There are a couple of reasons that I do not subscribe to "The Smithfield Herald". One is that they still owe my wife about $125 in back wages. When they pay us the money they still owe from over five years ago, I may just consider subscribing. Another reason that they are not my favorite newspaper is the ad rates they expect. I looked into placing a simple classified ad and was shocked at the amount of money they demanded. I didn't bother to place my ad with them. After all, I was giving something away in providing a public service, not advertising a multi million dollar business.
Also, I am a bit disappointed that I never read any letter to the editor that I send them in their paper. The letter to school board candidates on this blog was sent to "The Herald" (affectionately referred to as "The Heresy") and certainly was not on the opinion page Tuesday. They had little on that page. I picked up a copy just to see if the letter would be published. Remember that I don't subscribe, so I don't read every issue. Just the same, I have never seen anything that I have written in that paper. I give them daily, front page coverage on my regional web site, but get absolutely no consideration from them whatsoever. They have written about other regional web sites in their feature, "Selling Points" more than once, but write nothing about my site, even though they are aware of it. They got a press release notification when my site launched and even spam me twice a week with an email announcing that their web site has been updated with the latest news stories. None the less, no editorial letters, no web site coverage, no mention at all.
Every once in a great while, I get a telemarketer asking me to subscribe (not so much now as in times past. I assume because of the Do Not Call registry). My answer is always the same...when "The Herald" pays us the money they owe us, we may consider subscribing. Until then, forget it.
No comments:
Post a Comment