Australian Newsagency Blog

The Age had an excellent special liftout today with safety tips for young drivers.  Part of the promotional material for this special report on the front page of the newspaper was covered up this morning by another post-it type note - this time for ING Direct.  What is the point of a masthead or front […]

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Half of the front page of The Age newspaper is covered with a wrap-around ad today for ING. While advertisers may like this, newspaper readers don’t. Editorial staff must be frustrated at their treatment by the publisher. What’s more important, the story or the ad? The publisher says the ad. […]

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The masthead of The Age newspaper was partially obscured again yesterday by a post-it type ad stuck on promoting newspaper home delivery. The ad also partially obscured promotion of their coverage of the Australian Open tennis tournament. Their approach to ads covering editorial and branding content on the front page is interesting in […]

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The folks at The Age have deemed the HSBC Hot Summer sale to be more important than the lead news story in the newspaper today. Browsers are expected to pick up the newspaper based on the ad and not the lead story.
I feel for the editorial team who put in the hours on the […]

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The Age newspaper has permitted half of today’s front page to be cobvered with another advertisement.  This time from Mastercard.  It looks ridiculous.  You have no idea about the lead story of the day.  The grey block looks like a print error.  Indeed, that is what one customer thought.  Isn’t the Age the Newspaper of […]

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The Age newspaper today has another ad covering half the front page - this time for Deakin University.  While not causing litter or covering the newspaper masthead like the post-it type ads The Age runs, this ad covers half the news on the from page.  What does this say about the value of the news […]

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The Age masthead is partially covered again today, this time with an ad for Emirates.  I’ll continue to record this damaging of a proud newspaper brand because one day, the record of brand disrespect leading to (maybe) destruction will be useful.

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I bought The Age yesterday from a 7-Eleven out of necessity.  An ad for the ANZ bank was stuck on the masthead.  I checked other copies and they were the same.   Out at one of my newsagencies later in the day I noticed that none of the mastheads were covered by the ads.  Maybe […]

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The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald newspapers are covered today with a translucent paper on which is printed an ad for the new Toyota Prado.  Customers are confused when they see the newspaper, thinking they have the wrong product - I witnessed this several times.  While an advertiser may like this disruption, the consumer […]

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The Age newspaper has another ad stuck over editorial conteent on the front page today.  On most copies I have seen, the ad is stuck over a photo relating to an AFL story.  So much for the front page being useful in driving over the counter sales.

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Retiring Richmond footballer Matthew Richardson was covered up on the front page of The Age newspaper today with an ad for milk home delivery stuck over his photo.  This demonstrates that ads are more important than news on page one at The Age.  The ad itself is interesting for newsagents - milk home delivery being […]

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The front page of The Age newspaper is half covered today with a wrap-around ad for Pura Light Start milk.  So much for the news of the day being used to sell newspapers on the front page.  Howw is this milk ad going to help sell newspapers?  Given its covering of the news I’d expect […]

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The masthead of The Age newspaper suffers from an ad for Michelin stuck over part of it today.   Just a bit to the right and it would cover the name of the newspaper. It is sad to see a good newspaper treated such a shabby way.

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The date is covered on The Age newspaper masthead today by an ad for Lite n Easy.  The ad also covers most of the crest of the newspaper.  The is the same and and placement from October 5.  If the crest, company motto and date are not that important, why not incorporate a permanent ad […]

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Check out the front page of The Age today.  Across the newspaper masthead, the crest and today’s date, they have stuck an advertisement for Lite n Easy.

Advertising revenue is more important than their brand.

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I was shocked to see The Sydney Morning Herald in the photo for sale in Sydney this afternoon.  Above the masthead, the publisher proudly proclaims NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR yet they have sold an ad to cover the word Sydney in the masthead.  Shame.
This is one of the worst acts of desecration of a newspaper […]

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Telstra paid to cover part of the masthead of The Sunday Age today - with a Father’s Day linked ad.  The ad also covered part of the promotion of editorial content inside the newspaper.  That a venerable newspaper masthead can be treated in this way speaks volumes about the value of the masthead.

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It has been two months since The Age has a post-it type ad stuck across the newspaper masthead.  Today’s ad, for the Royal Melbourne Hospital Home Lottery, is like all the others - peel it off as they ask and you tear the front page of the newspaper.  It is disappointing to see a respected […]

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The ad for HBA stuck over the masthead of The Age newspaper this morning is an interesting placement given the Michael Jackson coverage.  The ad covers not only the crest of the newspaper but also the date.  This is poor treatment of an iconic Victorian brand.

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The front page of today’s Australian Financial Review in Sydney has an ad for Citibank stuck over a story about goings on in the Telstra boardroom.  Click on the image for a larger version of what this looks like.  Journalists, editors and those who respect newspapers have evry right to be angry at this treatment […]

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Retail outlets are important to newspaper publishers here in Australia.  It is disappointing to see Fairfax today trying to switch people from retail purchase to home delivery using an ad stuck on the front of The Age newspaper.  I’d prefer to see them invest in increasing retail sales like News Limited is doing with their […]

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The coat of arms on the masthead of The Age newspaper today is covered up with a stuck on ad featuring a mouse-like finger.  If the coat of arms is deemed by the advertising and accounting teams to be of little value why have it on the front of the newspaper every day?

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The masthead of THE AGE today is obscured by a post-it type ad promoting lamb for Mother’s Day stuck over the word AGE. While love a good lamb roast, I like to see brands like THE AGE treated professionally even more.
The Sydney Morning Herald masthead is covered in the same way by […]

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THE AGE newspaper was renamed THE GE on the front page this morning thanks to an ad for the home ideas show stuck over the masthead and part of the crest.  So much for respecting the brand.
For readers who are not reagular readers here, I have a ‘thing’ about the desecration of newspaper brands by […]

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I am grateful to a colleague newsagent for showing me that the latest issue of The Land has taken covering the front page of the newspaper to a new level.  The ad covering the bottom half of the front page covers editorial as well as advertising.  I’d expect Terry Miller Concrete Tanks, the advertiser covered-up, […]

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