by Ryan McKeen
Earlier this week, I read George Gombossy’s article “How The Courant Makes Millions in Mandatory Foreclosure Advertising.” Check it out if you haven’t. Anyhow, his article got me thinking.
Two years ago, I had to publish orders of notice in various newspapers across the country. The purpose of doing so was to put heirs and creditors on notice of a legal action.
Below were my costs to publish the same notice in various newspapers:
San Francisco Chronicle: $355.00
Los Angeles Times: $403.20
The Press Enterprise: $244.40
Escalon Times: $328.20
The Hartford Courant: $919.00
Sheridan County News: $96.00
These were not mandatory foreclosure ads. The only thing published was text. You’d expect to see a range of prices given the size of the publication and the region in which the paper is published. It’s logical that it would cost more to publish notice in the San Francisco Chronicle than the Sheridan County News, a small weekly newspaper in Montana. I get that.
I also understand the Courant needs to turn a profit on advertising. I don’t begrudge them that at all. They’re a business and in order to survive, they need to make money.
However, the Courant was over 125% more expensive than the next most expensive newspaper, the Los Angeles Times. I can’t think of a good reason as to why that is.
My client was left with no choice but to publish the notice in the Courant because there is no other game in town.
Ryan,
“because there is no other game in town”. That is why Hartford Courant can charge that amount and got away with it. That is why we should never get read of Sherman Act. By the way I love your blog i check it everyday. I’m not a lawyer so this is very educational to me.
Tom
Reply
Why can’t legal notices be published in both print and online newspapers? Legitimate online newspapers can offer less expensive advertising? This would give people a choice and provide some competition to bring down the expensive ad rates. As an owner of an online newspaper that provides news 24/7 we are not allowed to publish (post) legal ads although we have twice the readership as the local print media. Most print newspapers have websites with ads, so they won’t be “left out.” But it would provide a choice and get rid of the outrages charges some media force on people. Of course, with the power of print media owners and organizations, legal ads will stay in the dark ages and not be read by 99% of the people because of the tiny print. What a disservice to their customers.
Reply