The Indiana Publisher

March 17, 2016 Page 3 News in brief Send promotions, announcements, staff changes and other corporate news to mtuley@hspa.com. DOE: School reports delayed Student to travel with NYT writer Times project gets state nod The Indiana Depart- ment of Education says the annual school perfor- mance reports should be available for newspapers to download from the DOE website March 21. Visit www.doe. in.gov and click on "Accountability." Meanwhile, the pub- lication window legally remains March 15-31, so newspapers will have to plan accordingly since the window effectively has been reduced to 10 days at most. Planning is particularly critical for weekly news- papers since it may not be possible to process the reports for the week of March 21. That leaves only the following week, March 28-31, for publication. Let your advertising staffs know about the small window to get this important public notice advertisement pub- lished. If you are unable to publish the notice by March 31, publish it as soon as possible. For more details on the rate to charge your school corporation for printing the school performance report, visit www.hspa. com/public-notice-rate- for-2016. For the second time in three years, a student studying in Indiana has been selected to go on assignment with a New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Notre Dame junior Cassidy McDonald, from Madison, Wisconsin, is this year's winner of Nick Kristof's annual "Win A Trip with Nick" contest. The winner is selected based on a written essay and an original short video. McDonald's prize is traveling this summer with Kristof to a devel- oping country to raise awareness about neglect- ed global issues. During the trip, she will blog about the experience and may appear in videos that will be published on the New York Times website. McDonald is major- ing in marketing, with a minor in journalism, eth- ics and democracy. In 2014, another Notre Dame student, Nicole Sganga, won the Kristof competition and traveled with him to Myanmar. Sganga, who graduated in 2015, now works for CBS News. At Notre Dame, McDon- ald is managing editor of Scholastic, the monthly student news magazine. Kristof created the annual contest in 2006 to give American college students an opportunity to report and raise aware- ness about global issues. The Indiana House has joined the Senate in rec- ognizing the value of civility in public life. Hoosier represen- tatives recently approved House Resolution 17 embracing the objec- tives of the Community Civility Counts Initiative of the Gary Chamber of Commerce and The Times Media Co. Bob Heisse, editor at The Times Media Co., said the legislative action reminds Hoosiers of the value of civility in politics and government. "Community Civility Counts began nearly a year ago as an awareness campaign in the Region, and the General Assembly recognition takes it around the state," Heisse said. "It's for everyone and it's certainly needed, particularly in this national election year." The resolution declares: It is the goal of the Com- munity Civility Counts Initiative to help trans- form our communities through positive programs and relationships. All citizens must be better so that we can all live in a civil manner and in a civi- lized society. The resolution was sponsored by state Reps. Vernon Smith and Charlie Brown, both D-Gary, and state Rep. Donna Harris, D-East Chicago. It passed on an unanimous voice vote. Smith said he hopes the resolution reminds law- makers, and all Hoosiers, of the need to be humane when dealing with one another. "To be civil to people doesn't meant that you always agree with them," Smith said. "But you have to learn to co-exist with people and to be civil and to be calm as you're inter- acting with people." – The Times (Munster) Bob Heisse Have you audited ad rates recently? T ax season is upon us, with the April 15 dead- line quickly approach- ing. One of the tasks at my household over the past few days has been gathering the necessary documentation so that we can visit our tax pre- parer. Many people I know do their own taxes. It does save them money, but we pay the fee to obtain peace of mind. Early in our marriage, my wife and I did our own taxes. One year, we awaited a $545 refund check. (This was long before the miracle of direct deposit!) When the brown envelope arrived from the IRS, the check was for $45 with an explanation that we had made an adding error and this reflected the proper amount. Devastating! That marked the last time we did our own taxes. There are other reasons for having someone else do them. Most notably, we have a trained professional do them to reduce our risk and likeli- hood of an audit. After all, who likes an audit? While audits are generally considered negative, there are good things that can come from an audit. It's something I suggest you consider with your adver- tising department. When was the last time you audited your advertising rates? For me, it is an annual rit- ual – right there with gather- ing up my Goodwill receipts and W-2s. Every year, this practice generates revenue for my operation. The old-school approach was to draw up a new rate card every year, with any- where from a 1 percent to 5 percent rate increase. While that might still hap- pen in some markets, it is no longer the common practice. Often times, the traditional newspaper rates are steady, and a newspaper is working on packages and other incen- tives combined with print to get additional advertising revenue. While I would love to tell you that we could steadily raise rates and enjoy the bountiful harvest, it is just not the reality we live in any- more. And that is OK. But we can still look at the rates we're charging and look for opportunities to tweak them. The audit process will expose rates that need to be changed, especially the very first time you do such an audit. In an advertising depart- ment rate audit, every rate is subject to review – the published rate card, various service charges and special deals. Just because you do the audit does not mean you have to change the rates. But what I have found from past experience is that there are rates that your newspaper is charging now that have not changed in years. Last year in my audit, I found a rate that had been overlooked for over a decade, and I adjusted it. The change created a sizeable increase for 2015 revenue. It was like having a medium-sized advertiser open up in my market, and all I did was slightly adjust a rate. There are a few specific areas that I would review to look for opportunities to change pricing and how you are doing business: • Premium positions – For most newspapers, pre- mium positions have been a standard offering since the early 2000s. But have you changed your pricing during that time? • Obituary pricing – It is standard to charge for obitu- aries at most newspapers. While it is vital content for our newspapers, it is also a strong revenue line. A quick examination of your obit rate structure is very revealing. • Public notice adver- tising – I always check the rates allowed by the Public Notice Advertising Law each year. There are state-regulat- ed rates for some categories, and it is very important to verify that you are charg- ing those designated rates. Charging more than is allowed is an obvious prob- lem, but charging less than the stated rates is leaving money on the table. •Auto and real estate deals – Remember that spe- cial package you set up with the local auto dealer when he agreed to increase his adver- tising over prior-year spend- ing a few years ago? If it is still in place, make sure he is holding up his end of the bargain. • Post-it notes – Some newspapers can add post-it notes to the front of their publication. This is a highly valued marketing opportu- nity, which has increased in value in recent years. Has your rate changed? • Flat charge or spon- sorship programs – These programs often are set in place and quickly forgot- ten. After all, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. These programs are often times good programs with frequent advertisers, so they never get attention. It is always a good idea to take a look and make sure they are still priced properly. Thankfully I've never been audited by the IRS (knocking on wood as I type this). That can be a grueling process I'm told. In the case of a rate audit at your newspaper, it shouldn't be a terribly taxing experience for your or others involved. More often than not, I believe you'll find addi- tional revenue opportunities. Pete Van Baalen, pub- lisher of The Elkhart Truth, is a member of the HSPA board of directors and presi- dent of Indiana Newspaper Advertising Executives Association. Advertising Advantage Pete Van Baalen Is your newspaper uploading ALL pages to HSPA via our ftp site? ☑ ☑ YES we are Um, not exactly ... Thank you! You can remove HSPA from your print subscription list. Please upload pages to help protect public notices. Email HSPA at sgoldsby@hspa.com for details.

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