New Portland, Maine free daily hits streets

The editor of the new Portland Daily Sun admits that on the paper's first day people asked him if he's lost his mind. "I joke with them and say 'You know newspapers are dead because you read it in the paper,'" told KCSH-TV. While large metro dailies are having problems, Robinson said that free dailies are holding their own and that Portland is an ideal market because it is a walkable town with lots of coffee houses and an issue-oriented population. "Portland is a news factory. And the reason it's a news factory is that the residents care." For more information, see the January 6 post below.

Santa Barbara free daily drops Monday

The Santa Barbara Daily Sound is dropping its Monday edition temporarily due to the economic slowdown. The move comes a little over 18 months after it opened a Saturday edition. So the Sound will operate five-days a week.

"A move of this calibre allows us to avoid layoffs and maintain the same level of content to which our readers and advertisers have become accustomed," said owner Jeramy Gordon. "We can’t just sit around pretending it’s business as usual and hope for a donation. Hard times call for tough decisions and responsible management."

Please note that I corrected this item. I said previously that the Sound's Saturday edition was less than a year old when it is actually a bit over 18 months old.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

The Vail (Colorado) Mountaineer printed a photo this week of Mr. Rogers, the late host of the PBS program "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood," in the middle of a front-page editorial about the business practices of the competing Vail Daily. Both are free daily newspapers. The Vail Daily started in the 1980s while the Mountaineer began last summer.

The editorial blasted the Vail Daily for allegedly offering advertisers 90% discounts if they didn't advertise in the Mountaineer. If the advertiser agreed, then they would have to sign a nondisclosure agreement to stop them from talking about the incredible deal they just got. Apparently the Vail Daily was worried those businesses receiving steep discounts might tip off the paper's regular advertisers, who would demand such discounts as well.

However, the editorial made no mention of Mr. Rogers even though his picture was placed in the middle of the page.
Here's the backstory: The current editor of the Vail Daily is Don Rogers who, we're told, bears a resemblance to the TV host.
Guess it's one of those jokes where you had to be there to get it.

Maybe Don Rogers should reply with an editorial welcoming the Vail Mountaineer to the neighborhood.