Newspapers make special sales plan

Papers are prepared to distribute extra inaugural editions, taking cue from the demand for Nov. 5 copies.

Associated Press

For the historic inauguration of the nation’s first black president, The Washington Post is hiring hundreds of hawkers to help distribute more than 1.5 million additional copies of the newspaper over two days.

The Post is also printing an afternoon “extra” edition, its first for an inauguration, while temporarily raising single-copy prices to $2 from 75 cents.

Other newspapers, caught off guard by enormous demand for post-Election Day souvenir copies, are preparing increased press runs and special sections as early as Sunday. Meanwhile, some cable TV networks and the larger daily in Barack Obama’s hometown of Chicago plan public screenings of Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony.

“Nov. 5 took us completely by surprise,” said Michael Dizon, spokesman for the Chicago Tribune. “We took some of those learnings and most certainly are going to be applying them ... to make sure that everybody who wants a copy of the newspaper gets one.”

Many stands across the country sold out of newspapers the day after Obama’s election, even after newspapers restarted their printing presses. Many customers bought multiple copies as keepsakes — a reminder that even as newspapers are fighting for their very survival, their roles as tactile markers of history may be irreplaceable.

In New York, customers lined up outside the Times’ headquarters to buy a copy, and entrepreneurs were seeking as much as $600 for a copy on eBay.

Sales of the Nov. 5 edition and related merchandise such as a $299 framed front page reprint generated $2.3 million in revenue for the Times through December, while the Tribune saw a $1.4 million boost in sales. USA Today sold 2.8 million copies of that issue, a 20 percent increase.

The demand amounted to a one-time boost for a newspaper industry besieged by falling revenue as the deepening recession puts further pressure on an ad market already suffering from the migration of readers to the Internet.

Newspapers are now counting on a repeat as Obama gets sworn in Tuesday.

“Obviously it’s all about news, but it will be designed to be kept,” said Daryl Kannberg, deputy managing editor at The Plain Dealer of Cleveland. “It will capture the news of the day, people’s reactions and allow readers to feel the moment.”

Though the boost won’t lift newspapers from their perils, the one-time revenue gains might be enough to keep a reporter or two employed, said Ken Doctor, a media analyst with research firm Outsell Inc.

The Washington Post, as the host-city newspaper, plans four separate editions Tuesday and Wednesday, including a one-section “extra” Tuesday afternoon targeted at tourists. Hawkers will try to catch visitors as they board buses home.

“We’re trying to deliver a keepsake piece to the visitor who’s coming in just for that day, an inexpensive piece of history,” said Mike Towle, director of retail and corporate sales.

The Post is increasing single-copy prices to $2 for the Tuesday extra, the regular editions Tuesday and Wednesday, and a commemorative issue that will go on sale for a few days, starting late Wednesday morning.

Post officials would not provide estimates of how much additional revenue the newspaper expects to reap. Its moves will incur higher distribution costs, including the hiring of hawkers and the removal of nearly 1,000 newspaper boxes as a security measure.

The Times said it has seen higher demand for advertising for Obama-related editions, including the Sunday magazine, though it does not increase ad rates for one-time circulation boosts.

The newspaper plans to print 2.2 million copies of Wednesday’s edition, a 75 percent increase, and has hired additional hawkers in New York, Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles.

USA Today, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times are among the newspapers taking pre-orders over the Internet for next week’s editions, while the Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch will join the Post in printing afternoon extras.

A 48-page commemorative edition of USA Today, chronicling Obama’s rise to the White House and the evolution of race relations, is already on sale for $4.95.

As Obama’s “Whistle Stop Tour” passes Baltimore on Saturday, mirroring Abraham Lincoln’s journey by train for his inauguration, The (Baltimore) Sun will sell early Sunday editions with a masthead design used in Lincoln’s day. That edition also will carry a Feb. 25, 1861, article on Lincoln’s time in Baltimore.

The Post is considering sales of a DVD compiling various video produced for its Web site, while the Los Angeles Times already has a price list for various merchandise online, from $2 for Wednesday’s paper (it’s 75 cents at newsstands) to $180 for a package that includes the Nov. 5 and Jan. 21 papers, mugs, T-shirts and a holographic mouse pad.

TV news outlets have big ideas for the inauguration: CNN and Fox News Channel plan to show their coverage on large screens at New York’s Times Square. MSNBC is helping to arrange free viewing parties at movie theaters in 21 cities and in 650 Starbucks Corp. stores in New York, Seattle and San Francisco.

For those stuck at work, many news Web sites will show live video coverage. The Associated Press built an interactive tool in which users can choose among seven live anchored and raw feeds from around Washington.

Comcast Corp.’s interactive news channel for digital cable customers will show coverage of five news networks simultaneously; viewers can choose the audio feed using the remote.

At CNN.com, viewers will be able to update their Facebook status directly from the video player and see what their social-networking friends are saying.

Doctor, the news industry analyst, said next week is an opportunity for news outlets not only to generate new revenue but also to foster long-term loyalty.

“They want to really associate their brand with the news of the day,” he said. “They want you to think of their brand first. That requires this kind of investment to create content in various forms.”