Alternative Newsweeklies

Proud of their self-perceived role as watchdogs of the local daily newspaper, alternative newsweeklies attract a young, hip audience. However, their liberal ad policies may leave a main- stream advertiser “lost in the wrong part of town,” surrounded by ads for liquor and adult businesses.

Nowadays, most markets are served by just one daily newspaper with no real competition. Moreover, the editorial content of many of these papers is one that leaves younger people feeling disenfranchised. Enter the alternative weekly. Many weeklies consider themselves watchdogs dedicated to keeping an eye on the daily’s actions as well as news outlets for stories not covered by the major papers. Indeed, alternative weeklies frequently are characterized by hard-hitting (some might say borderline muckraking) investigative journalism and editorial content with an intensely local focus.

According to the Alternative Weekly Network, the typical newsweekly reader is:

• Male (52 percent)
• Single (47 percent)
• Young (40 percent are aged 18-34; nearly three quarters are aged 18-49)
• Affluent (Average household income tops $50,000)
• Twenty percent more likely than average to be a college graduate
• Thirty-four percent more likely to be in a professional or managerial job

As part of their reputation for catering to the young and hip, many alternative newsweeklies have much more liberal ad- acceptance policies, welcoming advertisers such as hard-liquor and tobacco companies — even adult-oriented businesses — that often have difficulty finding a place in other media. However, the result of this open-handedness is, as one might expect, a glut of ads for massage parlors and spirits manufacturers… an image that many mainstream advertisers may not want to be associated with.

Advantages

Distribution: Weeklies usually are distributed free throughout a city.

Pass-along Readership: Because most are free, readers often leave them behind when they’re done — to be picked up and read by someone else.

Hip Image: Many newsweeklies are targeted to hip, youngish readers who rarely look at daily newspapers. In particular, the local newsweekly is the source of choice for entertainment news among young demographics.

“Budget” Print Ads: An ad in a newsweekly offers many of the same characteristics as a newspaper ad, at rates that are usually lower than those of the local newspaper.

Accepting Ad Policies: Ads for categories that may have difficulty finding a home in other media, such as liquor or tobacco advertising, are usually welcome here

Disadvantages

• Advertising Environment: The flip side of newsweeklies’ openhanded ad acceptance policy is that the environment created by certain types of ads may not be suitable for mainstream businesses or products.
• Limited Publication Schedule: The name “weekly” says it all. The majority of these publications are produced only once a week — and that may not be often enough to achieve sufficient message frequency.
• Production Quality: Although some weeklies boast production values rivaling or even surpassing the local newspaper, many others are produced as cheaply as possible, resulting in a “cheap” look that may affect consumer perception of the quality of product or service being promoted.
• Narrow Appeal: Weeklies’ appeal among younger demos may be fine if that’s the target audience. However, advertisers seeking consumers who are older — and have more disposable income — may not find a good match here.
• Inflexible: To meet the weekly’s schedule, ads usually must be locked in as much as a week or more in advance, limiting an advertiser’s ability to introduce copy changes.
• Ad Clutter: Most weeklies rely completely on advertising for revenue, so the typical issue is crammed with ads, often clustered together in groups. This practice can make it difficult for a given ad to stand out.