News Corp has partnered with Australia Post on a literacy campaign. This, from the report at Mediaweek:
News Corp and Australia Post join forces to boost literacy levels
Raise A Reader is News Corp’s consumer education and advocacy campaign, designed to highlight the importance of developing early literacy skills among Australian children and the critical role parents play as educators and role models in demonstrating a love for reading.
Toni Hetherington, national education publisher, News Corp Australia said: “We are proud to partner with Australia Post in this important initiative with The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier-Mail and The Advertiser alongside our regional mastheads. News Corp Australia will proudly be supporting this campaign from both an editorial and retail perspective.
“Literacy skills are fundamental in ensuring future success in our country. At News Corp, we understand that it is our responsibility to utilise our platforms to inspire more children to enjoy reading.
“Our journalists around the country will encourage their audiences and communities to ‘Raise A Reader’ through this strong editorial campaign.”
Raise a Reader complements the launch of Australia Post’s Legends stamp series, which recognises living Australians who have made an outstanding and inspirational contribution to Australia’s communities and culture. In 2019 this series recognises Australia’s leading children’s authors.
An exclusive survey of 1000 parents and grandparents commissioned by News Corp Australia found 86% of respondents wanted their children to spend more time reading books with more than 88% reading to their child at least once a week.
UNICEF has rated Australia as 39 out of 41 countries “in achieving quality education”. Nearly one in five Australian children are not meeting international benchmarks for reading, according to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study released in 2017 by the Australian Council for Educational Research, assessing grade four students from 50 countries around the world.
It feels like News Corp. no longer sees the newsagency channel as a channel.
There are plenty of newsagency businesses in the book space.
Mark, I’m a little confused. If publisher reads this blog to gage the industries want or need to be involved in print , you carn’t blame them for wanting to engage in other channels.
Retail newsagents cannot have it both ways … you either support print media or you don’t.
Clearly the common theme from this blog is that they don’t.
Gerard, you are reading things that are not there.
Retail newsagents are retailers, business owners. They have considerable costs, which increase annually: rent @ 5%, labour @ 3%, overheads @ 5%. Every product in the shop has to pay its way. Publishers have demonstrated a lack of support for their products in indie retail for years. As for supermarkets, I am not privy to any deals.
For newspapers to remain, the must be viable.
Publishers facilitated the end of the agent eras. Yet, they do not want to let go of their side of the agent relationship.
Newsagents have been poorly represented in this regard since deregulation. That is what got us to where we are now.
Publishers earn the bulk of their income from advertising. Newsagents only make money from the cover price, over which they have no control.
As for my support for papers, I have personally invested plenty in the support of the print product, only to see publishers turn their back on small business distributors and retailers. I wish publishers provided more support so papers could be viable.
Every so often, a publisher exec will ask what can we do better. I meet with them, we workshop a list and every time, they do nothing.
Actions are all that matter. Ask newsagents, are they better off from papers today? Listen to what they say. The publishers can change this.
Mark, you are reading things that are not there.
It is an editorial campaign.
Newspapers sales decline is a demographic as well as internet preference for distribution of news.
I don’t believe that publishers of newspapers disrespect newsagents or our channel. i do think tey could do more for us than they do as we are part of their contractual arrangement. That well may be part of the problem. They have us and the new marketing people are chasing new business in retail space.
There is a lot to be said for committment from outlets that are regimented in their approach to marketing and have set up consumer based data of customers and ways of contacting them. these outlets are the chains and as individuals we cannot compete at their level.
There are other ways we can could perform that these chains cannot.
We need to collectively sort those ways and through a representative body, Marketing, Franchise ot Banner type or an Association. Associations with this type of promotion have always been best served by their State Association or Branch of ALNA. I favour the State based Association as the newsaper masthead is State or Local orientated. This is important to publishers for everything including a lot of advertising. Not all is National.
In past years their have been very successful promotions for the sale of State based mastheads.
Advertising sude to be aound 75% of revenue for State based newspapers. i have no idea what it is today however with the previous mentioned demograhic and on line shift I very much doubt that this is anywhere near yesterday’s revenue.
i have loved newspapers ever since I aws a lad a paperboy at a0 years of age. Illegl yes, but we needed the money and there was nothing like buskering on ond off trams ‘PAPER, PAPER, SUN and MIRROR READ ALL ABOUT IT! Newspapers were 4d fumble for the change from 6d and you could make a good living. Do it too often and the customer would have the right money in the ready.
Today I still recieve newspapers delivered as well as electronically as do many of my friends.
It is very different and yes they will decline further unil they reach a point over cover price , advertising and consumer demand before you will see stabilisation of circulation. Same formula, different scenario, same result as the rest of the World, a profitable newspaper less circulation, for a price.
first sentence should read “caused by” a etc
Graeme, I have seen nothing but disrespect for the Newsagency Industry for over 20years.
When you consider the issues over the years such as late deliveries, weight of newspapers, hugely increasing costs of staff employment costs, fuel, motor vehicle costs, rent.
And let’s not forget the shit house commission given to newsagents. Because let’s call it for what it is.
Why should a local cafe be offered the same product at a much cheaper rate?
Why should the Ritchies IGA group get deals such as spend $20 and get a free newspaper.
Why should the consumer be offered highly discounted offers to have the same product home delivered to their door?
Why do teachers receive hugely discounted home delivery offers?
Hotels and Motels traditionally have received similarly massive discount offers to supply to guests.
The list goes on….
Why has the percentage margin received not increased to Newsagents who retail this product?
To say Nationwide News and Fairfax respect the Newsagency Industry is comical.
It’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Why was Tatts/TAB looking to do a deal with Aus Post to put lotto into Post Offices (or vice versa ) ?
Newsagents are largely irrelevant for the most part now unless you are largely no longer identifiable as a newsagent by your product mix and turn over.
Suppliers and what have been industry main players are already looking at other sales channels in preparation for what may well be the collapse of the newsagency channel as we know it in the not too far distant future.
Hi Amanda,
I am not in disagreement re the changes and the way we are treated as to the way we were. My summary says it all. They are chasing “new” business having achieved a channel of stability in a contracted sense with newsagents, however circulation is still falling and as I state will still do until it meets its equalibrium.
Although we have contracts with the publishers, their focus is on survival as ours must be as well. Their contracts can be annulled by newsagents giving them 3 months notice to quit or they in turn can give newsagents 6 months notice for the same.
Some of the recent proposed moves from News Ltd have given notice with then Fairfax now Nine following with the in line adoption of the same options.
As I said, we are on notice, we can still try and work with them as a supplier to everyone or quit altogether.
I am sad re the decline as “those were the days” so to speak.
Gotto go and read the paper.
Good luck and all the best.
I do think they are over as we knew them and there is no way we will see the increase again.
Enjoy it whilst you can and convery your customers into other sales using the traffic flow that the goodwill of purchasers allows you to do as no doubt you already.
With Amanda 100 percent ,cant fathom how it could be argued to the contrary.
Smells like all any other campaign News will get a spike in circulation ,Aust Post gets free advertising .Both parties look like champions for helping with literacy and the good old “newsagent” will do the leg work whether they like it or not.
As far as the so called “channel ” goes it has gone.
Anyone who was hanging in as a newsagent has gone or going.Now we are retail stores of one kind or another which happen to also sell some newspapers and mags and in most cases lotteries.
I havent regarded my store a newsagency
for around a decade.
Graeme the good old days are certainly gone in regards to newspaper sales. That doesn’t mean we should still get inferior remuneration.
ALNA have failed to achieve anything substantial in regards to remuneration throughout its existence from not just News Corp but any supplier. They are the National body tasked with negotiating on behalf of a whole industry claiming thousands of members, yet much smaller retail groups are achieving far greater remuneration for their stores.
Early last year ALNA spruiked of a new remuneration package to include proceeds from online gambling soon to be announced to Tatts Franchisees. June 30 came around and nothing happened. December 31 has now passed and nothing happened.
ALNA / ANF have repetitively failed the industry for over 20years.
I am not disagreeing with.
It’s plain to see what’s happenning I point out the gradual decline over the years. Sad. I also believe that we are NOT going to get any more remuneration. Not the Associations fault They just ain’t gonna give any more to any one in print media handling.
This has been put on notice to all newsagents in the call for Home Delivery specialist to be rationalised in given area with NO compensation.
It’s over as they say. They spelt it out with 9 Distribution Centres muted for Sydeny Metro and 5 Regional areas – Blue Mountains, ACT, Central Coast Newsastle and Wollongong.
Hasn’t happened -maybe it won’t -we still are on notice nothing has been refuted.They clearly wanted the Distribution back.
Amanda,I have been told that there is going to be an anouncement from ALNA next month ,regarding increases in commission from Tatts
Unless it’s a doubling then it’s pretty well useless and hasn’t kept up with CPI, GRIA and other cost increases.
Expecting ALNA to trumpet a 1% increase which Tatts have been happy to pay them off with.
I hope I’m proved wrong.