Little Rock Sun publisher Dr. Julius J. Larry III is the ultimate overachiever. He has earned four degrees since graduating from high school in Savannah, Ga., in 1967.

He graduated in just three years from Savannah

State College with a major in chemistry and minors in math and physics. Then he received a dental degree from the Meharry Medical School of Dentistry in Nashville, Tenn., in 1978.

Larry then earned his juris doctorate degree from the South Texas College of Law in Houston, Texas, in 1984. But he still wasn’t finished with education. He went on to earn a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Texas Health Science Center in 2003.

Needless to say, Larry knows the value of education.

“Education is the key to success. It breeds empowerment,” Larry said. “And education was always big in our family. I started from humble beginnings back in Savannah. We lived on a dirt street and had an outhouse. It wasn’t until I spent the night with a friend in high school that I realized some people actually have a toilet inside their house!”

continued on page 2

Publisher calls education ‘key to success’From the Field Feature ON THE INSIDE

CALENDAR

Page 2 - Don’t use words ‘Super Bowl’ in advertising

Page 4 - Plan your February Sales

JANUARY 31 Ad Contest Entry Deadline

MARCH 15-16Ad Conference,

Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, Petit Jean

Mountain

“Top salespeople understand they must

learn to feel comfortable doing the uncomfortable.”

– Tim Sales

Arkansas Press Services, Inc. is a subsidiary of Arkansas Press Association | 411 South Victory, Little Rock, AR 72201 | 501.374.1500

A Monthly Publication Supporting APA Member Advertising Professionals

AdNewsARK

ANSA

S Vol. 15 | Issue 1 | January 2018

Dr. Julius J. Larry III, publisher of the Little Rock Sun, looks over the latest edition of the newspaper.

Jan. 31 marks deadline for APA ad contestThe deadline for entries in the Arkansas Press

Association’s (APA) annual Better Newspaper Ad Contest is Jan. 31.

“I hope all our advertising associates around the state are gathering their best ads from 2017 and preparing them to submit for our annual ad contest,” said Tom Larimer, APA executive director. “It is a great way for advertising and graphics teams to be recognized for their creativity and hard work.”

Members of the Louisiana Press Association will select the winning entries next month. The awards will be presented at the APA’s annual advertising conference March 15-16 at the

Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain.

“As always the contest is divided into several categories and also separated into weekly and daily newspaper divisions,” Larimer said. “The categories range from the best single ads to the best online ads. Special sections also have their own category, as do ads that incorporate the use of humor.”

Questions concerning the contest should be directed to Terri Cobb in the APA office. She can be reached at 501-374-1500 or terri@arkansaspress.org.

January 2018 AdNews | 1

Larry said that education is extremely important to our country in order for people to have good jobs.

“Poverty is the key to so many problems,” he said. “But education can pull people out of poverty.”

Larry’s road to Little Rock was a winding one. He owns the Paradise Casket Company, which sells caskets to black funeral homes in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia. Originally it was headquartered in Houston.

“We were driving from Texas to Little Rock three times a week to deliver caskets. At that point the company’s board decided to move the operations to Little Rock, because we had fallen in love with the state,” Larry said. “Things were going great.”

However, in 2010 Larry was diagnosed with stage four cancer, and he went to the VA Hospital in Houston for treatment. (Larry is also a Vietnam Veteran.) The outlook at first was not good, but he pulled through and came back to Little Rock in 2013.

Over the years of living in Little Rock, Larry had noticed there wasn’t a newspaper in the state dedicated to the African-American community.

“I did some research and discovered – and was shocked to learn – that there was not one black newspaper in the state,” he said. “I didn’t know anything about publishing a newspaper, but I was friends with the publishers of the Houston Sun, which is a black newspaper. And with their help and mentoring I started the Little Rock Sun in 2013.

“I feel it is important for blacks to have a voice, and that is what the Little Rock Sun is. At first we didn’t have any advertising, but now we are getting full page ads. And after five years we are still around, and have added the Pine Bluff Sun and the West Memphis Sun.”

Journalism students at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff run the newspaper in that city. The West Memphis Sun supports the Arkansas Delta.

Larry did discover that there was a former Little Rock Sun newspaper that was established in November 1885. It later branched out to offer newspapers under the Sun masthead in Hot Springs and Texarkana, but they all later closed.

“The Little Rock Sun is all about the truth, integrity and public service. We want the black leaders of this city to look to us for support. We want to help people and give them a voice,” the publisher said.

Larry is trying to bridge the gap between the black and white communities by distributing his newspapers to 76 hotels across state who put the publication in guests’ rooms. He also delivers newspapers to several black and white churches in Little Rock. He plans to increase circulation from 50,000 to 75,000 in the next few months.

Larry is very interested in local issues that affect the African-American community. He is a member of the Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission for the city. Several years ago he wrote the brief in a lawsuit involving smoking in Arkansas. More recently he is looking into the lack of diversity on the Little Rock City Council and the re-districting of Congressional regions in the state.

With all his education and degrees, his life has come full circle as publisher of newspapers. As a kid back in Savannah, he was the paper boy for a morning and afternoon newspaper, plus a weekly black newspaper that published on the weekend. In high school he took a journalism class and was assigned the job of advertising manager, and in college he was editor of his fraternity’s newspaper “Black Voices.”

Each year the Little Rock Sun sponsors Lifetime Achievement Awards. This year the presentation is scheduled for November at Philander Smith College.

From the fieldcontinued from page 1

Jeff Meek, former managing editor of the Hot Springs Village Voice, recently returned to that position at the newspaper. He began working for the Voice in January 2007 as a once-a-month columnist, then staff writer, senior reporter and then managing editor from January 2015 until September of last year when he retired. The Voice and its staff is glad to have him back.

—Southwest Regional Vice President

Matt Guthrie recently announced Gatehouse Media promoted from within the Log Cabin Democrat (LCD) for the publisher position. Kelly Sublett was promoted to Group Publisher over the Conway region which includes the Van Buren Democrat in Clinton and the Sun Times in Heber Springs.

Sublett was hired as the LCD vice president of audience in 2014. Prior to joining the Log Cabin team, she had 16 years of newspaper editorial, advertising and community engagement experience.

“Her experience in digital advertising was a huge factor in the decision,” Guthrie said. “Coupled with the new products we will be introducing to the community through Thrivehive, I know the Log Cabin will soon become the go-to source for all advertising to local businesses.”

Sublett has a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a double minor in speech communication and theatre arts from Texas A&M University. After graduation, she served as reporter, copy desk editor, editorial production manager and as managing editor at newspapers in Texas.

After settling in Conway nearly a decade ago, Sublett worked as the social and digital media director at The Arkansas Times and spent two years as the public affairs officer for the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs.

—The Ashley County Ledger recently

added Nathan Hendrix to its staff as community reporter. He recently graduated from the University of Central Florida in Orlando with a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in coaching theory.

During his time in school, he served as the beat writer for UCF women’s basketball for NSM Today, UCF’s student publication, and he worked with the Orlando Sentinel as a high school football freelance reporter.

Hendrix is a U.S. Army veteran who worked as a Korean linguist for more than seven years before being honorably discharged in 2013. He served two separate tours in the Republic of Korea and one tour in Iraq with the 10th Mountain Division in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In the News

“Education is the key to success. It breeds

empowerment...and was always big in our family.”

2 | January 2018 AdNews

Don’t use words ‘Super Bowl’ in advertising

Neil McConnell, APA Marketing Consultant

Sales Scripts Don’t Work

The term “Super Bowl” is a trademark owned by the National Football League (NFL), and it is protected very aggressively. What does that mean?

The biggest no-no of all is to use the term “Super Bowl” in any advertising or promotional announcements that are not sanctioned by the NFL. This prohibition includes sweepstakes and contests as well.

Advertisers pay high licensing fees to the NFL for the right to use the term “Super Bowl” in their advertising. You will almost certainly hear from the NFL’s attorneys if you use the term in advertising without explicit authorization from the NFL.

So no “Super Bowl sales” in your ads. These restrictions explain why you often hear it referred to as “The Big Game,” “Super Football,” “The Big Bowl Game” and “Super Sunday.”

Source: David Oxenford, partner in the law firm of Davis wright Tremaine in Washington, D.C.

Scripts hurt a sale. Think about how you feel when you receive a telemarketing call and you hear: “Hi, my name is John and I am calling you today from credit services to tell you about our latest offer and how we can lower your payment.” One might think that this approach will certainly get the message across and engage the customer, but without rapport one loses credibility and the sale right away.

Many people shutdown when a script is read, because they realize it’s a sales call – and let’s admit, we all despise them. Not because sales are bad, simply because we

don’t want to be bothered and we definitely don’t want to be taken advantage of. Our level of annoyance builds as the script is continued, so we either hang up or say the go-to words: “I’m not interested.”

We have all learned different sale techniques over the years and when we are selling either face to face or over the telephone we all know we need to have rapport. Why? Most would say we buy from people we like. But the truth is, we buy from people we trust!

To create trust, we must understand and communicate clearly how our product/service can help the prospect. With this understanding, we will have a better chance of avoiding the awful experience of rejection.

One simple change that anyone can make to their cold calling approach is to engage the prospect in dialogue. Simply ask “May I ask you some questions about your business?” You will get more yes’s then no’s when you ask. Think about how you would respond if someone called and asked you and asked you the same question. You would most likely take a moment to help.

If you attempt to “close the sale” before you build trust, the prospect will feel that from you right away and their guard will go up immediately. Call as a problem solver and trusted advisor – this is what will make you stand out from your competition.

Keeping these steps as key elements of your sales process will increase your ability to break through, build relationships and increase sales.

January 2018 AdNews | 3

Reasonable postal increases could hit wallWASHINGTON—An abrupt end to a decade of inflation-capped

postage increases looms ahead for community newspapers in 2018 if the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) proceeds with a new rate-setting system that could add to newspapers’ postage costs from as much as 60 percent to 75 percent over five years.

Instead of rates adjusted each year, usually in January, by an inflation benchmark, the PRC is considering using the inflation cap as a rate floor, upon which multiple percentages of additional U.S. Postal Service revenue could be stacked.

National Newspaper Association (NNA) President Susan Rowell called the proposal “devastating” and vowed NNA would oppose it.

In December, the PRC concluded a year-long examination of the rate-setting mechanism in the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), which NNA had been instrumental in passing. PAEA permitted the U.S. Postal Service to increase rates each year for each mail class or product only by the level of inflation tracked by the Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers. Since the law went into effect in 2007, community newspapers have seen relatively small increases each January, usually 2 percent to 3 percent.

But while rates were capped, USPS expenses continued to grow. Its labor contracts are renewed triennially and have included both inflation-based increases and stepped-up wage levels. Congress depleted USPS funds by requiring payments each year of more than $5 billion into a federal fund intended to support future retirees’ health benefits. And mail volumes have shrunk, shedding more than 60 billion pieces in the decade, while the country adds a little more than one million delivery points a year.

Standard Mail, which is less profitable to USPS than First-Class Mail, crossed over to become the largest mail class in 2009. Package delivery, which is also less profitable, is growing, but is not providing sufficient revenue to cover much of the USPS overhead costs, which traditionally have been supported by First-Class Mail.

The health care prefunding, however, has been consistently cited by both the PRC and USPS as the primary culprit in USPS losses. The Postal Service had to borrow to make its first payments. It then hit its maximum borrowing authority, strapping the managers for cash sources to make capital improvements. After that, USPS simply added the $5 billion each year to “debt” on its balance sheet. Now, about $54 billion of the debt (owed to the federal government) of a total $59 billion comes from the nonpayment of the prefunded health benefits.

The PRC found this unpaid obligation troubling. Although the PAEA rate system met the Postal Service’s short-term objective of stabilizing rates, the continued build-up of purported red ink puts the institution in jeopardy for the medium and long terms. That is why the PRC now proposes to scrap the rate cap and institute instead the following rate elements:

• An inflation-based “cap,” which would actually provide a floor.• An additional 2 percent annual increase if the postmaster

general believed it was needed.• A further 2 percent a year for mail classes that have failed to

cover their costs, such as Periodicals.• A 1 percent incentive increase for reaching certain performance

goals, of which .25 percent would be earned by meeting service standards.

• Additional increases (or possibly some decreases) as USPS adjusts work-sharing discounts to reflect actual costs avoided by

mailers doing the work instead of postal workers.

At present, USPS sometimes passes on discounts in excess of its own savings. In others, it implements a fee that is less than the actual cost, such as the fees for Periodicals sacks, which cover a b o u t 40 percent of the actual cost of sack handling. These increases could worsen the situation for newspaper mail.

NNA’s analysis indicates that although the costs could increase about 12 percent in the first year (depending upon the discretionary charges that USPS would control), the cumulative effects over five years could lead to increases for in county postage just under 65 percent.

A rate adjustment of 2.15 percent in the Postal Reform Act of 2017 would cause the five-year outlook to rise to above 75 percent. This outcome caused NNA’s Executive Committee to reassess the association’s support for postal reform, and to consider other steps the association should take to combat alarming postal rates.

“The Postal Reform bill could actually save us from much of this tsunami of red ink flowing from the Postal Service,” NNA President Susan Rowell, publisher of the Lancaster (S.Ca.) News, said. “It would erase much of that $59 billion in ‘debt’ and then the PRC would be looking at a much rosier financial picture for the Postal Service.”

The retiree health care payment rankles postal experts, such as NNA’s Postal Committee Chair Max Heath.

“This obligation placed upon the Postal Service in the last few days of our work on PAEA has absolutely crippled the system,” he said. “It has caused this appearance of ‘debt’ on the Postal Service’s balance sheet. To start with, it is absurd to many of us that the Postal Service even has a balance sheet, but it is an outrage that USPS is expected to pre-fund a benefit that every other agency in the government pays for as it goes. This obligation added confusion to a Postal Service that had enough trouble just dealing with declining mail volume. Now the unfair appearance that it is failing to meet its federal obligations has led the PRC to this very troubling decision.”

The new rates are not a done deal and are not likely to go into effect until late 2018, or possibly 2019. The PRC is seeking comments from mailer organizations on March 1.

Rowell said NNA was prepared to fight.“We disagree with the premise. We disagree with the conclusion.

We disagree with most of the outcome of this opinion. We agree that USPS needs help, and we have fought hard to provide that help by supporting the Postal Reform Act. I will admit we took a long look at our support for this bill after the PRC’s decision. In the end, we concluded the bill is the right thing for the Postal Service, and our newspapers need a strong universal service mandate in order to reach our subscribers. But it has to be at a reasonable cost.

“This won’t be the first time NNA has had to roll up its sleeves to preserve our right to affordable and reliable mail service. We are preparing for a busy 2018, as once again we speak up for newspapers in the mail. Stay tuned. We’ll have more to say about this topic as the year proceeds.”

4 | January 2018 AdNews

APA's 2018 Perfect Performance List

When businesses and organizations schedule newspaper advertising through Arkansas Press Services (APS), it is important that all the ads run correctly and on time. The Arkansas Press Association Board of Directors wishes to recognize member newspapers that run ads error free. APA’s Perfect Performance Club – a listing of all member newspapers that have run every ad scheduled through APS this year with no errors – will run every month in AdNews.

At the end of the year, APS will reward a newspapers still on the list for their staffs’ hard work and dedication to perfection.

Alma JournalAmity – The StandardArkadelphia – The Daily Siftings

HeraldAshdown – Little River NewsBatesville – Arkansas WeeklyBatesville Daily GuardThe Beebe NewsBella Vista – The Weekly VistaBenton – The Saline CourierBerryville – Carroll County News

MidweekBerryville – Carroll County News

Weekend EditionBlytheville – Courier NewsBooneville DemocratBrinkley – The Central Delta Argus-

SunCalico Rock – White River CurrentCamden NewsCharleston ExpressCherokee Village – Villager JournalClarksville – Johnson County GraphicClinton – Van Buren County DemocratConway – Log Cabin DemocratCorning – Clay County Courier Crossett – The Ashley News ObserverDanville – Yell County RecordDardanelle – Post-DispatchDe Queen BeeDeWitt Era-EnterpriseDumas ClarionEl Dorado News-TimesEngland DemocratEudora EnterpriseEureka Springs – Lovely County

CitizenFairfield Bay NewsFarmington – Washington County

Enterprise-LeaderFayetteville – Northwest Arkansas

Democrat-Gazette Flippin – The Mountaineer EchoFordyce News-AdvocateForrest City – Times-HeraldFort Smith – Times RecordGlenwood Herald

Gravette – Westside Eagle ObserverGreenwood DemocratGurdon TimesHamburg – Ashley County LedgerHampton – South Arkansas SunHardy – Spring River ChronicleHarrisburg – The Modern NewsHarrison Daily TimesHazen – Grand Prairie HeraldHeber Springs – Sun-TimesThe Helena-West Helena WorldThe Hope StarHorseshoe Bend – Pacesetting TimesHot Springs – The Sentinel-RecordHot Springs Village VoiceHuntsville – Madison County RecordImboden – The Ozark JournalJacksonville – The LeaderJasper – Newton County TimesJonesboro – The SunLake Village – Chicot County

SpectatorLittle Rock – Arkansas BusinessLittle Rock – Arkansas Democrat-

GazetteLittle Rock – Arkansas TimesLittle Rock – The Daily RecordLonoke DemocratMagnolia – Banner-NewsMalvern Daily RecordManila – The Town CrierMansfield – The CitizenMarianna – Courier-IndexMarshall Mountain WaveMcCrory – Woodruff County Monitor-

Leader-AdvocateMcGehee-Dermott Times-NewsThe Melbourne TimesThe Mena StarMonticello – Advance MonticellonianMorrilton – Conway County Petit Jean

Country HeadlightMount Ida – Montgomery County

News Mountain Home – The Baxter

Bulletin Mountain View – Stone County Leader

Murfreesboro DiamondNashville News-LeaderNewport IndependentNorth Little Rock – The TimesThe Osceola TimesOzark SpectatorParagould Daily PressParis ExpressPea Ridge – The TimesPerryville – Perry County Petit Jean

Country HeadlightPiggott/Rector – Clay County Times-

DemocratPine Bluff CommercialPocahontas Star HeraldPrescott – Nevada County PicayuneRison – Cleveland County HeraldRussellville – The CourierSalem – The News/Areawide MediaSearcy – The Daily CitizenThe Sheridan HeadlightSiloam Springs – Herald-LeaderStamps – Lafayette County PressStar City – Lincoln AmericanStar City – Lincoln LedgerThe Stuttgart Daily LeaderTexarkana GazetteTrumann – Poinsett County Democrat

TribuneVan Buren – Press Argus-CourierWaldron NewsWalnut Ridge – The Times DispatchWarren – Eagle DemocratWest Memphis – TimesWhite Hall JournalWynne Progress

114Papers Remain in “Perfect” Standing

January 2018 AdNews | 5

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Valentine's DayAsh

Wednesday

Presidents’ Day

No Mail

Mardi Gras

February is...National Black History Month. Call on politicians, libraries and museums (to promote Black History Month programming), local businesses, bookstores (histories, biographies and autobiographies of famous Black Americans).

National Weddings Month. Call on bakeries, boutiques, stationery supply shops, event rental firms, special events venues, formalwear shops, restaurants and caterers, florists, jewelers, wedding consultants, wedding chapels, hotels, travel agents, limousine companies, disc jockeys and sound-system companies, party planners, hair and nail salons, day spas, gift shops, shoe stores. Also don’t forget, prom season is right around the corner, so getting in with your advertisers now will help you later.

Wise Health Care Consumer Month and National Children’s Dental Health Month. Call on pediatricians, dentists, specialists, pharmacists, insurance agents, health-plan providers, hospitals and medical centers.

American Heart Month. Call on health food stores, gyms, dieticians, smoking cessation firms, bookstores (heart healthy and diet cookbooks), sporting goods stores.

Call List

February Monthly Sales Planner

Groundhog Day

6 | January 2018 AdNews