70
years
NEWSLETTER
Wisconsin Papers Receive Coveted
CVC Gold Standard Award
Tim Bingaman of CVC announced 40 papers
received the Gold Standard Award. Over 10%
are Wisconsin Community Papers.
Congratulations to:
Helmer Printing, Beldenville WI
Stateline Shopping News, Beloit WI
Walworth County Shopper Sunday, Delavan WI
Wisconsin-Iowa Shopping News, Prairie du Chien WI
Washington County Sunday Post, West Bend WI
CVC’s Gold Standard Award is given only to those
publications that meet strict quantitative criteria for
receivership and readership from Paragraph 11 of
the audit and purchasing scores from questions 2
and 3 of a paper’s readership study.
Results are In from our New Group Audit for
Wisconsin Community Papers
Jim Kennedy from CVC shared the highlights of our 2009
Group Audits at our Fall Meeting at our annual conference:
WCP numbers remain high!
Receivership 97%!!
Readership 78.2%
Purchasing Influence 79.3%
With numbers like these your audit is your Best sales tool.
If you haven’t scheduled your audit training, call CVC today,
800-262-6392. For complete details of the group audit
go to our website www.wisad.com.
Volume 13 • Issue 3 • Dec. 2009 • www.wisad.com
Celebrating
Publications that earn the exclusive Gold Standard
Awards represent less than 1% of the CVC audited
publications. These publications have a proven
track record of meeting the needs of their readers
and advertisers.
This year’s audit percentage points for controlled
receivership, readership and purchasing had to to-
tal 269.0 or more in order for a home-delivered or
mailed publication to earn the coveted award. Cri-
teria for single copy and rack-distributed publica-
tions were slightly different, since these publications
do not have receivership and readership scores. For
these publications, CVC analyzed purchasing per-
centage and verification of distribution (paragraph
12 of audit) scores. Winners needed a total of 185.7
to earn the award.
WCP Classified Promotions
Sales are starting to rise! Get positioned. Look over
your client base for someone who needs a cost-
effective method for reaching customers statewide.
Utilize the Buy 3 – Get one Free promotion and help
your clients spread the word. Help your bottom line
with a new revenue source. Help the state associa-
tion, as profits feed member benefits.
DEADLINE REMINDER
Your WCP Dues are due by December 23, 2009. You should
have received your dues and payback packet in the mail in
mid October. Don’t forget to send in your paperwork along
with your dues check so your payback will not be delayed.
Payback checks will be issued as soon as your dues and
paperwork have been received.
 Executive Director
Dear WCP Members:
WCP Officers & Congratulations to all the Winners of this year’s
Board of Directors . . WCP Ad Awards. Another fine job!

Our audit numbers are in and all of you deserve a

high five for maintaining high numbers.

Our hats go off to the CVC Gold Standard winners.

Over 10% of the winners were from Wisconsin! Yeah!
PRESIDENT
Joe Mathes Can you believe that it’s already November? We are well into wrapping up 2009.
Kiel Tempo
joe@deltapublications.com It has certainly been a defining year. Many of us have seen many changes in our
920-286-1970 work and personal lives. We have all had to really focus on working smarter, as all
VICE PRESIDENT
the old rules are out the door and resources are in short supply.
Mark Helmer
Ellsworth Shopper In times like these, our association becomes even more valuable. Let us help you
mark@helmerprinting.com
715-273-2112 stay competitive. We just had an absolutely fabulous fall conference packed with
tons of ideas. Ideas for sales, editorial, graphics and using the internet to make
SECRETARY/TREASURER your bottom line look better. If you weren’t there you missed a great opportunity
Ken Ubert
Hometown Publications for training/ideas and networking. Commit to attending the next one.
ubertk@discoverhometown.com
414-315-7090
Speaking of training, the new audits are in. Make sure you call CVC and get your
PAST PRESIDENT staff trained to leverage your audit. If you are participating in our Tim Smith we-
Anthony Drew binars for Sales and Customer Service, congratulations! If not, call our office and
Conley Publishing Group
adrew@conleynet.com we will get you in the last few sessions.
414-303-1062

DIRECTORS It’s November…and that means the March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign. This
Ken Hodgden is a nationwide collective effort among all the free circulation papers to show the
Advertiser Community News
Ken.h@adcommnews.com
power of the free papers. Help them bring awareness to the Prematurity Campaign
920-362-1190 by running the ads on a space available basis. You will not only help save lives,
but be helping to promote the free paper industry.
Gail Murphy
Booster Advertising Publications
ads@booster-ads.com Start making plans for 2010. Make sure you take advantage of everything your
262-224-7128
association offers you to help stay competitive.
Jesse Aspenson
Prairie du Chien Shopping News We wish you a very successful and joyous holiday season.
jaspenson@wcinet.com
608-412-0192

Deb Mullarkey Janelle M. Anderson

Richland Center Shopping News
dmullarkey@wcinet.com WCP Executive Director
608-604-0082 WCP Thanks
Mohamed Ibrahim
Anthony Drew
Green Bay Sun
mibrahim@bluelinemediaholdings.com Executive Director Janelle Anderson
715-853-8371 presented out-going WCP President
Anthony Drew with a gavel plaque
Dan Pyfer
CSI Media LLC
in appreciation of his dedication and
danp@communityshoppers.com service to WCP for serving as our
262-728-3424 President for the last two years.

2 - Dec. 09 Issue
Meet your new 2009-2010 Officers and Board of Directors

Photo Caption: WCP Board of Directors from

Left to Right – Ken Hodgden, Deb Mullarkey,
Gail Murphy, Anthony Drew, Mark Helmer, Jesse
Aspenson, Mohamed Ibrahim, Joe Mathes and
Ken Ubert. Not pictured, Dan Pyfer.

On September 25th at the big regional free paper conference, your new 2009-2010 officers
and Board of Directors were sworn in.
• President – Joe Mathes, Kiel Tempo
• Vice President – Mark Helmer, Ellsworth Shopper
• Secretary/Treasurer – Ken Ubert, Hometown Publications
• Past President – Anthony Drew, Conley Publications
• Board Members – Ken Hodgden, Advertiser Community News
Gail Murphy of Booster Publications
Deb Mullarkey, Richland Center Shopping News
Jesse Aspenson, Prairie du Chien Shopping News
And our newest Board members:
Mohamed Ibrahim, Green Bay Sun
Dan Pyfer, CSI Media Delavan

Meet the Newest WCP Board Members

Mohamed Ibrahim
Mohamed Ibrahim is the Ad-
vertising Director for The Green
Bay Sun. The Green Bay Sun is
a community shopper publica-
tion serving Green Bay, Wis-
consin and surrounding com-
munities in Brown County. This
publication is direct mailed ev-
ery Thursday to 64,000 homes
in Brown County.
The Green Bay Sun parent
company is Blueline Media, LLC.
Blueline Media has publications in: Shawano, Oconto Falls,
Rhinelander, Crandon, and Green Bay. In addition, Blueline
Media has niche products and a printing division.
Mohamed has an impressive seventeen year sales ca-
reer. Mohamed has been with Blueline Media, LLC for two
plus years. During this time he has been: Key Accounts
Manager, National Sales Manager and Advertising Direc-
tor. Mohamed has helped to grow the footprint of Blue-
line Media publications and products in various markets;
Shawano, Rhinelander, Crandon, Oconto Falls and Green
Bay. Mohamed began his newspaper career with Gannett
Wisconsin as a Major accounts executive. He worked at
Gannett for four years prior to joining Blueline Media.
Mohamed is very much involved with the Fox Valley
Community; he is currently serving as director of public
relations and a board member for the Islamic Center of
Wisconsin. He also helps to lead the Citizens Law Enforce-
ment Academy, is a frequent speaker for the Multicultural
Center, mentors at a local elementary school and is a
certified interpreter for the state of Wisconsin. Mohamed
was a resident of Kuwait before
coming to the United States
seven years ago.
Dan Pyfer is vice president/
general manager for CSI Me-
dia, LLC, with corporate offices
in Delavan, Wis. CSI publishes
and distributes bi-weekly
community newspapers on
Sundays and Wednesdays in
three markets that cover a five
county region in southern Wis-
consin and northern Illinois. CSI’s publications have a CVC
audited distribution of 180,000 homes weekly. CSI also
prints a weekly entertainment publication on Thursday,
which is rack-distributed throughout Walworth County.
In addition, CSI prints 40 annual specialty publications
and commercial print products. Dan has an impressive
34-year career in the community newspaper and print
industry, with hands-on experience in several phases of
the business, from the pressroom to circulation, to display
advertising sales and commercial print sales. He has been
actively involved with Wisconsin Community Papers for
over 20 years as a representative for CSI. Dan is also very
involved in the community, having served on the board
of directors for the Delavan-Delavan Lakes Chamber of
Commerce, including as chairman for the Chamber’s an-
nual auction. Dan and his wife Kathy live in Janesville,
Wis. and have three grown children: Rob, Lori and Jodi,
and their Boston (Terrorist), Oscar. Dan and Kathy enjoy
car shows and visiting casinos of all kinds in all geograph-
ical regions. They also look forward to spending time with
family and friends.
Welcome Dan & Mohamed!

3 - Dec. 09 Issue
 PaperChain Press Release
Following is a press release that has been distributed to
the leading national advertising publications including
Ad Age, Ad Week, Editor and Publisher and others. It
is being distributed now because next week the same
publications will be reporting the new circulation num-
bers for daily publications and the numbers are expect-
ed to decline substantially. We want to distance and
differentiate ourselves from the bad circulation news by
telling our own story at the same time. So far E & P has
already picked up this story and run with it.
Now would be a good time for you to edit this message
for your readership audience and localize it to tell your
own story within your own publication. We are asking
publications throughout the country to do this within
the next two weeks to diminish any negative connota-
tion the news about dailies could create for us. Ours is a
completely different story and your readers and adver-
tisers need to know this.
Thank you in advance for partnering with PaperChain
in our effort to bring positive recognition to our healthy
and growing community publication industry. Any space
you can offer to tell our story will be important to Pa-
perChain's and our industry's mission. It would also be
helpful to distribute the press release in your final ed-
ited form to local distribution options in your market in-
cluding other publications as well as radio and t.v. Your
website is another important place for this message.
For Immediate Release: October 23, 2009
Community Papers' Circulation Audits Give Reason
to Cheer -- Latest Numbers: Wide, Deep & Stable
Before the national circulation narrative turns to gloom
and doom next week, there's plenty of reason to cel-
ebrate right now at the community level. Audit data for
the first half of 2009 has just been crunched by Circula-
tion Verification Council (CVC), and their MEDIA FACTS
RELEASE details continued circulation stability across
the community and niche publication sectors. Even
better news, lots of actual gains! Circulation gains were
reported by: 45 percent of the publications in the Com-
munity Newspaper category; 54 percent of the publica-
tions in the Alternative Newsweeklies category; and 54
percent of the publications in the Ethnic Publications
category;
4 - Dec. 09 Issue
"Obviously, this is good news and it's great to finally
see an appetite to cover it," said Dan Holmes, President
of the Board of PaperChain and Executive Director of
Free Community Papers of New York, referring to re-
cent positive coverage of community newspapers. "Our
peers at NNA started the cheers with their survey of 500
adults, and we're excited to be able to back their local
community findings with thousands -- actually tens of
thousands -- of independent zip-level phone surveys.
CVC's independent work on that front has been critical
and their longstanding service invaluable."
The good news from community papers is even better
news for advertisers. Remarkable local penetration and
solid readership numbers are now being met with rising
purchase intention scores. The number of readers in-
dicating they frequently purchase products or services
from advertisements seen in their community and niche
publications is up over a point from last year, topping 3
out of 4 with a 75.6% score. "This increase is potential-
ly significant, because purchase intention scores have
been stable for years," according to CVC President,
Tim Bingaman. "A blip in the national average of one to
two percent requires substantial change in purchasing
behaviors from existing readers. This shows that read-
ers are increasingly looking to community and niche
publications to research sales and buying opportunities
before spending money."
Some might rain on this parade out of knee-jerk reac-
tion to free publications, but Holmes points to the re-
cent move by Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) which
now allows product sold for one cent to count as paid.
"The distinction between barely paid and honestly free
is now as thin as it can be," said Holmes, bringing the
high profile battle between Wall Street Journal and USA
Today into context. "I think Nat Ives put it best describ-
ing their efforts to discredit each others' circulation. In
his AdAge post he concluded with today's wisdom:
'And plenty of people are increasingly interested in the
simple number of readers, whether they paid for it, read
it in a doctor's office or found it on the subway.' And
that's where we're at, with CVC scrutinizing the num-
bers, calling readers in our markets, delivering statisti-
cally certain bona fides."
 Fall ABC Stats Show Paid Circulation Continues to Decline

Newspaper circulation continued to tumble, according
to the Audit Bureau of Circulations’ fall Fas-Fax report.
Average daily circulation fell 10.6 percent in the six
months ending Sept. 30, compared with year-ago fig-
ures, according to statistics compiled by The Associ-
ated Press.
Sunday circulation dropped 7.5 percent.
USA Today lost its position as the top-selling daily pa-
per in the nation, giving way to The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal posted an average daily circulation of just
over 2 million, an increase of 0.6 percent. USA Today
lost 17 percent of its circulation, now distributing 1.9
million copies.
The rest of the top 10:
• The New York Times, 927,851, down 7.3 percent.
• Los Angeles Times, 657,467, down 11.1 percent.
• The Washington Post, 582,844, down 6.4 percent.
• (New York) Daily News, 544,167, down 14 percent.
• New York Post, 508,042, down 18.8 percent.
• Chicago Tribune, 465,892, down 9.7 percent.
• The Houston Chronicle, 384,419, down 14.2 percent.
The Denver Post recorded a circulation of 340,949, up
substantially from the approximate 210,000 subscribers
it had before the Rocky Mountain News folded in Feb-
ruary. The Seattle Times, meantime, had a circulation
of 263,588, a boost of some 63,000 copies from what it
reported before the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer went
Web only.
In Detroit, where the Detroit Media Partnership cut back
on the days it home delivers The Detroit News and De-
troit Free Press, The News distributed 167,849 copies
Monday through Friday, a drop of 6 percent, while the
Free Press saw its Monday through Friday circ drop al-
most 10 percent, to 269,729 copies.
On Thursdays and Fridays, where both papers are
home-delivered, The News’ circulation rose 0.02 per-
cent to 186,568 copies while the Free Press was up
0.09 percent to 308,063 copies.
E-editions, which both papers launched as a means to
fill the gap on the days they aren’t delivered, totaled
a weekly average of 126,692 for The News and Free
Press, ABC reported. The bulk, 84,851, were for the
Free Press.

Free Paper Association Remembers

Craig McMullin
August 7, 2009 marked a sad day for all of us in the free paper industry.
That was the day Craig McMullin, Executive Director of AFCP, died in a
fatal motorcycle crash in St. George, Utah.

Craig was a true leader in the industry, not just for AFCP, but the whole free
paper industry as well. He was always on the forefront and cutting edge of
technologies and methods that made us stronger and better publications
and consequently, a stronger and better free paper industry.

On behalf of the free paper associations, Alyse Mitten, presented a check

in the amount of $6,500 (additional funds came later totaling over $7,000)
made out to Our Kids Can Read, a foundation/charity established by Craig
and will continue his legacy. Scott Patterson accepted the check on behalf
of the family of Craig McMullin. Craig will be sadly missed by all. But his
goodness and “cheer” will continue through his non-profit.

5 - Dec. 09 Issue

Support the March of Dimes
Prematurity Campaign
Join all the free paper associations in supporting
this very important cause.
It’s easy. Just go to www.paperchainnetwork.net, download
the ads and run on a space available basis. Although the Prema-
turity Awareness Campaign runs in November, the ads can be run
from now until the end of the year.
By publishing these ads in your unsold space, you are not only
helping support the health of unborn babies, but you are support-
ing free papers here in Wisconsin and across the nation.
PaperChain has formed this amazing alliance with March of
Dimes. Our collective effort in supporting the Prematurity Aware-
ness Campaign shows the Power of the Free Paper Industry.
Good data…that helps and amazes March of Dimes, but also will
add impact to our regional and local marketing initiatives.
Tearsheets are no longer required. We do, however, need an
affidavit completed and returned to the WCP Office
(affidavits also available on the PaperChain website).
Any questions, call the office 800-727-8745.
6 - Dec. 09 Issue
WCP 2 x 2 Display Ad Program
Wisconsin Community Papers 2 x 2 program is off to a
great start. We’ve already had several 2 x 2 placements.
The 2 x 2 network is a great cost-effective way to dem-
onstrate the power of Wisconsin Community Papers. We
have several specials running. Take advantage of them for
yourself and your clients.
• Free for All Fall Promotion (for you)
Each publication gets one free 2 x 2 ad they
can use to promote the network
• Fall Savings (for your clients)
Buy 3 weeks of any or all 2 x 2 zone(s) and get
one week of equal value FREE
A great way to demonstrate the power of our papers
to a new client…a small investment with great results!
Fall Free Paper Conference
a Huge Success
Westin Marriott O’Hare Chicago September 24-26,
2009 was the site of the great free paper conference.
Seven associations, Community Papers of Indiana &
Illinois, Community Papers of Michigan, Community
Papers of Ohio and West Virginia, Independent Free
Papers of America, Midwest Free Community Papers,
Minnesota Free Papers Association and Wisconsin
Community Papers combined their efforts to host
the largest Midwest free paper conference to-date.
Over 300 publishers attended. The event was kicked
off by Afterburner – Flawless Execution – Business is
War – A Fighter Pilot’s Secret to Business Success…
Plan, Brief, Execute, Debrief=Win. The conference
continued with a kick opening speakeasy vendor re-
ception with food, drinks and prizes galore.
Friday and Saturday saw several excellent tracks,
Mike Blinder taught publishers how to sell online ads
and videos; Mitch Henderson dazzled publishers
with his unique approach to several different profit
centers; Tim Smith pumped up publishers and sales
staffs from sales basics to time management; Kevin
Slimp lead several graphic tracks; Gersh Kuntzman
lead the way to transform your editorial, and finally,
Ed Parker wrapped up our conference with 212: The
Extra Degree. In between, great food, drinks and
unbelievable networking. If you didn’t come, you
missed a great conference!
 We Stopped Singing the Blues
We came to the Ultimate Free Paper Conference
in Chicago September 24-26, 2009
7 Great Associations under one roof!
IFPA, CPI, CPM, CPOWV, MFPA, MFCP & WCP
And Learned to Sing a New Tune!

7 - Dec. 09 Issue
Congratulations to General Excellence
Winners for the 2009 WCP Ad Awards
36 different publications participated in this year’s contest. We had 542 total entries in both divisions.
Special congratulations to our General Excellence Award Winners:

Under 20,000 Circulation
Less than 10% News Content
Kiel Tempo

More than 10% News Content Stay tuned.

Merrill Foto News
Entry forms for next
Over 20,000 Circulation year’s contest will
Less than 10% News Content
Hartford Booster
be arriving shortly.
Start pulling your
More than 10% News Content ads now!
Fond du Lac Action Advertiser

To see the video and list of winners of the 2009 awards

presentation go to our website, www.wisad.com.

WCP News, the official newsletter of

Wisconsin Community Papers, is distributed
free of charge to members.

WCP Personnel Contacts Human Resources Consultant Lobbyists

Barbara Stroh Janet Swandby & Kathi Kilgore
Janelle Anderson 920-907-7897 Phone: 608-286-9599
Executive Director, Membership, Fax: 608-286-0766
Conferences and Training WCP Office Swandby@swandby.com or
101 South Main Street Kilgore@swandby.com
Jeanne Schmal Fond du Lac, WI 54935
Convention/Seminar Reservations 920-924-2651 Auditor CVC
Communication, WCP Library Toll Free: 800-727-8745 Tim Bingaman
Fax: 920-922-0861 800-262-6392
Kathy Braun janelle@wisad.com info@cvcaudit.com
Classified Manager, Classifieds
Editorial Contact Visit our website at:
Heidi Luedtke Janelle Anderson www.wisad.com
Billing, Ad Distribution Toll Free: 800-727-8745
janelle@wisad.com WCP is affiliated with IFPA and AFCP.
Millie Sheldon PaperChain - For publisher downloads,
Affidavits “Wisconsin’s One Stop Print information and advertising material:
Media Source” www.paperchainnetwork.net

8 - Dec. 09 Issue