It's about the business side of FAU's student newspaper. All the details are crucial because at the end, I predict the demise of the University Press – for the third time in 25 years.
But first, let me tell you a quick and unsettling story about advertising...
Student media director Marti Harvey has hired a new ad manager for the University Press. He's a great kid. I advised him at the UP only five years ago. When he graduated, I introduced him to a magazine publisher I knew, and she hired him as a sales rep.
Now he's running the UP's entire advertising effort. Two weeks ago, minutes before our staff meeting, he strolled into the editor's office and told me and EIC Karla Bowsher, "I'm gonna talk to everyone about advertising."
He had a big stack of business cards with him. He said he wanted to hand out smaller stacks to the reporters, photographers, designers, and editors – so they could, in turn, "pass them out to potential advertisers."
Karla and I said no. I explained that editorial staffers don't sell ads.
"But Marti told me to," the ad manager said.
I seriously doubted that. So last week, Karla and I cornered Marti before she ducked into her office. She confirmed it.
The ad manager told me later that Marti also asked him to attend every staff meeting. He wasn't sure why. But I am.
Is this the "new model for student media" FAU is touting? Because it sounds a lot like an old model. It's called a shopper.
