The humble check is bounced
from Target...Issue #133
Do you still have a checkbook? Do you ever write checks in it?
A few days ago, I recalled when I got my first checkbook. It was shortly after I moved to Chicago and it was a big deal for me because I felt like I was finally a full fledged adult. Sitting at the desk across from the “personal banker” and choosing my check style, type font and how I wanted my name to appear on the checks was a signature experience from those first few months out on my own.
Later, as a frequent business traveler, there were hotel chains where being a member of their priority club meant that I had check cashing privileges at all of their hotels. This was a huge help whenever a traveling pack of publishers representatives showed up at the same location. Even in the so-called “good old days” there was only so much you could get away with on your expense account.
Last week, Target announced that they would stop accepting personal checks as a form of payment. They’re not the only retailer to do this. There are so many other ways to pay for things. Credit and debit cards now have embedded chips for added security. You can pay with your smart phone or secure apps like Venmo, PayPal or bank secured systems like Zelle. And let’s not forget, most places will still take cash. Personally, I hardly ever carry cash these days.
I don’t blame Target for stopping this customer service. It’s probably expensive to process them and there are fewer and fewer people who would write a check for an in store payment. Check fraud is costly too. Market Watch notes that there have been approximately 220,000 reports of suspected check fraud reported by depository institutions this year.
While seven in ten Americans say they have paper checks on hand, only 40% of them report using a paper check in the past 30 days. And, while Target will no longer accept a paper check, there are still plenty of other big box retailers who will: Walmart, Kohl’s T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Home Goods.
On a personal level, our family pays more than 90% of our bills via some form of electronic transfer. However, I still like to write a check from time to time. Especially if it’s from my business account. That checkbook is one of those oversized “business executive” style books. I like the feel as the book opens up. I like using an actual ink pen, instead of my stylus. There’s something timeless about that.
Will there be a point in time where checks are not a thing? Probably right around the corner sometime in the next two decades. Is that a bad thing?
No. It’s simply a thing. Maybe like me, you really like check books and writing checks. But like so many things from past times, it’s time is just fading and society and technology is moving along.
one__BusinessWeek editor Brad Stone is bullish on the relaunched monthly print magazine
Note: BusinessWeek was one of my very first newsstand circulation clients back in the pre-consolidation days. I recall the McGraw-Hill publication as very factual, very dry, and nearly impossible to get anyone excited about.
The transition to Bloomberg was a shot in the arm and in my old blogging days, the revived B/W made my top ten “Covers of the year”.
Well, should editor Stone be bullish? Yes. They did a great job with the relaunch and the new BusinessWeek looks very strong. Does this herald a print comeback?
Well...sort of? It means that there are very specific markets where a print magazine makes a lot of sense for the readers of that particular publication. Where the desire/demand for print makes it possible for a print publication to be profitable, or pay its own way. Or as we sometimes see, the company will expend the time and money because the print magazine is a brand extension.
This is a unique situation and the relaunch is funded and supported by a very strong organization that has a many resources. The editorial content of the publication is very specific to an audience that wants print. That helps.
So, the question remains: Is this a sign of print making a comeback?
I think the above phrase, often used by opinion makers and writers is wrongheaded. I’ve long maintained that there is, and always has been, a desire for print and that will not go away. But it will be something that is appreciated by a smaller audience. The 1990’s is not calling and asking for its ABC reports.
two__small town reporter settles lawsuit after police raid on Kansas newspaper
Back in August 2023, the police chief and several officers of the town of Marion, KS raided the local newspaper offices and the home of the editor of the Marion County Record. The chief claimed that the reporter and others were involved in identity theft and computer crimes. However, no chargers were ever filed.
Reporter Deb Gruver filed a lawsuit and the publisher of the Marion County Record also filed suit claiming that the raid caused the death of his 98 year old mother. There are suggestions that the raid may have had something to do with the paper investigating the background of the police chief.
The lawsuit pays the reporter $250,000 and the police chief, who was removed from office in October, is also removed from the suit.
Check out local KSN’s reporting of the settlement. It’s 30 seconds long, it says nothing, it provides practically no information about what happened or why. It’s one of the numerous reasons I’ve long maintained that local TV doesn’t serve the public like it is supposed to.
three__The Devil Wears Prada reboot? Will they ask the audience team what the churn rate is?
There are certainly an awful lot of reboots, retreads and prequels this year. However, as author Emma Specter points out:
Specter’s article is a fun look back at many of these New York City magazine publishing based rom-coms that were so prevalent in the ‘90’s and early aughts. Very few of them rang true to how magazines are actually published. Even the ones that tried hard, often got some of the big stuff really wrong (I’m looking at you The Bold Type!).
But why not? Let’s reboot the rom-com and see where it goes.
I’m still waiting for a magazine based rom-com where the scrappy business team saves the day.
four__Is the USPS delivering for publishers?
In an op-ed posted to The Washington Post at the beginning of last week. US Postmaster Louis DeJoy made a rather valiant attempt to cite all of the progress the Postal Service has made under his administration since he took office during the pandemic in 2020.
As MediaPost columnist, Ray Schultz points out, DeJoys’ tenure at the USPS has not been great for publishers. The National Newspaper Association sent 200 letters from newspaper publishers to the Postal Rate Commission citing “unresponsive postal authorities, losses of subscribers and delivery failures."
The fact is mail deliveries are delayed. Publisher shipping rates have skyrocketed and service from drop off to sorting to customer delivery is not what it should be.
five__Former Johnson Publishing Building up for sale.
A year ago, I reported on the installation of the Ebony “Test Kitchen” in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. When my career began, Johnson Publishing was an iconic and important part of the print magazine culture. For a time, Johnson was one of the largest black owned companies in the US.
The home of Ebony and Jet magazines was sold to Columbia College in Chicago in 2010, and again to real estate developers in 2017 who converted it to apartments in 2019. Five years later, the developer is looking to sell the building.
The good news is that the landmark building has not lost its signature look. According to the article in CoStar News, the classic Ebony & Jet sign on the top of 820 S. Michigan Ave is still in place and the original wood paneling and magazine covers are still in place in the lobby.
This former Chicagoan is crossing his fingers that this important piece of African American history and publishing history does not get erased by the new owners.
Your Moment of Magazine Zen…
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Before we go, let’s check in once more with our favorite stressed out magazine media marketing team. When last we checked in with the team in Conference Room B, they had lost all their top secret projects and were now tasked with ‘re-launching” five magazines that had been killed the previous year as SIPs. The deadline is two months. This morning, the new CTO met with them to describe the ‘huge investment’ the company had made in new digital ‘flip book’ versions of the magazines. This will be on the team to market. Let’s see how they take the news.
