The masthead of The Saturday Age was partially obscured yesterday by an ad stuck on, over the masthead, promoting catch of the day – one of the many deals sites selling things cheap – an odd product to advertise in a newspaper.
It is disappointing to see such a respected brand trashed in this way. Yeah they need every dollar they can get. But to do it at the cost of their own brand? Nuts in my view. If their brand, their masthead, really does have value, they need to protect it and do to it and with it only what adds value to the brand. Instead, with these ads stuck over it, they trash it and dilute its value.
Years from now, university and other students will write reports and papers about how newspapers managed their brands through this period of transition. What is being done to the brand of The Age will not be a positive story.
Mark,
It is a problem when you devalue your brand. Look at todays Sunday Telegraph with a nice sticker offering delivery for $1.60 each Sunday. 20% below sale price, it just incredable how News disrespect the newsagent. As one customer said, Geez you can’t you sell me one for a $1.60 so why come into your shop!!
Might rip the bloody sticers off.
Gregg this is a dumb move from News Ltd. While I understand that they see their future is in subscriptions, they ignore that newsagents remain their best partners for driving what are called single copy sales. We can help them grow sales – if only they would work with us commercially on this.
Good thing News Ltd are exempt from OHS laws too considering the weight of todays paper.
I am not sure they are exempt Shayne. How heavy? News Limited knows that 600 grams is the limit for safe throwing.
Just sarcasm Mark, don’t have any scales here but they were like logs for the fire when rolled. Surely wouldn’t be far off 1kg.
Interesting. News has had, for years now, an OH&S report indicating the risks of heavy papers. They have an obligation to provide product that enables their agents to operate a safe workplace.
While I don’t weigh each paper, I’ve always used a maximum single person weight of 16kg (from Commonwealth govt experience) as a benchmark.
Assuming the HWT use a similar benchmark, and they maximise their bulk size to the most they can fit without breaching that weight, if the bulk size is 16 (I believe I have seen that once with the Sunday Herald Sun), each paper would be nominally 1kg.
No hard and fast legal figures there, but since the bulk size rarely gets lower than 18, I’d say I was usually handling papers under 1kg. (But, over 600g).
(Edit – I just weighed a sample of todays bulk and it came in at 14.25kg. Bulk size is 20, so nominally each paper is 712.5g.)
Personally, I am comfortable throwing papers with 20 to a bulk or more.
Once there is less papers in a bulk than that, I find my arm starts to get sore.
When we had a particularly bad stretch 6 or 12 months ago for a couple of weekends, I had tennis elbow for a month.
Just weighted the Sunday Telegraph at the local supermarket, 810g.
Check out the Nery report about OHS and newspapers. http://www.newsagencyblog.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/anf-ergonomic-rept-23-7-06.pdf
Gregg
Either your Tele was missing something or that supermarket would be a great place to buy your fruit and veg? Our Post office scales (tested 2 weeks ago) weigh them at just under 940g.
I don’t like the sticker on front of today’s Tele either, was told some customers thought it cost $1.60 today!
But I do like page 50 advertising their home delivery deals – great advertising for us home delivery agents, but not sticking it in the face of retail agents like the sticker does.
I had a dispute with News Ltd over the weight of newspapers last year.
The official position from News Ltd was that the newspapers did not present an OHS issue at the weight they are produced as News Ltd did an OHS report to counter act the Nery report.
Privately, however they are well aware of being overweight according to the Nery report.
Foolishly, the contracts manager “cc’d” me in on a private conversation with News Ltd’s Mark Cowie. In this text conversation Mark Cowie asked “how often they had been over the weight recently”.
The contracts manager went into damage control, claiming I was not allowed to read that message. I am not sure of the legal position I am in for reading it, but it was sent to me and the message was loud and clear.
It shows News are well aware of their OHS obligations, but they are also well aware they are not going to be challenged.
Perhaps this is something that could be presented to government officials during the T2020 negotiations.
I would be only too happy to hand over the information!
The weight of newspapers is a perfect matter to take to a tribunal like QCAT, VCAT or the CTTT.
When we had a Workplace Saftey Officer in a while ago we asked about risk of injury in throwing heavy papers, she said it was up to us to manage how we handled the delivery of papers whether in bundles for the shop or home delivery.
I was sent a letter about 2 years ago from NewsLtd informing me that all OHS issues concerning newspaper deliveries is the sole responsibility of the newsagent.
So I guess that means we can take out their inserts in order to reduce weight?
If our industry had a backbone, we would be able to say: that paper is over 600gm..NO HOME DELIVERIES.
Or those newspapers arrived after XX…no home deliveries and here is a $X fine.
Unfortunatley this is not the case, and the two things which contribute most to both newsagents costs and workplace injuries are both controlled by publishers……
Amanda newsagents should take action individually in tribunals and the like. It’s inexpensive. The publishers would soon take notice.
Since the 1950s (and before probably) newsagents have plenty of bark and little bite.