Pulse Research and Metro Creative Graphics, Inc. recently announced a new partnership that will offer a field-proven way to successfully close more sales presentations. 

“Local businesses want to know the shopping opportunity for their business and then how to reach them to get a larger share. The Pulse-Metro partnership provides an effective 1-2 presentation. Here’s the opportunity, and here’s a spec ad idea to reach them,” says John Marling, President at Pulse Research. 

That sentiment is echoed by Rob Zimmerman, President and CEO of Metro, as he points out, “Including a spec ad in follow-up to a Pulse presentation that shows the actual number of households planning to buy increases the close ratio dramatically.” 

The results of this new partnership are already generating excitement in test markets: An ad rep recently shared that she is achieving up to “90% closing ratios” when using the Pulse-Metro combination. 

Why is this approach so effective? The presentation from Pulse Research shows the value of the newspaper’s audience specific to the prospect/customer. The spec ads from Metro show creative ways to immediately reach and connect with those very same buyers. 

Pulse and Metro began integrating their sales and creative solutions at the behest of a few key clients in 2018. Based on direct feedback from sales reps in the field, the integration has progressed and users can now toggle back and forth between the two industry partners’ platforms with ease to quickly produce comprehensive, value-driven presentations for every customer call. 

About Pulse Research: Pulse has been serving newspapers with research and innovative sales solutions for over 36 years. Pulse Sales Tools provides prospecting, call lists, appointment support and presentations along with a great closing resource. Pulse training and certification gets new reps “ready to sell”. The Pulse of America study is the largest annual newspaper audience shopping intention survey. 

About Metro Creative Graphics, Inc.: Metro is the leading provider of advertising, creative and editorial resources designed to help media companies create, sell and profit with their print, web, social and mobile efforts. With an unparalleled dedication to providing the finest resources available for ready-to-use images, spec ads, ideas, stock-quality photos, logos/trademarks, auto manufacturer photos, marketing/sales materials, copyright-free editorial features, print and digital templated sections, and groundbreaking digital ad development tools — plus custom image, ad design and editorial services — Metro remains unmatched in serving the creative and sales needs of today’s media companies. 

Founded in 1975 by Martha Cichelli, Software Consulting Services, LLC (SCS) has been providing software solutions to publishers and publishing groups. Martha’s husband, Richard  Cichelli, joined SCS in 1983 after working for the ANPA Research Institute. 

Richard and Martha have decided, after 45 years, to retire from active participation in SCS, and  Kurt Jackson, SCS’s Vice President, and General Manager has agreed to purchase the company.  

“We are so happy to be able to turn the company over to Kurt who knows the industry so well and who will ensure that SCS continues to provide innovation and excellent service to its customers,” says Martha. 

SCS has an impressive portfolio of corporate customers that include 8 of the top 10 publishing groups in the United States as well as many community-oriented publishers. SCS also distributes FotoWare digital asset management products in the United States. 

“I’m fortunate to have worked with Richard and Martha for many years,” says Jackson, “and I  look forward to the opportunity to continue nurturing and growing the company that Richard and  Martha along with our team have built.” 

SCS will remain headquartered in its new office in Bethlehem, PA, and will continue to focus on innovative technology. “We are committed to remaining a premier tech company in the Lehigh  Valley and are excited about new products we have in the development pipeline,” states  Jackson. 

The deal is expected to close within the next 45 days. 

About SCS: 

SCS offers an extensive line of publishing-related applications, including Layout-8000™. More  than 300 sites producing over 2,000 publications in 10 countries in 5 languages use SCS  mission-critical software every day. Learn more at www.newspapersystems.com.

National Newspaper Association mourns the passing of postal guru Max Heath

The death of NNA’s Postal Chair Emeritus Max Heath, Shelbyville, Kentucky, on July 28 set off a period of mourning across the community newspaper industry.

Heath’s family told the National Newspaper Association/NNA Foundation Boards of Directors last weekend that Heath had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke on July 23. His wife, Ruth Ann of Shelbyville, and son Jason of Louisville, Kentucky, were at his side as local friends stopped at a Louisville hospital to pay respects.

Heath was 75. He went into semi-retirement as NNA’s Postal Committee chair in phases during the past several years as the new Postal Team led by NNA Past President Matthew Paxton, publisher of The News-Gazette in Lexington, Virginia, and Brad Hill, CEO of Interlink, began to pick up his many duties. Heath remained as a consultant to the committee until his death.
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NNA Foundation Director Dennis Richardson passes

Dennis Richardson, owner of Magic Valley Publishing Co. and beloved husband, father and grandfather, passed away suddenly and peacefully at his Camden, Tennessee, home on Monday, July 26.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 23, 1951, he was the youngest of seven children. His father was a sharecropper who provided well for his family but passed away when Dennis was 2 years old. After graduating from Joelton High School, Dennis attended the University of Tennessee at Martin where he studied engineering. He transferred to UT Knoxville, Tennessee, to study journalism, but returned to finish at UT Martin where he graduated and met his wife, Lisa Hatley.

He began his newspaper career at the Paris Post Intelligencer (PI) as sports editor. After a couple of years at the PI and a short time at the Carroll County News, he was hired as editor of the Weakley County Press in Martin, Tennessee, by Randal Benderman, who became his lifelong mentor in newspaper publishing. Dennis left the Weakley County Press and moved to Clarksville to work as a copy editor at the state’s oldest continuously publishing newspaper, the Leaf-Chronicle.
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The U.S. Postal Service’s plan to raise mailing rates could present one more damaging blow to community newspapers already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and advertising declines, a trade group says.

Rates on periodicals would increase by more than 8% as of Aug. 29, according to agency filings. The price jump is part of a broad plan pushed by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to overhaul mail operations.

The impact of the periodical rate increase is expected to be felt most by small daily and weekly newspapers, as well as rural newspapers, which depend on the Postal Service since they have shifted from using independent contractors for deliveries.

By David Bauder and Anthony Izaguirre, Associated Press, July 8, 2021
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WOBURN, MA – The Journalism Education Foundation of New England, a division of the New England Newspaper & Press Association, has announced the recipients of their 2021 scholarships.

This year, $2,500 scholarships will be awarded to four collegiate students: Alison Cross, Monroe, CT; Gillian Follett, Belchertown, MA; Maria Elena Little Endara, Amherst, MA; and Leighah Beausoleil, Webster, MA.

“The committee was impressed by the sheer number of quality applicants this year. In the end, we felt the four scholarship winners were the most deserving. But all of the applicants are to be congratulated for the great work they are doing. It’s encouraging to see the future of journalism. We wish all of the applicant’s success in their educational endeavors and beyond.” – Randy Capitani, President, Journalism Education Foundation of New England

We asked the students how the scholarship will help them while studying journalism, and this is what they had to say:

“I am so thankful for the JEFNE and NENPA’s support during my time at the University of Connecticut. This scholarship helped fund each year of my education and allowed me to focus on studying and growing my journalism career. Thanks to the JEFNE scholarship, I could take an unpaid internship at my town’s only local news source, write for my school’s paper, and expand my skills outside of the classroom.

This summer, I am pursuing my passion for investigative reporting as the Connecticut Health Investigative Team’s (c-hit.org) lead writer for “Generation Health,” a new section featuring in-depth articles on health issues affecting 18 to 40-year-olds. In the spring of 2022, I will graduate a year early with a bachelor’s in journalism and sociology and a minor in women’s gender and sexuality studies. After graduation, I hope to start my professional career as an investigative journalist.

I cannot express enough how grateful I am for the generosity of the NENPA and their commitment to inspiring the next generation of reporters. Their work is truly important, and I am so honored to have won this award.”

“This scholarship means so much to me and my pursuits toward becoming a journalist. This upcoming academic year I will be taking on the role of Associate Editor at my university’s independent student newspaper, The Gatepost.

Having this scholarship greatly relieves the stress of finances as I am paying for school on my own. This will allow me to focus on completing school and gaining the experiences necessary for a career in journalism.

Being recognized for the work I have done as a student journalist is such an honor. I am extremely grateful for being chosen as a recipient.”

“I am so incredibly grateful to the Journalism Education Foundation of New England for selecting me as one of their scholarship recipients.

This scholarship means a lot to me because it will financially allow me to finish my college education at UMass and graduate in the spring of 2023.”

“I’m extremely honored and grateful to be chosen as a recipient of this scholarship. As I’m entering my senior year at Syracuse University, the money provided by this scholarship will help fund the final year of my Journalism studies and potentially an internship at a Syracuse news outlet.

With the support of this scholarship, I’ll be able to take my first steps across the line between college and a professional career in Journalism.”