Newsagents ought to consider taking care in what they say publicly about their plans to remove Alpha magazine from their shelves or block sales in some other way. I have heard that questions are being asked about whether newsagents are colluding to harm the sales of Alpha. If questions are being asked, I know this will be enough to scare off some newsagents. Newspaper publishers are good at scaring newsagents. It is why we accept making less in real terms today than we were making ten years ago. Many of us are like deers caught in the headlights – too scared to take care of ourselves. Publishers know this about us.
That said, I have received more calls from newsagents who are removing Alpha. Many of these are newsagents who supported the title through the launch, believing that News was committed to supporting newsagents.
If it were not illegal I would actively promote a boycott and encourage newsagents to practically demonstrate their anger at being treated so poorly.
Well, if I was to continue with putting it on my shelves like other titles there wouldn’t be shelves to put them on – My business would fail.
Roosevelt said “There should be an equality of self-respect and of mutual respect, an equality of rights before the law and at least an approximate equality in the conditions under which each man obtains the chance to show the stuff that is in him when compared to his fellows”
I think that gem of a quote applys to this situation. We as Newsagents aren’t asking for huge margins or special deals, just the chance to compete in a deregulated market.
Again, why is the newsagents who are doing the wrong thing if we threaten to remove the magazine from the shelves. If news had not sold us out then this would not be an issue and sale numbers would continue to rise. They are the ones that have harmed the sale of the title not newsagents, we were the ones that have built up the title to start with and now that it has good numbers we have been shafted.
I’d like to see how they are going to judge who is guilty or not of collusion, maybe they can sue the industry body LOL.
Before they make any more mistakes maybe news should look inward instead of outward as to where the original stuff up was made.
Come on..If this was chewing gum, Ink, copy paper etc etc etc. This would not be thrown up as a possibility. Collusion is very hard to prove and convict. Petrol stations are the masters and when was the last time you heard a group of them taken down for such a practice.
Deal with the facts and this type of bullying will disappear. FACT Alpha on its own in a regular position on the shelf will drop in sales. FACT This may mean that it will not pay for its space thus should be removed from the mix.
I am keeping 2 or 3 copies for those customers who seek it but the 25 copies that come in month in month out will be returned. And for the bullies this is what I am doing others can please themselves.
Admittedly I haven’t read every comment on this subject over the different posts but has anybody actually called on ALL newsagents to take it off their shelves? Or have they just been suggesting this is what they are doing. I am not a law expert on blogs but I can’t see this being classed as collusion.
I am definately taking it off my shelf i dont know about others
If their is a collusion it is between NDD & News, I did make a comment that our associations should order Newsagents to take ALPHA off the shelf from next issue until News consulted and negotiated with our representatives.
News has actually removed ALPHA from Newsagents shelves themselves by going to NDD and this is a fact. Some small business’s are not members of NDD because of choice or not wanted by NDD. Where is the logic in that.
What the @$%#&^%$
What’s happened to us – one sniff of possible litigation and back into the burrows we go. What has been suggested and talked about here re Alpha is no different to any other magazine – i.e. perform and get star billing, don’t perform and get relegated to where you belong be it the bottom shelf, the back room or if performance is that bad, the early returns bin.
Newsagents made Alpha into what it is today, don’t try and tell me that News didn’t know that when they launched this “at best mediocre” performer – without us Alpha would have gone to an early grave and perhaps, in hindsight we might have all been better off.
Now, just when a couple of newsagents actually threaten to follow through on their plans to drop the magazine, that 9 letter word “collusion” pops up. Any fool would know that there is more chance of the Hells Angels and Commancheros colluding on a thanksgiving service for the efforts of NSW police than newsagents colluding to harm the sales of Alpha.
Spare me!
When will this rot stop and when will one of those useless organisations supposedly representing us get off their member-funded butt and actually do something positive, something more uplifting than “newsagents must make their own decision”?
For me, Alpha is as dead as the guru at NDD responsible for the scale out of Organic Gardener this month – if this is what it takes to finally close my NDD account, then so be it but at least I can go to sleep knowing that one less supplier has screwed me today!
Jim, what is frustrating is their arrogance at not even engaging with newsagents on this. Alpha is the issue today, more so than the NSW lotteries petition they are trying to get up.
Jeezuz,
What hope have we got when the latest news from the ANF spends a whole paragraph telling us what we all know about the Alpha situation then concludes with this is a commercial decision and newsagents have to decide what is best for them” – do these blokes have the same script writer as VANA?
We then get 4 pages containing 4/5 of 5/8 of sfa on Anthony Matis’ (obviously Western Union funded) trip to South Africa and his subsequent game of golf with 100 or so newsagents in west Aus – I thought Nero was a Roman but he obviously lives on in that la-la land the ANF lives in.
What we have here is the makings of a fine Roman soap opera (perhaps we could get 50% seed funding from News Ltd) where Pontius Cowley and Nero Matis perform a duet with one washing his hands as the other plays the fiddle whilst both watch hundreds of newsagents disappear down the Tiber gurgler.
The Roman senators sitting in the stands sneering at all other players could be ably played by Hartigan and his News cohorts.
How long will it take people to wake up to the fact that Alpha is the thin end of the wedge – give up on this one and all else counts for nought. News Ltd have thrown this party as a test, fail it and they will continue to dominate you for the rest of your miserable life as a News-agent, fight it and succeed and be allowed to run the business and live the life you deserve!
Knowing the current scale out model I expect to get 100 copies of Alpha for every 10 sales I make. I won’t remove it from my shelves, but I will have some major early returns for excess stock. I don’t know about everyone else, but it gets harder to pay their bill each month because we have to fight for return credits.
The whole situation disgusts me.
Jim & Mark
Fantastic posts!
I cannot understand the lack of interest on this issue in another forum either.
What is wrong with Newsagents?
What would happen if your business closed their NDD account?
Nelson – how can you say oversupply is a nothing argument – or have I misunderstood. You may have missed it but oversupply, particularly of the crap titles NDD are left with, is one of the most contentious issues in this industry.
On the issue of whose decision it was for NDD to take over distribution of Alpha, are you for real in suggesting that News Ltd took an independent decision to offload distribution of Alpha and that NDD subesequently chose to pick it up? When you can answer that one with a straight face can you please let me and the fairies at the bottom of the garden know?
As to your suggestions on boycotting News Ltd products, hasn’t there been sufficient comment on the way Alpha will be handled by contributors to this and other blogs to indicate that most newsagents proactive and game enough to get involved with this issue will drop it like a hot cake?
And if you are looking for someone to stick their neck out on other News products then I, for one, will gladly forsake deliveries of “the working man’s paper” aka “right wing rag” aka “apologist for the Brumby governement” if that’s what it takes to get the message through.
Nelson
You asked and answered the question regarding NDD, they oversupply and supply a lot of crap titles. Not sure why it is a nothing arguement.
For the record I have closed my NDD account because of this and have missed out on some great magazines and some great News Ltd Mags. However my business needed cash flow.
You know the story behind ALPHA so we wont go down that road again.
Not sure what your comment regarding boycotting other News Limited products has got to do with anything.
Derek
Nelson
The call to boycott NDD has also been going on long before ALPHA.
I understand what you are saying why not boycott News Ltd Newspapers, It has nothing to do with it. It has never been mentioned before you brought it up.
Nelson you have good points, I think it is ALPHA that is the problem and coincidently the distribution was given to NDD who has a history of oversupply etc.
The two issues now overlap. I would love to see Industries leadership take a stance on this ALPHA betrayal but it has not happened. Its just one big betrayal.