I've been amused by the ads and notices running in The Enquirer lately promoting increased availability of the Nov. 5 Enquirer featuring the front page announcing that Barack Obama had won the presidency. Apparently they've had to go back and reprint more copies of that issue due to local folks' interest in having the paper as a keepsake.
The funny part, of course, is that The Enquirer endorsed John McCain for president. In other words, they told us not to vote for Obama, and after we ignored them and voted for him anyway they now want to sell us the paper that announced they were wrong and we were right. They're also selling coffee mugs and T-shirts printed with that Nov. 5 front page. —-
Times are tough, mind you, especially in the newspaper business. Pride has no place when the bottom line is squealing. The Enquirer has been told by its corporate owner to trim another 10 percent of its workforce before the holidays, so perhaps selling coffee mugs with Obama's photo will boost profitability.
It seems daily newspapers all over the country are sharing in The Enquirer's windfall with Obama-related merchandise. Many dailies have printed additional Nov. 5 papers to meet the local demand for keepsakes — a study by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press indicated that 23 percent of Americans say they're saving a Nov. 5 newspaper for posterity. And the media-oriented Newseum says traffic on its web site hit record numbers as people checked out images of Nov. 5 front pages from across the country.
Ignored as usual by mainstream studies and museums, we in the alternative press — most of whom endorsed Obama for president, as opposed to certain brethren in the daily newspaper world — have found our own understated way to mark the historic victory: a Flickr gallery of post-election alt weekly covers. Enjoy!
Look for the ad in this week's CityBeat touting our new line of underwear featuring last week's "Best Week Ever!" cover image.
