Against all logic and reason, I continue to keep a subscription to the Star Tribune. The main reason is because we get lotsa coupons and such in the Sunday paper, but I've been reading newspapers daily since I first learned how to read. So getting a morning paper is a hard habit to break, even one that is as puerile as the Star Tribune.
The Strib has been getting its butt kicked financially lately, so one way they've been getting more money is by filling the paper with advertising inserts. Time was you wouldn't see an advertising insert on any day other than Sunday, but lately I've noticed that they have been including inserts pretty much every day. The Strib needs the revenue and a lot of retailers are pretty desperate for business, so this change isn't especially surprising. So when I retrieved my paper from the porch this morning and found an insert in it, I didn't think it all that unusual. Until I realized what the insert was.
It was an envelope with an offer to join AARP.
It is my understanding that one must be 50 years old to join AARP. I'm not there yet, although I edge ever closer and I have received a few random senior discounts at local restaurants from well-meaning young punks at the counter. I'm not defensive about getting older, inasmuch as it beats holy hell out of the alternative. And I'm more amused than anything else that I received this particular come-on, which has been for many boomers as unwelcome a bit of correspondence as the form letter that many received from President Johnson all those years ago. Hope I die before I get old? Hell no!
Still, I think getting this particular insert is pretty telling about where the Star Tribune is right now, particularly about their perception of the demographics of their subscribers. There would have been a time, not that long ago, where a newspaper wouldn't have thought about placing a come-on from AARP in their pages, lest they cheese off their younger readership. Methinks the Strib doesn't much worry about offending younger readers much any more. More likely, they'll take money from anyone who will give it to them.
8 comments:
Mark:
See this article from yesterday's Appleton Post Crescent. The content leakage has reached epic proportions. Similar to the Star Tribune, you do get plenty of inserts. I think I will go offer them $500 for their building; they might counter.
Here it is, sorry
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009901040532
Dan, does that mean less "It's Your Call" entries in the P-C? That is usually the funniest part of the paper, which speaks poorly to their comics section.
Mike:
The quality of the PC is going down faster than Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office.
Dan,
I've seen their building. I'd start at $350, tops.
If the P-C goes down, what on earth will Robert Nordlander, Menasha's #1 atheist and peevish letter writer extraordinaire, ever do?
Just as "nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition," you'll be amazed at how fast the AARP will be on you once you hit 50.
I'm not sure where they get their information; but the week I turned 50 the mailings started coming, and they haven't ceased in two years. I get probably 2-3 mailings a week from them.
I'm with you on the Strib. I do purchase the Sunday paper, and as silly as it is, it's basically just to get the NYT's Sunday crossword puzzle. I've always thought reading the paper was one of life's greatest simple pleasures, and it still is, provided I don't read any of their editorials.
I think it bespeaks AARP's ever-increasing reach and desire for membership as much as it says about the Strib. After all, the paper can't sell an ad/insert to someone who doesn't want or need it. For AARP it's all about getting ever larger numbers of people they can claim to "speak for" because that means power.
Much of what AARP stands for/lobbies for is antithetical to what I believe and though I now qualify for their benevolence I will not give them my name or endorsement in exchange for a lower rate at the Super 8 or cheap breakfast at Denny's.
kd,
I agree that the newspaper is a simple pleasure. And the pleasure is increased by avoid the Star Tribune editorial page.
NW,
I'm with you. When I finally am eligible to join AARP, I'm going to take a pass. They don't speak for me now and I highly doubt that they will speak for me in 5 years' time.
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