coalition’s 2021 summit will include sessions to discuss strategies for improving FOIA responses without litigation; accessing police misconduct records; how paywalls affect access to records; seeing FOIA laws through the eyes of black and indigenous people of color; and using public records and collective impact to solve cold cases.

A full schedule for the Summit plus registration information is available on the coalition’s website, nfoic.org.

Slimp InDesign webinar set for September 9

LPA hosts online advertising seminar The Louisiana Press Association is sponsoring an online continuing education session for advertising professionals next week. The webinar, “Effective Advertising for a Small Business Budget,” is at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 2.

The speaker for the session will be Ben Bouslog, vice president of business development for AdCellerant. The company works with publishers to drive digital revenue. He has experience in ad operations and in digital advertising and has assisted hundreds of media companies in growing digital revenue streams and supported thousands of advertisers by linking them to target customers.

Kevin Slimp, a newspaper design expert who has presented at Arkansas Press Association conventions, will host a webinar on Thursday, Sept. 9, to help newspaper designers better navigate Adobe InDesign.

Bouslog will present on what practices generate results for specific industries and the best practices for small business advertisers. Participants will learn “how to make the most out of the smaller budgets that some of your clients may have.”

Slimp promises to teach attendees the “basic skills often overlooked by users of InDesign.” Topics include how to create and use nested styles, object styles, character styles and paragraph styles; using the scripts that come with InDesign and adding scripts to increase speed; and working with the special effects and understanding what those numbers mean.

To register, go to https://us02web. zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ QWFSxpGQRrmxRb75i1dJvg

The 75-minute webinar begins at 11 a.m. on Sept. 9.

The cost is $69. Visit newspaperacademy. com to register.

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August 26, 2021

Guest Column: Overcoming the six most common advertiser objections

By Ryan Dohrn

Handling objections is a skill that every media salesperson must master. Amidst selling during this global pandemic, objection-handling has taken a little bit of a different twist. Having worked with almost 30,000 salespeople around the globe, I’ve found that objection-handling is a skill that most salespeople think they have mastered, but that most fail at when put on the spot. Handling objections and not coming across as argumentative or arrogant has a lot to do with being wellpracticed. If I’ve said it once I’ll say it a thousand times … professionals practice and amateurs wing it. Who do you want to be?

At face value, most objections from advertisers are best handled with a success story and not a fact or a statistic, based on my experience. Right now, Brain Swell Media’s most recent data suggests that seven out of 10 of our advertisers are buying from an emotional perspective.

We have to be very careful about using statistics and data in the sales process.

Of course, using data does have its place.

But I think you’ll see below that when we dissect the six most common media sales objections, there are several ways we can handle them without having to give a fact or a stat. You will see here that I’ve detailed the six most common objections that I encounter on a daily basis as I’m selling advertising media. You will also notice that these are written out much like a script. Please do not come across to your advertisers as a script-based sales executive, though. Rather, this is set up in such a way that you can practice by yourself—or better yet, with a peer—and get ready to roll.

Objections occur in three scenarios that are easy to replicate and practice around: 1.) When booking meetings. 2.) When you’re face-to-face. 3.) When you are virtually hosting a sales call. And with any of these three, preparation is the key to overcoming objections.

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

Common Media Objection #1: Advertiser says: “I‘m good.”

Media Sales Executive: “Good as in?” – (Be silent and listen.)

Advertiser business.”

says:

“We

have

enough

Media Sales Executive: “Great. Sounds like we need to move you from a new customer marketing plan to a thankingyour-current-customers plan. You do want to thank your current customers, right? Our marketing options cover more than just new customers. We help your customers engage more deeply with you, as well.”

Common Media Objection #2: Advertiser says: “We are cutting back on marketing until the pandemic is over.”

Media Sales Executive: “I can certainly understand your concern. When you say, ‘pandemic is over,‘ what does that mean to you?”

Advertiser says: “Well … over. Dead. Etc.” Media Sales Executive:“My concern is that we are having a moving target date here that is very hard to predict. Advertising does not produce instantaneous results.

People need to see your ad many times before they react. Other business owners like you are keeping their names out there so that when the customer is ready to engage, they think of them first. And that is the key—to keep your business top-ofmind.”

Common Media Objection #3: Advertiser says: “I have no budget. It’s all spent.”

Media Sales Executive: “What about Advertiser A, B, and C?” – (You name three current advertisers.) Advertiser says: “What about ‘em?”

Media Sales Executive: “I truly feel that your absence is their opportunity! They

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are all seeing results after a few months of marketing with us. How about I quickly show you some marketing ideas that are working?”

Common Media Objection #4: Advertiser says: “My Facebook page works well for me.”

Media Sales Executive: “I love to hear that you believe in marketing on social.

We love social media, too. The issue is that nearly every business is competing for eyes on Facebook. So, what are you doing to stand out from your competitors?”

– (Also, explain that social and digital are different.)

Common Media Objection #5: Advertiser says: “No one reads the paper/ magazine any more.”

Media Sales Executive: “May I ask you a question? [OK] Whatever your answer is, please don‘t worry about hurting my feelings. [OK] Do you personally read our newspaper? [NO] It is not surprising at all for me to hear that no one reads the paper when you yourself do not read the paper. It‘s ok. The survey of one is totally normal. What I can tell you is this … if we published even one sentence of negativity about you, your feelings would be different about how many people read the paper.

Your phone would ring off the hook.

Traditional media is not a get-rich-quick plan. It is a tested and proven way to put your name in front of X number of readers every week so that when a customer is ready to buy you are the business they think of first.”

Common Media Objection #6: Advertiser says: “Word of mouth is my best marketing vehicle.”

Media Sales Executive: “The problem with WOM is that you lose control of your marketing message. You are asking untrained people to carry your marketing

August 26, 2021

Overcoming the six most common advertiser objections message to the masses. Are you confident they will say what you want them to say about your business?”

Advertiser says: “Yes, I am.”

Media Sales Executive: “What if they had a bad experience and did not tell you?”

Advertiser says: “What do you mean?”

Media Sales Executive: “In a word-ofmouth scenario, a bad experience can spiral out of control on social media.”

Objection-handling is one of the most critical skill sets that every serious media sales executive should possess. And yet, were you aware that seven in 10 professional sales executives have never

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

taken any type of formal sales training? I guess that’s good for me being in the sales training business, but it’s a bit scary to think about so many people selling without a formal framework for sales success.

So wherever you fall on the spectrum of training, I encourage you to use these and other scenarios to create some type of flashcard system where you can practice with your peers. I’m not a big fan of role-playing, necessarily, but I do see how practice makes perfect. And serious practice will produce serious results. So I would find a practice partner—someone you trust—and practice these scenarios one-on-one until you are smooth and prepared. It’s important because the worst

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thing you can do is practice when you are on a sales call. Your advertisers deserve better than that!

Remember, if sales was easy, everybody would be doing it. And they’re not. So we’re either a little bit crazy … or we‘ve found careers that will feed our families for a lifetime.

Ryan Dohrn is global media sales trainer and coach with a deep passion for the newspaper business. He has trained over 30,000 sales professionals and won an Emmy early in his career for marketing excellence. Learn more: 360AdSales. com

August 26, 2021